Hypnosis for Pregnancy: More Than Pain Control
Sometimes, pregnancy can be a long planned for, hoped for, and anticipated event. You are finally pregnant and thrilled to be so. Other times, pregnancy can be unexpected, indeed, even unwanted. Whether it’s your first child, your second, or even your fourth, where you are at that time in your life can impact your mindset during your pregnancy. Perhaps you are on cloud nine. Perhaps you are little concerned about what another child will do to your current family structure, or even to your career. All these feelings have a right to be. Hypnosis is a wonderful tool not only for comfort during childbirth but for decreasing stress, reducing fears and anxieties, and focusing on your future with a positive outlook. No matter how many babies you’ve had, you spend your pregnancy bombarded by other people’s opinions. The name you like for your child is one they can’t stand. Their sister had a c-section and it was horrible. Home birth? Isn’t that dangerous? Isn’t that what hospitals are for? It can be a stressful time, where people often share their own horror stories. Hypnotherapy can be a time of comfort, relaxation, and peace, a place where you can vent out any thoughts, feelings, and ideas that are no longer beneficial for you.
Not only can you visualize and focus on your ideal birth plan, but you can also have fun imagining what your birth would be like if it could be any way you could create it. Within the imagination, you can picture giving birth in the comfort of beautiful waters, surrounded by mermaids and dolphins singing your little one into the world. Your birth partner can participate in this process. Together you can learn about hypnosis and practice at home. Not only is practicing a wonderful bonding experience, but it creates more oxytocin, the “love hormone.” Oxytocin helps lessen anxiety and brings more serotonin and dopamine into the body naturally. Now your body is naturally primed to be flooded with the positive chemicals that will help you be more relaxed during labor. Hypnotherapy can be beneficial for all members of the family during the pregnancy and postpartum. After baby is born, hypnotherapy can help mom to get as much sleep as possible, eat healthily, and keep her stress levels down. Happy, relaxed mamas lead to happy, relaxed babies.
