With more and more brands of hypnobirthing popping up it can be hard to choose the right method for you. Here are six reasons why you should choose The Calm Birth School to prepare for birth.
You may have heard this phrase before…”Not all hypnobirthing is the same” and it is totally true. The core elements of the course are the same everywhere you go but the difference comes down to the values and the ethos of the brand that you choose. This will determine how it is taught and ultimately how you feel once you have given birth.
The Calm Birth School is not the same as other methods because…
1. It is not wishy washy. Although all methods of hypnobirthing are based in the same premise of the science behind the mind-body connection, some do not relay that message in a relatable, down-to-earth and accessible way. It’s often taught in a prescriptive manner, giving the woman the impression that she must do things in a certain way to “achieve” the birth she wants. Sometimes vaginas are compared to flowers (some women find that helpful but…your vagina is not flower, it’s a vagina), or women are asked to imagine that they are the unborn baby. This perpetuates the myth that women preparing for birth using hypnobirthing are typically raw-food eating, clog wearing hippies birthing their babies in communes (no disrespect to the women who fit in this category, you are also awesome) when really hypnobirthing is for everyone.
2. We support women in their choices not ours. This really gets to me. Hypnobirthing is supposed to be about empowering women in their own choices and helping them to recognise that they have the control over the decisions they make in their pregnancy. All methods of hypnobirthing will cover this but some will subtly (and some not so subtly) impose their beliefs around what is right and what is wrong when it comes to birth. For example, intervention and induction are often taught as “bad”, rather than helping you to recognise that these deviations from the “plan” are sometimes necessary and ensuring that you are prepared to deal with those situations should they arise.
3. We empower women. No matter how good your hypnobirthing instructor is at teaching or reading scripts she isn’t the one making the changes to your sub-conscious. It is you. So even though when you have a positive birth experience you feel grateful to have had your instructor in your life, you are the hero in the story. You are the one who took the education, the materials, the techniques and you applied them to your pregnancy, your birth and your life. At TCBS we ensure that you are the one who gets all the credit because quite frankly…a human came out of your body…nuff said.
4. We talk about pain. Elephant in the corner or what?! In some hypnobirthing classes the instructor isn’t even “allowed” to say the word pain. Here is some news for you, even if you do hypnobirthing, you practice, practice, practice and fully immerse yourself into the preparation…you may still experience pain. Yes, it is totally possible to have a pain free birth (or even an orgasmic birth) but we cannot guarantee that to everyone for so many reasons. Not talking about pain leads you to believe that you have done something wrong if you do experience what you interpret as pain. At TCBS we won’t bang on about pain but we will help you to unpick your beliefs around it. We will encourage you to reframe what pain is in the context of birth and provide you with coping strategies to deal with those sensations.
5. We don’t pretend it is easy for everyone. Yes, some women will literally just boff a baby out (or so it seems) but for many women birth really does feel long, hard and arduous. This doesn’t have to mean that it is a traumatic or horrible experience. At TCBS we want you to feel confident that you can apply the mindset, techniques and tools to any situation. This helps you to feel as positive as possible about your birth.
6. Hypnobirthing isn’t something you achieve. OMG another bugbear. Hypnobirthing is NOT something that you achieve. It isn’t a type of birth nor is it the holy grail. Hypnobirthing is a preparation technique for birth. It doesn’t “work” or “not work”. It can be applied in whatever situation you are in. Please avoid methods that talk about achieving a hypnobirth or having a successful hypnobirth because if your birth doesn’t live up to that ideal, I worry that you will feel you have failed (which you won’t have but birth can be hella unpredictable).
If you want to get a feel for what The Calm Birth School stands for you can check out the free hypnobirthing videos here or find an instructor in your local area here
