Sophie Fletcher - Mindful Hypnobirthing: Hypnosis and Mindfulness Techniques for a Calm and Confident Birth

Sophie Fletcher is a clinical hypnotherapist and doula. After gaining a Masters degree in European Culture and Language (specialising in symbolism) from the University of Manchester, she went on to train as a clinical hypnotherapist specialising in womens health. Sophie trains midwives and hypnotherapists in the psychology of birth and is a fellow of and advisor for the National Council for Hypnotherapy, the leading professional body for hypnotherapy in the UK.

To Jenny, my mother.

Thank you from my heart for being a loving and compassionate teacher and for your unending support and advice.

When the ocean surges
Dont let me just hear it.
Let it splash inside my chest!

Rumi

For the purpose of this book I have used the words mother, mothering, parent, parenting and partner interchangeably. Virtually all research in this area is based on the mother and baby. However, if you do not identify as female, this may feel uncomfortable in places. If you are interested in listening to any of the tracks without the word mother in, please contact Sophie Fletcher directly. The worksheets that accompany this book are available to download in different formats as well.

On Christmas Day in 2003, my first son was born in an operating theatre by Caesarean birth. It was my husband and a series of strangers who held him first, while I was dizzy, disorientated and dressed in a hospital gown, unable to walk or hold my baby.

In the following days and weeks, I started suffering from postnatal depression and I found it hard to bond with my son. This was far from the experience of birth and motherhood I had been expecting. Seventeen months, and several hypnobirthing tracks later, my second son was born. Even though he was born early, I had a very positive experience. I was up straight away, feeling great and able to swing my toddler around. Against the odds, feeding was established early and we left the hospital after just six days. It was liberating, physically and emotionally, and the only difference was the way I had approached the birth.

During my first pregnancy, I didnt really think about the birth. I worked hard in my job until the last minute, felt stressed and worried about all sorts of work-related issues, and had terrible heartburn and intermittent sleep. When I became pregnant with my second son, somehow I knew that this birth would be different. This time I wanted to be in control of what was happening. I did a bit of research and bought myself some hypnosis CDs, which I listened to from early in my pregnancy. I was relaxed, I approached work differently and when my waters broke at 32 weeks I was incredibly calm. Even my husband was surprised at how relaxed his previously highly strung wife was.

I have no doubt that how I approached my birth made a difference to how I birthed. I slept well throughout my pregnancy; I was tuned in to my body; I knew that I could do it, laughing and joking with the midwives instead of worrying about what might go wrong. Id learned at a deep, unconscious level that by staying calm I was giving my baby the best chance, and the most incredible thing was that it was automatic. I didnt have to try to be calm.

After this birth, my husband encouraged me to find out more. I trained to be a hypnotherapist, and took courses in several different kinds of hypnosis for birth and the psychology of birth. What I learned was extraordinary: women, like me, were having birth experiences that they described as euphoric, self-affirming and empowering. I wanted other mums-to-be to discover that birth can be different and so much better than they are led to believe.

Its now widely accepted that being relaxed and prepared emotionally can help you have a better birth. Birthing centres everywhere are being redesigned to be more comfortable and homely, and this is a great step forward. However, they dont take account of the unconscious fear that women have about birth, which is a result of dramatic stories and media portrayals of painful, distressing births. Midwives see powerful, undisturbed births every day; women do not. We take birth to be what we see on television or what friends and family tell us. Mindful hypnobirthing preparation explores what the unconscious responses around birth can be, how they may affect you and what you can do to change your experience to be a better one.

The birthing partners role is also crucial. My husband was in the dark at my first sons birth, but now the birthing partners I work with dads, partners, mums, sisters and friends say how much learning mindful hypnobirthing helped them support the mother during the birth.

There isnt a right way or a wrong way to hypnobirth, but understanding why you choose to birth the way you do and being mindful of how birth can affect your baby, and your relationship with your baby, is extremely important. By trusting your instincts and asking the questions that are important to you, you can take ownership of your birth and feel empowered and confident, whether you are aiming to have a drug-free birth without intervention or a Caesarean birth. A mindful hypnobirth is about having the confidence to birth the way you wish and to have a positive experience even if the birth takes a different route than expected.

I want to share with you what Ive learned through my study of hypnosis and mindfulness, and my extensive work with couples and childbirth professionals. Most of all, I want to show you what makes a difference, and how the link between your environment, your body and your baby is crucial. Equipped with the tools and techniques in this book, youll feel that you are in control and calmly excited about your babys birth.

Although you can dip in and out of this book, ideally you need to follow it through from the beginning. Its designed to be a practical book, and is packed with tools and techniques that will help you prepare for a mindful hypnobirth, including how to access a set of hypnosis and relaxation tracks to listen to.

Rest assured that you dont need to do everything in the book for mindful hypnobirthing to work. Its really important that you make it your own, take from it the techniques you love, and learn from the theory behind it to create your own techniques.

Everything has been carefully structured so that it is adaptable and can be personalised. Even the music choices you make can be integrated with other programmes or your own relaxing playlist.

This section includes information about preparing for a mindful hypnobirth. To get the best out of hypnosis you will need to understand what it is and how it works with mindfulness for birth. Youll find the techniques such as visualisation and relaxation, and mindful practices that you will need to get used to before you go into labour. It also includes the type of preparation that is vital for a hypnobirth along with information that will help you make informed choices and take ownership of your birth experience.

In this section Ill show you how to take what you have learned in your preparation and apply it to the different moments that arise during labour. Youll also learn how some interventions that may be offered can have a psychological impact and what you can do to make the best choices for you. As you read this youll realise how all the preparation you have done will fall into place on the day that your baby decides to make their way into the world.