My girls have their birthdays 2 days apart so this is the time of the year I think back to their births 5 and 7 years ago. Even though Iām done with babies, I absolutely still use some of the techniques I learned and taught in Hypnobirthing. I used one of them just the other day.
I thought it might be interesting to reflect on what tools I still use.
If you donāt know, I used to teach Hypnobirthing through Hypnobirthing Australia and it helped with my own two traumatic births. Itās still something I endorse and use, I just think thereās a big variety in whatās taught in different programs. Iām personally not a fan of techniques that use too much frontal lobe activity ā counting contractions and breathing in and out for certain counts. In birth, we want the problem-solving part of the brain to feel safe enough to turn off so that the deeper, mammalian brain can do whatās itās designed to do.
Iām also not a fan of the cruel optimism culture that can exist within some Hypnobirthing communities. Planning for a positive birth is one thing. Getting self-righteous about ānatural or nothingā can be cruel and invalidating.
Thereās no right way to Hypnobirth ā drugs or no drugs, interventions or no interventions, you should never be made to feel like youāve failed or didnāt try hard enough.
I'll talk your through my 5 most used tools!
P.S. If you want to see me use the Chinese Finger Trap exercise, the video format of this episode is on my YouTube channel š
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My Website: https://doctorerin.com.au/
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