Wow Andrea, I was also a bit surprised by your response, and it certainly stirred me up enough to respond. My third birth was a hypno-birth state, and whilst I didn't experience pain in the same way I did with my first two births, I was by no means disassociated with the birthing process, in fact I found myself more attuned to it because I wasn't focusing on the pain. It was a really interesting experience for me, and surprised me that I wasn't feeling the pain in the same way, the tightenings were real, I felt my baby descend, I felt my baby kick, I felt and experienced more in that birth that I ever had, and it wasn't through mindless or mindful distraction, rather a state of being. During this particular pregnancy I had a wonderful midwife who really helped me to work on myself emotionally and helped me to come to terms with many stressful events that were happening at the time. Thank goodness she did, because by the time I was ready to birth, I was able to totally surrender to the process. Maybe that was why I experienced a pain free birth, or maybe it wasn't? But the interesting point I wanted to make was that I naturally put myself in a hypnotic state - with no guidance from anyone! So it made me ask the question, if it is possible for a woman to do that, then what does it take for her body to surrender and resppond in a way that does not involve the use of pain. If I was to have a fourth child, it would be interesting to see if I would have the same experience! Any other stories out there? I personally see this as a very important role of the carer/educator/supporter to be a friend and listen to these women, help reframe things in their lives, and if there is a need for more specialised psychological care, then at least they are aware neough to be able to refer that woman on, otherwise no one would even know, had their 'minds,' not even been acknowledged. It is too easy to discount theories about pain and women in labour (because a man came up with the idea!) without asking the question - 'how does that happen?' Lots to think about Tracey
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Andrea Robertson Sent: Friday, 31 October 2003 1:34 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [ozmidwifery] Hypnobirthing I've been following the discussion about hypnobirthing with interest as this is a topic I wrote about in one of my Diary entries back in September. I won't go into my reservations here, but you can read what I have said here: http://www.birthinternational.com/diary/index.html Look for the entry on September 17 (click on the calendar date) I expect that this will fuel the discussion a bit more.... Andrea ----- Andrea Robertson Birth International * ACE Graphics * Associates in Childbirth Education e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.birthinternational.com -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
