Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hypnobabies®?Hypnobabies is a very successful 6 week, 3.5-hours per week, complete childbirth education course that was adapted with permission from Gerald Kein’s “Painless Childbirth Program” techniques rather than using simple relaxation, breathing or guided imagery like other hypno-birthing programs. This allows our Hypno-Moms to enjoy “eyes-open childbirth hypnosis”, easily remaining deeply in hypnosis while walking, talking and changing positions; being as mobile as they would like to be during childbirth. Hypnobabies is well-known for helping women to create much shorter, easier and more comfortable labors, making childbirth the joyful experience it was meant to be. Expectant mothers use our Hypnobabies Workbook, CDs/MP3s and hypnosis scripts to train their inner mind that contractions in labor will be felt only as pressure, tightening, pushing, pulling and normal baby movement sensations. Women are fully in tune with their babies during the birthing process, and as aware of everything around them as they’d like to be, easily able to communicate with their support team, and completely in charge of their own birth experience.
Hypnobabies uses the same medical hypnosis techniques that people employ when preparing for surgery without any drugs, which is called hypno-anesthesia. Our classes also teach Hypnobabies Birth Partners how to fully support the Hypno-Moms, and Hypnobabies is also used very successfully by single mothers. A willing Birth Partner is a bonus! Including a very comprehensive childbirth education curriculum also ensures that our Hypno-moms remain deeply committed to their Hypnobabies training, since they need not go anywhere else for childbirth education. Other natural childbirth classes are wonderful, but many teach “pain-coping”, and “pain-management”, which is directly in opposition to our Hypnobabies suggestions that encourage an easier, more comfortable, joyful childbirth. |
How is the Hypnobabies childbirth course different from a hospital or other independent childbirth class?Most childbirth classes, even those striving for natural, unmedicated births, teach pain "coping" techniques. Our philosophy is so much different. Our entire program, right down to the words we use, is aimed toward setting up positive expectations about childbirth. Hypnobabies helps moms visualize and create a positive expectation, teaches them how to create and use hypno-anesthesia, and helps eliminate fear from the birth process.
Should I attend a live Hypnobabies class or the home-study course?Our Hypnobabies Home Study Course for Expectant Mothers is being used with great success by mothers all over the world right now, and it contains the same basic curriculum, hypnosis scripts and cues, but we suggest that anyone who is near a Hypnobabies Instructor take our Hypnobabies Class with a Certified Hypnobabies Instructor (HCHI certified).
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What are the benefits of attending a Hypnobabies Class?
• More detailed information on every subject, tailored to the unique needs and plans of the students.
• Additional handouts.
• Five Hypnobabies scripts in a booklet, including the Visualize Your Birth script.
• Phone and/or email consultations with your Hypnobabies Instructor to address questions, give clarification about
scripts and tools.
• Prenatal exercise demonstration and practice.
• Full hands-on training for the birth partner, including the Birth Partner's Guide booklet and the Birth Partner's hypnosis script/MP3.
• Explanations, demonstration, and practice of the abdominal lift and tuck technique from the book "Back Labor No More" by Janie McCoy King.
• Optimal Fetal Positioning explanations and demonstrations to minimize posterior presentation and help baby move into the best position possible.
• Our Birthing Rehearsal in Class # 6, which is invaluable for helping each Hypno-Mom fully understand and experience their Hypnobabies techniques in a birthing scenario, complete with birth balls, changing positions, walking etc. It is also great practice for Birth Partners to use their deepening cues and techniques that help the mom so wonderfully during labor. This helps build the confidence level of Mom and the Birth Partner tremendously.
• FUN! You'll build a sense of camaraderie with other expectant couples who understand what you are going through! Taking a live course can also help some students who may not have the discipline or motivation to complete the home-study option.
• Additional handouts.
• Five Hypnobabies scripts in a booklet, including the Visualize Your Birth script.
• Phone and/or email consultations with your Hypnobabies Instructor to address questions, give clarification about
scripts and tools.
• Prenatal exercise demonstration and practice.
• Full hands-on training for the birth partner, including the Birth Partner's Guide booklet and the Birth Partner's hypnosis script/MP3.
• Explanations, demonstration, and practice of the abdominal lift and tuck technique from the book "Back Labor No More" by Janie McCoy King.
• Optimal Fetal Positioning explanations and demonstrations to minimize posterior presentation and help baby move into the best position possible.
• Our Birthing Rehearsal in Class # 6, which is invaluable for helping each Hypno-Mom fully understand and experience their Hypnobabies techniques in a birthing scenario, complete with birth balls, changing positions, walking etc. It is also great practice for Birth Partners to use their deepening cues and techniques that help the mom so wonderfully during labor. This helps build the confidence level of Mom and the Birth Partner tremendously.
• FUN! You'll build a sense of camaraderie with other expectant couples who understand what you are going through! Taking a live course can also help some students who may not have the discipline or motivation to complete the home-study option.
When should I start Hypnobabies Classes?
Most moms find starting between 25 and 30 weeks to be ideal. This gives them plenty of time to finish the program and know that they'll easily be able to continue devoting 30-40 minutes daily to practicing until baby arrives. Other women take classes early in their pregnancy, and practicing Hypnobabies helps them to be relaxed, comfortable and confident for the rest of their pregnancies.
Can my Birth Partner come to Hypnobabies Class with me?
Yes, please! We teach the Birth Partner right along with our Hypno-Moms - what hypnosis is, (they experience it in class and get their own Birth Partner’s hypnosis script, to keep them calm and relaxed about pregnancy and childbirth!) and how to support and help our Hypno-moms during pregnancy, the birthing itself, and after the baby comes. They participate fully in each class, and with each hypnosis script. They also have their own Becoming Dads materials to help them process and prepare mentally and emotionally for this transition from becoming a partner to a parent, and supporting mom throughout the pregnancy, birth, and after.
How does hypnosis for childbirth work?
Like computer data entry, if you want to create a document to use later, you open one, enter the text and save the contents in a “file,” then give the file a name. Later, when you want to edit that document, you find the file name and open it, add to the document text and save it again. When you are completely finished with your document, you find the file by its name, complete and ready, and print it out for your use.
In Hypnobabies, our “files” are our medical hypno-anesthesia “scripts” in the form of MP3 tracks and paper scripts, and all you have to do is *listen* to them. In doing so, you train your inner mind what to accept and expect. Each week, you add a little bit of training, and your inner mind creates a new belief system about childbirth. It accepts that the normal birthing sensations that you will have when you give birth; pushing, pulling, stretching, pressure sensations, will indeed be there, but without discomfort attached to them. You train it to accept cues and techniques to bring you deeper into relaxation and hypnosis, and when you use them on your birthing day, just like printing out your document, they are there for you automatically! Your mind is very powerful and is capable of creating the deepest physical relaxation possible as well as a very comfortable birthing experience. Use it!
In Hypnobabies, our “files” are our medical hypno-anesthesia “scripts” in the form of MP3 tracks and paper scripts, and all you have to do is *listen* to them. In doing so, you train your inner mind what to accept and expect. Each week, you add a little bit of training, and your inner mind creates a new belief system about childbirth. It accepts that the normal birthing sensations that you will have when you give birth; pushing, pulling, stretching, pressure sensations, will indeed be there, but without discomfort attached to them. You train it to accept cues and techniques to bring you deeper into relaxation and hypnosis, and when you use them on your birthing day, just like printing out your document, they are there for you automatically! Your mind is very powerful and is capable of creating the deepest physical relaxation possible as well as a very comfortable birthing experience. Use it!
Will I be able to move around and be awake, and aware of my body and my baby during my labor, using hypnosis?
Absolutely! Being in Hypnobabies “Eyes Open Childbirth Hypnosis" is not like being asleep or detached from the sensations of your baby’s birth. You are awake and aware of everything going on around you, and you experience baby’s every movement. You remain deeply in hypnosis, confident and calm, even while moving, changing positions, and talking to those around you. Your Hypnobabies hypno-anesthesia allows you to experience all the power of childbirth without the discomfort.
