What Is Hypnobirthing?
You might have heard people rave about hypnobirthing, or had it recommended by your midwife — but what actually is it?
Despite the name, hypnobirthing is no hocus-pocus. There’s no swinging clocks, mind control or voodoo involved! Hypnobirthing is actually logical, practical and completely evidence-based birth preparation. It can transform the way you view, prepare for, and experience birth.
A Calm, Positive Birth Using Hypnobirthing
A hypnobirthing course is a complete birth preparation course. It gives you tools and techniques to use during pregnancy, labour and birth to help you feel calmer, more in control and more comfortable.
Many of these are life skills you’ll find yourself using long after your baby has been born. And importantly, these tools can support every kind of birth.
If your birth takes a different path from what you hoped, hypnobirthing helps you stay calm, make confident decisions, and ultimately view your baby’s birth as a positive experience.
The “Hypno” Part Explained
This is often the bit that puts people off. When they hear “hypnobirthing”, they might think of stage-show hypnosis — Uncle Bob clucking like a chicken or someone eating an onion thinking it’s an apple!
But hypnobirthing is nothing like this.
All hypnosis is actually self-hypnosis — you have to be on board for it to work. There’s no mind control at all. It’s simply a natural state of deep relaxation that we all go into at least once a day (for example, when we’re drifting off to sleep or totally zoned out).
Hypnobirthing gives you the tools to do this deliberately during labour — whether that’s zoning out of your surroundings if you’re birthing away from home, or zoning out of the powerful sensations in your body. This makes birth easier and more comfortable.
The Science Behind It
When your mind is calm, your body can remain relaxed. And a relaxed body can labour more effectively and comfortably.
Think about the last time you felt scared — your heart raced, your tummy flipped, maybe your hands got sweaty. This is your body’s ancient fight-or-flight response, which evolved to keep us alive in dangerous situations.
The problem is, we’re not Stone Age women giving birth with a sabre-tooth tiger around the corner — but our brains still respond as if we are. Decades of scary birth stories, TV dramas and fear-based messages can make our brains think labour is dangerous, which triggers fear as soon as it starts.
Breaking the Fear–Tension–Pain Cycle
Here’s what happens:
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When we feel fear, we go into fight-or-flight mode.
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In this state our muscles (including the uterus) become tense.
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Tense muscles can’t work effectively, which makes contractions feel more painful.
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This pain confirms our fears, which creates more fear… and the cycle continues.
This is called the Fear–Tension–Pain cycle.
Hypnobirthing helps to break this cycle. Using positive birth videos, affirmations, relaxation tracks and education, we gently rewire your subconscious beliefs about birth. So when labour begins, you feel calm, confident and in control — not fearful.
Hypnobirthing Benefits Your Pregnancy Too
Hypnobirthing isn’t just for labour. It can also make your pregnancy more enjoyable.
By releasing fear or anxiety about birth, you can spend less time worrying and more time enjoying your pregnancy. The relaxation techniques you learn can also help ease common pregnancy discomforts and improve your sleep.
The Bottom Line
Hypnobirthing isn’t about controlling birth — it’s about understanding your body and mind, so you can approach birth with calm, confidence and trust.
Whether you’re planning a home birth, hospital birth, induction or caesarean, these tools can support you.
If you’d like to learn more or join one of my hypnobirthing courses in Newbury, you can find all the details below
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