hypnobirthing support

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The hypnobirthing method of childbirth education generally combines breathing techniques, self-guided or prompted visualizations & meditations, and verbal cues to promote a serene environment and state of hypnosis for the birthing person. Hypnobirthing takes dedication and practice in order to get in touch with both your body and mind, and learn how to create your own form of pain-relief through your own mind. While popular movies portray birth as a painful experience, hypnobirthing practices create a pain-free birthing process that is enjoyable and memorable.

Hypnobirthing was created with the intention of breaking the Fear-Tension-Pain Cycle. If the thought of pushing out a human terrifies you, even a little bit, then you will carry that fear into the day of your birth (even subconsciously). When we feel fear, our bodies will naturally create tension by going into fight-or-flight mode. When our muscles are tense, they cannot function as efficiently as possible. And guess what... your uterus is a muscle! 

Maintaining a sense of deep-relaxation and learning how to release all fear helps to break that viscous cycle of fear-tension-and pain, allowing you to have a more serene and confident birth experience. The belief is that in preparing during pregnancy, laboring people can train their brains to elicit a deep-relaxation response on-demand, immediately relieving all pain.

Many hypnobirthing methods don't even utilize the word "pain" at all. Instead, the language used in the birth setting is very intentional to create a sense of peace and calm. "Surges" or "waves" rather than contractions, "birthing time" rather than delivery, and many more. It's essentially mind over matter - and your mind is a powerful thing.

Each course differs a bit from the rest, but share the same goal and school of thought. I recommend doing some research on what each curriculum entails and think about what you would benefit from the most.

Here's a list of some of my personal favorites:

Hypnobabies: https://hypnobabieslinks.com/3Rqg0uF

Positive Birth Company: https://thepositivebirthcompany.co.uk/the-hypnobirthing-digital-pack-us

Better Birth Stories: https://www.betterbirthstories.com/hypnobirthing-online-course

Gentle Birth: https://www.gentlebirth.com/instructor-training

Hypnobirthing Hub: https://www.hypnobirthinghub.com/hypnobirthing-online-course/

A hypnodoula is just a doula who has been specially trained and/or certified to support birthing people who have been taken hypnobirthing courses and plan to use those specific techniques during their labor and birth. It's important to have your entire support team on the same page, especially when utilizing hypnobirthing methods. There is specific language, visualizations, and meditations you will want your doula to be prepared to help you with.