Hypnotherapy for Pregnancy Anxiety

Whenever I thought about child birth, I was overwhelmed by anxiety. From the moment my pregnancy was confirmed, I experienced extreme stress over all the possible disastrous outcomes that could happen. For example, I would focus on thoughts of hemorrhaging or bleeding to death. Next I would imagine having an aneurism from pushing too hard. I would fret that something would go wrong with the epidural or that the baby would not progress and the doctors would perform a C-section. I even imagined myself dying from an undetected infection. It was obvious that I had to find help somewhere.

In July of 2004, I was four months away from giving birth to my first child, and I could no longer put off the inevitable. I had to arrive at a firm decision regarding what to do when it was time to give birth. I knew I could sign up for the traditional Lamaze class that would prepare me for a natural birth experience, but I had read about an alternative class that promised to ease birth-related anxiety via hypnotherapy. I was intrigued by the latter, so I set up a meeting with a local birth instructor. My husband and I spent the next four months participating in interactive hypnotherapy classes, analyzing why I was so afraid, creating visualization scripts that would ease my anxiety, and practicing self-hypnosis for anxiety techniques for relaxing during labor.

Meanwhile, a silent clock ticked away at the remaining hours of my pregnancy. Even though I practiced the hypnotherapy techniques on a daily basis, the anxiety I felt about what could go wrong still plagued me. The morning of October 15 th, I woke up feeling mildly uncomfortable. It was three o’clock in the morning, so I figured I had a mild case of heartburn and returned to bed. Two hours later I realized that mildly uncomfortable was not the correct terminology for what I currently was feeling. I knew that I was in labor. The dreaded day had finally arrived, and I had no other choice but to face my fears and conquer my anxiety.

While I practiced my hypnotherapy techniques, my husband timed my contractions and packed last minute, must have items. When the frequency and intensity of the contractions increased, we decided it was time to leave. Like many couples before us, when we reached the hospital we were told that the doctor had to assess whether or not my labor was progressing enough for me to stay. After an hour the doctor decided that I did warrant a bed in the labor and delivery department. During that time I had to try to remain stress-free by focusing on the hypnotherapy exercises, but nothing could have prepared me for what was about to happen.

Once I was settled in a room, the doctor explained that my water had not broken on its own, and that they needed to break it in order to monitor the baby’s vital signs. A warning message flashed in my mind indicating that this was not normal, but my doctor assured me that it was routine and that I would not need to worry any further. That routine procedure caused my body to go into shock. I started to shake violently, and I became extremely cold. While the nurses piled warm blankets on top of me, the doctor explained that the baby was older than anticipated and had a bowel movement inside of me. In my mind, I had received the two, clear messages that my child birth experience was not progressing normally.

The doctor ordered the nurse to issue the drug Pitocin to speed up the contractions. I was educated enough to know that the Pitocin would increase the level of pain, and my anxiety increased as I watched the staff administer the drug. Inwardly, I questioned if there was a way out of this or another solution. I voiced my uncertainties to my husband and the staff, but they dismissed my fears and encouraged me to stick it out. I questioned my own sanity, and I decided that perhaps an epidural was a feasible option to manage the pain brought on by the Pitocin.

My husband and I broke out the hypnotherapy techniques and prepared my body for the epidural procedure. I had numerous friends tell me it was painful and to carefully consider if I wanted to go down that path; however, after using the hypnotherapy techniques, I felt nothing but relief.

As my body progressed to the pushing stage of labor, I felt relatively calm and stress free. I practiced the visualization scripts that the hypnotherapist taught me and I regained a positive outlook that things were going to work out well with the whole birthing experience.

And then the new doctor entered. My doctor apparently had something else that demanded her attention and had to leave. The new doctor announced that it was time to start pushing and she explained that since the baby had a bowel movement, several neo-natal staff members needed to be present for the birth. Not only that, but that if I had not delivered the baby in two hours, she was going to perform a C-section. This was not good news for me. I am a relatively modest person, and I just found out that I was going to give birth in front of a potentially large audience and that I had only two hours to deliver before she would perform a C-section. I became stressed out over the new deadline. My heart began to hammer in my chest, and the monitor proved it.

For thirty minutes I pushed as hard I could, but I made no progress. The ever positive nurse kept repeating that I needed to prepare myself to accept the fact that I may have to have a C-section. Obviously, my fears about child birth were coming true. The anxiety was winning. I continued the relentless pushing. Even though I was striving with great effort to be positive, I could not ignore the knowing look on the nurses’ faces. They were determined that I have a C-section, and I was determined that I would not have one. My breathing continued to speed up and my heart pounded even faster, but I knew that if I focused on the hypnotherapy techniques I would win this.

An hour later, the baby still had not made enough progress. The doctor came in and announced that they were going to start preparing for a C-section. I felt defeated. My heart leapt into my throat as the anxiety I had held just under the surface seized me. My positive thoughts vanished, and I immediately started to panic, but then something clicked. Instead of allowing my thoughts to travel down the path of anxiety, I finally understood the purpose of the hypnotherapy exercises. I was not letting the hypnotherapy really work for me because I was too focused on the noise of the situation. I took a few calming breaths, and my heart repositioned itself back where it belonged. I kept on pushing and then it happened. The baby finally crowned. I heaved a huge sigh of relief and I felt the anxiety drain out of me.

It was through hypnotherapy that my anxiety over child birth was silenced. By analyzing my birthing experience, I discovered that even though I had to continually refocus on the hypnotherapist’s suggestions, I still remained calm and positive for the most part. Not only that, but I did not experience the pain that others have associated with child birth. I have often been asked if I would recommend hypnotherapy for others who are stressed about the birthing experience, and my response has always been yes.

Author: Misty Baker
Website: http://www.InsightJournal.com/