How is Hypnobabies different from other Childbirth Hypnosis programs?
In Hypnobabies, our objectives are to help our pregnant couples bond with their baby in utero, teach them how to stay healthy and low-risk and be an excellent consumer, trust in their bodies, minds and babies, and become self-reliant and confident about birthing their way; unmedicated, safely and in comfort. We overcome negative belief systems and programming, get them in touch with their own bodies, guide them through their own excellent birth experience and give them skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. Birth Partners are brought into the preparation process and have their own hypnotic relaxation cues, as well as a special role to play as they await the birth of the precious newborn with our hypno-mom. Since we use real medical hypnotic techniques, addressing the mind, body, and spirit of both mother and baby, the success rate is wonderful and very gratifying.

We are not a regular birth hypnosis class. Hypnobabies is very detailed and successful, uses medical hypnotic anesthesia techniques, from Gerald Kein's amazing Painless Childbirth program, as opposed to simple visualization and imagery, and contains the same kinds of hypnotic scripts used by people who undergo surgery with hypnosis as their only anesthetic. We also *fully* train the Birth Partners by giving them their own Birth Partner’s relaxation CD, and their own detailed Birth Partner's Guide for labor, which allows them to fully grasp their role in the preparation for baby’s birth as well as their partner’s birthing. This is unique to Hypnobabies and we are very proud of this feature.

Hypnobabies classes also provide excellent and *complete childbirth education, lacking in most birth hypnosis programs. Providing this *complete childbirth education* ensures that our wonderful students will not have to take other natural childbirth classes whose philosophy is so different that it negates what they have learned in Hypnobabies. "Pain management and coping skills" are actually opposite of what is learned in Hypnobabies; we teach Pain Elimination by using real hypnosis.

Long before they ever step foot in their first Hypnobabies class, our hypno-moms get to meet their baby and bond with him/her in a tape/CD called Your Special Place, and the second track is Painless Childbirth, which helps teach them how childbirth can easily be so comfortable. (deprogramming them from the usual childbirth horror stories, and written by Gerald Kein.) They go on to learn the Hypnobabies Techniques in class, bringing their Birth Partner into the preparation, and also how to use hypnosis for many other things: nausea elimination, back and hip pain, insomnia, pre-term labor, pre-term bleeding, perineal massage, internal exams, turning a breech, etc.

One main difference is that our students participate in a hypnosis script each week in class and then have that *same script to work with* for reinforcement during the next week, which makes a huge difference when programming the inner mind for success. It is called "compounding" in the world of hypnosis, is necessary for hypnotic suggestions to be retained by the woman's subconscious, and many other birth hypnosis programs do not have it.

In addition, Hypnobabies requires that their Certified Instructors have a trained background in *both* Childbirth and Hypnosis before becoming trained in Hypnobabies, so that all childbirth questions and concerns from each Hypno-couple can be addressed, hypnotic depth can be assessed, and problems such as resistance and abreaction can easily be dealt with.

Hypnobabies also has "Eyes Open Childbirth Hypnosis", which allows the hypnomom to walk and talk and move around freely yet remain very relaxed, fully present, aware and in touch with her body and baby and *completely comfortable while doing so*. Other programs rely on complete immobility for focus and concentration. We also do Birthing Rehearsals in class # 5 so that our hypno-moms can experience using their Hypnobabies techniques *while in hypnosis in class*, which is invaluable, and also shows the Birth Partner hands-on exactly how to use his/her cues and assistance. What a confidence builder!

In our Hypnobabies Birth Visualization exercise, our Hypno-couples can mentally practice entering labor, practicing their comfortable birthing techniques and giving birth easily and in a very detailed and personal way. This “mental birthing rehearsal� is very important to the process of easy and comfortable birthing and is done many times until the hypno-baby is born, helping program the subconscious mind to produce exactly what the couple wants. Athletes and public speakers of all kinds do this to prepare with great success, and so do our Hypno-moms!

Our students also never have to guess how to make a cohesive *plan for birthing* using the Hypnobabies techniques; it is very clear and concise and includes a Quick Reference Guide for each birthing couple to use during their labor, as well as a Birth Guide CD (or tape) which keeps the Hypno-mom deeply in hypnosis with constant hypnotic anesthesia suggestions. Our students tell us this is "Pure Gold!"

Our Hypnobabies Instructors are always available for help before, during and after the hypno-baby is born, and we also have a free Hypnobabies Yahoo e-mail group for our moms to join for support and encouragement after their Hypnobabies class has ended, so that they can enjoy a community where others are using hypnosis for childbirth as well. We have daily tips and advice, a weekly chat, additional free hypnosis scripts, childbirth hypnosis birth stories and a great deal of camaraderie.

Other programs have shorter and simpler childbirth hypnosis classes (8 - 10 hours of instruction as opposed to our 15) and may contain some excellent hypno-tools for birthing, but none contain the amount of information and support of Hypnobabies. All elements have been carefully designed to work together and the results are amazing even to me. Not all of our Hypno-moms will have a completely pain-free birthing, yet for most it will be very close to it, and this makes all the difference in the world to so many women. Very gratifying!

Photography by Terri Lee
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