I highly recommend Marie Mongan's HypnoBirthing course, which I took in Februrary 2000. I had a painless 18-20 hour labor. I did feel pain for the first "surges" when I was home, as I scrunched my eyeballs, went into the fetal position and tensed my entire body. But as soon as I relaxed my entire body and went limp like a rag doll (as I learned to do by listening to the Rainbow Relaxation tape every day for a month prior to my due date) the pain stopped. Any time I felt a surge, I stopped what I was doing, leaned over, relaxed and breathed deeply. I never asked for or needed an epidural. At times, I also felt endorphins, which the book claims is the bodies "natural anesthesia." My son's labor (our first baby) was a wonderful, transformative, spiritual experience and I cannot wait to go through labor and give birth again.
This book (with a number of relaxation/self-hypnosis exercises to be practiced alone or with a partner) is a course workbook to be used in conjunction with course materials. When I read it, it occurred to me it would have made little sense without the benefit of taking the class. Note, however, that the author is the first person to admit that it was never meant to be a stand-alone book.
Another book I highly recommend is CHILDBIRTH WITHOUT FEAR by the late, great Dr. GRANTLY DICK-REED. One of the refreshing things about Marie Mongan is that she credits Dr. Dick-Reed with inspiring her to create the HypnoBirthing program. Dr. Dick-Reed's book (unfortunately out of print, but I found it at my local library) explains in greater detail all aspects of labor and delivery (actually the best description I have ever read.) He is the one who theorized that releasing fear and tension during labor is what enables women around the world to have a painless labor/birth experience. Reading THAT book will help to understand and appreciate Marie Mongan's book (especially if you don't have a HypnoBirthing practioner near you) and the other course materials she created.
This book is wonderful! It explains the process of hypnobirthing completely. It is easy to understand and is written well. The author explains how women experience pain in childbirth only because we are conditioned to think its necessary. Marie Mongan elaborates on this theory, the "Curse of Eve", as she calls it. After reading this book I definitely felt more confident about my pending birth of my second child, and I am more relaxed in my day-to-day events.
She explains how we are affected by stress and fear, how it works against our body's natural flow of labor. This book also explains techniques for relaxing and for inducing self-hypnosis. It also includes the different stages of labor and different sections for your birthing partner. It is not intended to be the only source if you choose this type of birthing process, you should also consult a therapist who is knowledgeable in hypnobirthing. She even has a website for more information!
I definitely recommend this book for any mom-to-be, especially if your first birthing experience was not what you wanted for yourself and your baby.
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I was a skeptic. But with my first pregnancy, I had so many problems with drugs *not working*. The epidural wore off. Twice. And the third time it never took. I had other drugs on top of it, and they ran through me like water. The doctor said my adrenaline was running so high, it didn't seem like anything would take. And when it finally came time to push, I was so exhausted, they had to use forceps to keep me from a c-section. And I felt every bit of it.
So with the second pregnancy, I knew better than to rely on drugs. I had to learn how to deal with it on my own. At first, I was panicked. And then I read this book. I thought they were crazy. But what the heck I gave it a try. I labored at home for 18 hours without even having to call my doula yet. My husband watched football playoff games!!! But be careful you can cut it too close! I genuinely felt very little pain! But if I had it to do over again, I would have gotten to the hospital just a bit sooner, because my daughter was born only 20 minutes after I got in my hospital bed! I was not in near the amount of pain after delivery, my daughter was very alert, and best of all, I had I still can't believe I'm saying this a WONDERFUL labor and delivery. It reaffirmed for me what we are really capable of handling not just having handed to us, but *handling*.
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I found this book to be extremely helpful, even without taking any hypnobirthing classes. The Hypnobirthing book shows you how to prepare mentally (with focus and relaxation techniques) and physically (with stretching exercises and instructions for perineal massage if you want to try it) for childbirth; it teaches you what all of your muscles are doing during labor to help you work with your body, which decreases the pain you experience; it suggests better positions for labor and delivery than the standard flat-on-your-back position; and it explains to you why childbirth doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) a painful or scarey experience. I studied this book religiously before the birth of my second child, and that birth was so much easier and more peaceful than my first. I delivered my son without any medication or intervention, thanks to Hypnobirthing.
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This book was a joy to read and helped me to develop a calm and peaceful outlook during my high risk twin pregnancy. After reading the book during my fourth month of pregnancy, I inquired about taking a hypnobirthing course with a local certified hypnobirthing instructor; but the instructor was rather skeptical about me being able to benefit from the course with a twin pregnancy and reminded me of my higher chance of complications and cesarean section birth. Although my twin pregnancy did result in complications that required me to be on strict hospital bedrest for a month, the relaxation exercises and thought training promoted in this book helped me during my bedrest experience and during a long and difficult labor. When the physicians were close to giving up on me and told me to seriously think about a cesarean section even though the babies weren't showing any signs of fetal distress, I believe my calm persistence and my continuous mental replay of the "opening blossom" and "progressive relaxation" techniques, among others, helped me to achieve a mental-physical state that allowed me to vaginally deliver both of my twins.
I loved the philosophy of this book -that birth is a natural, normal process that rarely needs intervention. The author exposes the obstetric profession for what it really is: male-dominated and misogynistic, with doctors (and CNMs) performing unnecessary procedures on women in labor for their own convenience and/or out of a real fear of labor and birth. Many of the medical procedures she writes about definitely are still the norm at hospital births, such as inducing or speeding up labor with Pitocin or artificially breaking the bag of waters, and putting women flat on their backs to push, but other procedures are simply not done routinely anymore. For example, she frequently mentions shaving and enemas (outdated prepping procedures) and using silver nitrate in the baby's eyes (silver nitrate has been replaced with an anti-biotic ointment). I was surprised at these references to outdated routines because the book was supposedly revised in August 2000. A new mother reading this book, without further knowledge, may fear these procedures will be performed if she goes to the hospital. Also, the author's information on circumcision is wrong. The studies indicating a higher incidence of cervical cancer among partners of intact males have been debunked. She does mention that circumcision is a mutilation, but then seems to say it's okay if a Mohel (Jewish circumcisor) performs the mutilation. I wish she had emphasized that circumcision is incompatible with a homebirth philosophy (placing priority on a gentle beginning for newborns) because it is an abusive act (no matter who performs it). Lastly, the author dismissed the option of unassisted homebirth. Even though she disagrees with this method of birth, she could have given it a little more consideration.
