A dad’s honest thoughts on hypnobirthing.

So your partner is a little bit sceptical about hypnobirthing, right?

They are worried that it’s going to be nonsense and a little bit ‘out there.’ Perhaps something that Sheila down the road and her husband would do, but it’s not for you. You are just normal folk, you don’t want to be chanting hymns during labour whilst your midwife gives you strange looks.

Don’t worry, I would say that 90% of Dad’s to be who do a course with me feel sceptical about hypnobirthing. I get it, my husband felt the exact same way when we did our hypnobirthing course.

Here’s what sometimes happens to Dads to be in my classes (this certainly happened with my husband):

As I introduce myself at the start of a hypnobirthing class, I can see that birth partners feel a little bit uncomfortable , moving in their seats, thinking ‘what the hell have we signed up for?’, looking at the other dad’s to be in the room and giving the ‘what is this going to be?’ look.

As I start to talk about what hypnobirthing is and especially about what it isn’t, I can see they ease into their seats a little bit more, they start to relax when they realise that I’m not weird and that I haven’t started chanting…yet. Soon enough, they start to breathe again and within half an hour they are listening to every single word. The cogs start turning and they realise that actually, hypnobirthing makes sense, its pretty damn logical. They come back for session 2 and tell me how much they have been practising, that they listened to the hypnosis MP3 tracks and fell asleep to them.

They start to realise that actually a Dad to be can play a huge role in the birth of their baby and they can support their partner throughout birth to make it a positive experience.

If you don’t believe me then…

Here are some words from Jon, one of the dad’s to be that did a hypnobirthing course with me at my home in Wakefield:

“Every bit as useful for birth-partners as it is for the mums-to-be!

We just completed Hannah’s course in June. She was the perfect guide to a philosophy for birth I’d never really heard of before.

I remember my reaction to the term ‘hypnobirthing’ the first time that I heard it, when friends were telling us about the antenatal class they’d been looking into. I raised my eyebrows, instinctively dismissed it as nonsense and figured the best approach would be for them to avoid anything ‘wacky’ and just stick to the science and statistics (arrogance I’m definitely not proud of). Little did I expect when it came to our pregnancy a few months down the line, just 30 minutes into a taster session with Hannah, she’d have already shown us the science of how calm birthing works and backed this up with statistical benefits that simply could not be ignored.

First thing I learnt? Theres nothing wacky about hypnobirthing (well except for the name perhaps, but that’s more down to the ignorance I think).

This method is simply about the rational removal of fear through being informed (knowledge about the process of birth), in tune (with the body and its ability to tell us what it needs when we relax) and empowered (enough to put trust in what’s natural whilst retaining control by understanding our options and clearly communicating our preferences).

Learning about the practical stages and anatomical aspects of labour alongside the power of the relaxed body and mind has given us such a sense of confidence that we’re actually looking forward to the experience, rather than dreading the unknown.

From a birth-partner’s point of view, you just hope the antenatal class will give you some sort of roadmap for navigating the dos and dont’s doing labour.

Thinking of mine as a supporting role, I went into Hannah’s course just hoping that I could learn my lines and how to keep my s**t together when our baby announces that she is en route!

I left the course feeling like I’ve got a job to do and I know how to do it. The birth of our baby could take any number of twists and turns but regardless of how it pans out, I know what I can be doing to help and I understand my wife’s wishes and needs.

To put it in a nutshell, hypnobirthing is completely logical and natural, the techniques are straightforward and effective, the atmosphere Hannah creates is friendly and calm, and the feeling of preparation this course provides is easily worth the course fee.

I’d recommend Hannah to anyone and everyone. Thanks again Hannah, you’ve been amazing”.

Jon Bell (A hypnobirthing Dad)

You heard it, straight from a dad to be, hypnobirthing isn’t ‘wacky’ or ‘out there',’ it’s perfectly logical and rational.

Send this to your birth partner, tell them to read it and they might just feel a little less cynical about hypnobirthing.

If you want to have a chat with me before booking a course to make sure that I am the right hypnobirthing teacher for you, then I offer free 15 minute calls so you can get to know me a little bit better, you can contact me below.

Hannah x