Hypnobirthing:
Freedom from Fear
While not a new concept in obstetrics, recently health
providers have seen a resurgence of interest from expectant
mothers in exploring more natural birthing options with less
interventions and reliance on pain medications.
ypnobirthing is one of the techniques that has recently gained in popularity.
We spoke with Sarah Brenchley-Hole, a senior midwife at Pindara for 10 years who has been
involved in hypnobirthing throughout her midwifery career and who also used hypnobirthing in her
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own births. She shared with us her knowledge of hypnobirthing and how maternity staff are able to support
mothers wanting to use hypnobirthing through their own birth experience.
What is hypnobirthing?
Hypnobirthing is basically a practice that is intended to remove the fear from giving birth and which
empowers women to trust their body to do what it was designed to do – give birth. The concept that the
presence of fear in birth creates pain has been around for some time, and hypnobirthing provides mothers with
sets of psychophysical practices and techniques that can be used to remove that fear, achieve a level of deep
relaxation, and enable mothers to be confident and in control of their labour and birth experience.
Where did the concept or practice originate?
The concept is based on the work of a twentieth century English Obstetrician Dr Dick-Read who developed
the idea of the ‘fear-tension-pain syndrome’. He noticed that women who were less fearful of birth often
experienced less pain and were calmer throughout their birth experience. He began advocating for more
education and the practice of psychophysical techniques to assist mothers in birth. Practices such as
hypnobirthing and Calmbirth are programs that have been developed around this concept.
What kinds of techniques are used in hypnobirthing?
Hypnobirthing incorporates hypnosis techniques such as deep breathing, positive affirmations, visualisation
and deep relaxation.
What role do partners play in hypnobirthing?
Partners are an important part of hypnobirthing; they can practice with their partner, learn the affirmations and
be an active participant who can also advocate for their partner throughout the birth. It also helps remove the fear
that partners have. Often when partners have a ‘job’ to do it gives them purpose and enables them to be calmer.
56 Pindara Magazine ISSUE 14 | 2018