hypnobirthing for caesarean birth

The focus of traditional hypnobirthing methods has always been natural birth – avoiding any unnecessary interventions  - and it does work amazingly well for many women – giving them the confidence they need to request more time to birth naturally and the calm and relaxation that help to reduce the need for pain relief and shorten labour.  The sticking point for me has always been those occasions where the only choice for a woman, to ensure the safety and well-being of herself and her baby, is to opt for a caesarean birth – this is where the traditional hypnobirthing method might fail the women that it aims to help.  A footling breech that just won’t budge, placenta praevia, extreme polyhydramnios - these are all situations in which, whilst a woman could achieve a natural birth, she would probably not want to take the risk.  Utmost in every mother’s mind is the health of her baby and there has to come a point at which caesarean birth becomes the safer option. 

So where does this leave a woman who has done a hypnobirthing course – who has been told that natural birth is the only kind and gentle option for her baby, that intervention is never good and is then told by medical professionals that to have a natural birth would be risking her own life and that of her child.  Do we leave her to feel like a failure, to feel abandoned, to feel like all her preparation has been in vain?  I doubt any practitioner would want to leave their clients feeling this way.

This is why it is so important that hypnobirthing practitioners are able to support caesarean birth and important for the mothers that they work with to know that they will be fully supported no matter what the outcome of their birth. When a mother opts for a caesarean it does not mean she will not experience any of the fear and concern associated with natural birth – far from it  - she is just as vulnerable, if not more so, to the fear of the unknown, along with the potential disappointment associated with not having the birth that she had originally wanted.   What she wants, like any new mother, is to be able to enjoy her birth, to remember the birth of her new baby as a happy event, free of trauma.

Happily, hypnobirthing and other mind-body techniques have a huge amount to offer mothers and their babies when it comes to caesarean birth.  Releasing all fears, concerns and disappointments; using the breath to relax, be in the moment and remain perfectly still; having the confidence to request what you want from your caesarean birth – a calm and quiet room, delayed cord clamping, skin-to-skin with your baby; preparation for a quick and straightforward recovery; the knowledge and reassurance that you have made all the right decisions for yourself and your baby.  So there is a way for new mothers to have the birth that they want for their baby, to enjoy their birth and have a caesarean.  As one hypnobirthing mum said of her caesarean birth ‘It was truly magical’ – Cathy on the birth of baby Hugo.