Many people are still hesitant about exploring hypnobirthing classes in Melbourne (and across the country) and we don’t blame them. Pregnancy, labour, birth, and everything in between is a deeply personal journey, and we encourage everyone to find the support that fits. Whether that is hypnobirthing or any other approach, every mother and uterine-bearing person can benefit from some of the things practised in our classes. Meditation and deep breathing exercises may not be your thing, but there are many other lessons to learn with us. We’re going to explore some of them below and you’ll see that there is so much more to hypnobirthing than you may realize.
- Establish your needs with your care provider
There is a lot of groundwork you need to do months before the big day to get everything arranged ahead of time. It’s important to confirm these things because you won’t be in the best state of mind to make your own decisions once labour begins. Many participants in our hypnobirthing course say that they achieved an empowered birth by finding the perfect birth attendant – which isn’t an easy feat. They did multiple consultations to find one that would honour their requests and plan for birthing. You have to be willing, and flexible enough, to change healthcare providers if they are not willing to partner with you on your goals for an empowered birth. Establishing this relationship early makes sure that you won’t have to waste a single ounce of energy worrying that your care provider won’t follow through with your needs and preference for a birthing environment and labour.
- Pack that pregnancy bag
Just as you should establish a good relationship with your care provider in advance, you should also get your labour bag organised by week 36. Maybe, if it is still the early stages, make a list that you stick on your fridge that you can consistently add to or change and that will be your guide once we get closer to labour. All of your mental, emotional and physical strength needs to be focused on the techniques we’ll learn in our online hypnobirthing course. You cannot leave any room for stressful and negative thoughts associated with leaving anything behind etc. Your mind can direct all its positive energy towards the labour while your birthing partner or care provider collects your bag of things.
- Work with your partner
The principles in hypnobirthing firmly believe in the benefits of collaboration. Whether it is with your doctor or with your birthing partner. The role of your birthing partner is to be fully informed about what they can do to best support you in labour. Team preparation is the best way to build that added confidence that you are not doing this alone. Birth and labour can make mothers feel powerless or out of control and this will naturally lead to negative feelings of anger and frustration- emotions that are simply not helpful for anyone in the birth environment. Hypnobirthing makes an effort of involving your birthing partner in the process to help with regulating the stress levels – it frees up the birthing mother to focus solely on her own needs.
In my extensive experience, I’ve been lucky enough to share in birth stories about partners who didn’t realise just how powerful some simple techniques can be, resulting in better sleep, less stress, and increased confidence. The tools you will be given are to help you prepare your mind and body from becoming overwhelmed. Your life is going through a new stage of transformation and the best thing you can do is to prepare yourself for the ride. Little Bird Flies is just here to help you in making that ride a little less bumpy. If you still have some reservations, you’re welcome to give us a call and we can clear things up for you.
