A Dad's Guide to Hypnobirthing; Part 1, Hypno-what?
When I hypnobirthed our first baby in 2010 it was a bit of a life-changer for our family in all sorts of ways. Not least of those changes was in my partner, Ray, who went from being a bit sceptical about the whole process (I often say taking him to the first session was a bit like the reluctant dog to the vet) to being an utter convert. His view now is that eveyone should hypnobirth, and he'll talk away to anyone who asks. Now he's got the opportunity to talk away to some people who haven't asked too, so he's doing his bit to support The Good Birth Practice & The Wise Hippo Birthing Programme with a couple of blogs. Here's his first offering.....
In 2010 my partner Charlotte became pregnant with our first child. I had every intention of reading new Dad books and getting ready for the big event as much as humanly possible.
Whilst I was deciding what to read (or in my case not to read), Charlotte was already in high gear, sorting out the house, baby clothes and generally planning out what the coming months should look like.
Then, the subject of hypnobirthing came up, huh? Hypno what? I don’t even believe in hypnosis, isn’t that when a hypnotist waves a pendant in front of you then makes you cluck like a chicken on stage? Oblivious to the fact that you’re making a complete a$$ of yourself?
Nope, that’s not it. It’s a method of embracing the body’s natural responses during labour and child birth. Yeah but it costs £425 and why do I need to be there?
I thought about this for a while and had an unusually (for me) rational thought, ‘I’m not giving birth and if this makes Charlie more relaxed and comfortable, who am I to argue?’
So we parted with the requisite funds and put Ickham (no, I’ve never heard of it either) into the satnav. Our hypnobirthing practitioner explained the process to us in great detail, the concept behind managing your birth calmly and importantly for me, the role I could play in the process.
In the coming weeks, I'll chart my story as an expectant father and the effect the hypnobirthing course had on me.
