HypnoBirthing® is a rewarding, relaxing, stress free method of child birthing that is based on the belief that all babies should come into the world in an atmosphere of gentleness, calm and peace, and the baby should be able to securely bond, as soon as possible after birth, with mother and father/birth companion.
HypnoBirthing helps mothers align with their own innate capacity to be able to give birth gently, comfortably, powerfully and joyfully.
HypnoBirthing supports families during this powerful life-changing transition by helping them to reduce stress and fear which allows them more ease of birth plus a more relaxed and controlled ability to discuss options and make informed decisions whatever needs should arise during the birthing process.
What Determines the Success of HypnoBirthing?
Several factors determine the success of HypnoBirthing – the motivation and dedication of the parents, the support of the OB care provider, the parents (mainly moms) comfort with the chosen birth facility, and the avoidance of medical interventions. The focus on undisturbed birth is crucial. When other paths are chosen, different results may occur.
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Promoting a calm and gentle birthing process
The most important Law of the Mind in regard to birthing is: For every thought or emotion there is a related physical response. So, in regard to birthing, when fear is present, the fight or flight response is triggered. Chemical reactions then occur within the birthing body, which cause catecholamines to be secreted and muscles then constrict rather than relax. The body has actually begun to fight against itself in regard to the birthing process interpreting the catecholamine release as a sign of danger and a need to stop labor and run to a safe place or prepare to fight a threat.
The healthy mother’s body is perfectly built and the birthing muscles are perfectly orchestrated to work during a natural, calm birth. Now let’s look at what happens when the birthing mom is tense and fearful.
The effect of fear upon labor is too often seen with labor that is “delayed in starting” or that later slows or “stalls.” (FTP Fear-Tension-Pain also Failure to Progress) Yet, the instutions of medicine, believing that they are making things better, rather than relieving that fear, instead encourage mothers to surrender their bodies to drugs, technology and manipulation to force and coerce the body to do, what it would naturally do itself with ease, if the fear was removed. (Medical Intervention is introduced to “Rescue the mother and baby” Pitocin-Syntocinon/epidural).
To understand the negative physical effect of fear on labor, we need to look at the function of the ANS or Autonomic Nervous System. This is a communication network within our bodies. The main function of the ANS is to interpret messages it receives, determine what action should be taken as a result of that message, and then immediately communicate that directive to the other systems of the body. The responses to impulses that are transmitted through the ANS were not believed to be subject to our conscious control and have been, therefore, termed involuntary.
For the purposes of looking at the impact of fear and stress upon birthing, as well as the beneficial effect of calm upon birthing, we need to look at the two subsidiary systems within the ANS—the Sympathetic system and the Parasympathetic system. These systems control those responses that cause us to accelerate or to slow our breathing, to blink our eyes, to step up or to reduce our heartbeat, to stop or to maintain our digestive processes, and to carry out many other functions of the body.
The Sympathetic system is triggered when we are stressed, frightened or startled. It acts as an emergency defense mechanism for the body. It instantly creates the fight, flight, or freeze response within the body. When it is activated, it causes the pupils of the eye to dilate; it causes an increase in the speed and the force of the heart rate; and it causes the circulation and body’s glucose to be directed to the large muscles such as those of our legs or arms, it causes the body to be startled or to move defensively from what we perceive as an outside threat.
The sympathetic system, in the process of its activation, halts or suspends the activities of the parasympathetic system. When the sympathetic system is activated, circulation and energy to activities such as digestion, or arterial circulation to organs that are not immediately necessary for survival, is decreased. This brings all reserves on board for dealing with a perceived emergency or danger. It is designed to save your life! The sympathetic system might then be described as the emergency room. A place you don’t want to be in too often…no more than 2 to 5 percent of the time.
The parasympathetic system, on the other hand, keeps the body and mind in a state of harmony and balance. It maintains the body functioning in a state of calm, allowing the heart rate to slow, reducing vigilance, decreasing the output of the neuropeptides that are necessary in “fight and flight”, but harmful if the body is too long exposed to them.
In parasympathetic mode, or “rest and digest”, the body relaxes the arterial circulation allowing the organs of digestion, of immunity, of cell and organ repair and regeneration, of pH and fluid balance, of all systems in the body to heal. In parasympathetic mode, the body is allowed to continue it’s internal scanning, monitoring, and repairing to keep us in a state of well being and maintaining the normal function of the body. The parasympathetic system could be described as the Healing Room. It is the default state of the body that we should be in 95 to 98 percent of the time.
So how does that apply to birthing? The sympathetic part of the nervous system responds, not just to actual threats, but to perceived threats. So that when a mother hears information that that is negative or threatening; and again and again hears or vicariously experiences such negative input, it builds fear, which the body experiences as a real threat. Over time, these negative messages become part of her belief system and compromise her body’s chemical balance on a regular basis. They effect her emotional state and that of her pre-born baby.
When a mother approaches labor with unresolved fear and stress, her body is already on the defensive, and the catecholamines are triggered. Her body is sent into the “fight, flight, or freeze” response. Although catecholamines play an important part in the birth process, there are certain conditions that will slow, or even stop the process. If the fight-or-flight hormones are activated by feelings of fear or danger, contractions will slow down. Our mammalian bodies are designed to give birth in the wilds, where it is an advantage to postpone labor when there is danger, and to seek safety.
Since the uterus is not considered vital to the defense of the body, blood is directed away from it to the parts of the body involved in defense. This means that the arteries going to the uterus tense up and constrict which in turn restricts the flow of blood and oxygen. With reduced oxygen and blood, vital to the functioning of the muscles in the uterus, the lower circular fibers at the neck of the uterus tighten and constrict, instead of opening and relaxing as they should. The upper vertical muscles of the uterus continue to attempt to draw the circular muscles up and back, but the lower muscles are now resistant. The cervix remains taut and closed.
When these two sets of muscles work against each other, the result is considerable pain for the laboring mother. The situation can also have an adverse effect on the baby. The upper muscles contract to expel, forcing the baby’s head against the tightly closed lower muscles that refuse to budge. In addition to the pain that this causes for both mother and baby, labor can be drawn out, it can even shut down. Limited oxygen to the uterus also means that the supply of oxygen to the baby is compromised. Over a period of time this can be cause for concern. Attempts to speed the birth of a baby only result in more pain for the mother and the baby, and frustration on the part of the caregivers, as the baby’s head pushes against muscles not yet relaxed or open enough to accommodate it.
Clearly, then, preventing this cascade of events is vital, maintaining a calm environment, releasing fear and achieving a relaxed state throughout pregnancy, labor and birthing, as is done in HypnoBirthing, is so important. Not only for the safety of mother and child, but because it enhances the whole experience for the family and for future generations, promoting a calm and gentle birthing process, allowing a new story to be told and rewriting the myths and old beliefs.
