On this page you can find evidence of real people having positive births using hypnobirthing techniques. They have shared with me their positive birth stories and have allowed me to share their stories with you. Reading the stories on this page is a great way to start surrounding yourself with positive messages about birth!
Sian's Story
I knew as soon as I was pregnant that hypnobirthing was something I wanted to explore, having heard about it on a podcast a couple of years before. I decided to do an online hypnobirthing course during my pregnancy and also read some books on hypnobirthing. As I learnt more about hypnobirthing it made a huge amount of sense to me and I found learning about the science behind it and how it affects what is going on in your body fascinating and being quite science minded that bit made complete sense to me. One thing I was sure of was that I wanted a hospital birth, for me being in hospital felt safe compared to being at home, I wanted the safety of being near medical professionals if they were needed.
In the lead up to my birth I practised breathing techniques, listened to positive affirmations and meditations. My husband also watched some of the videos from the course that were relevant and was aware of the breathing techniques so he could help me use these during labour. Towards the end of my pregnancy I was feeling very positive and actually quite excited to experience labour and birth!
My labour ended up being very quick and very intense and there were moments where I felt like I was losing control and couldn’t do it. However, during those moments was when I found hypnobirthing most helpful and that was where my husband was able to remind me of my breathing, count my breaths for me and bring me back into a calm mindset of feeling in control. I found it really helpful that the breathing gave me something to focus on and the affirmations of knowing each contraction brought me closer to meeting my baby and that my body could do this kept me going.
I was really hoping to have a water birth, but due to having meconium in my waters I wasn’t able to. The labour and birth in were quite far removed from what I would have ideally wanted and ended with an assisted delivery and my daughter going to the neonatal unit soon after delivery. However, during the whole experience I felt positive, calm and able to make decisions that I felt were best for me and my baby. Even though it wasn’t what I had imagined I came out feeling that we had had such a positive, beautiful experience and this is hugely down to hypnobirthing allowing us to stay focused and calm even as things became more complex and more assistance was needed. I think what also helped with this was although I made birth preferences, I also went in very open minded and aware that things could change and I didn’t have a strict birth plan, which meant that when things took a different direction I didn’t find this too difficult and was able to remain calm.
One of the biggest benefits of hypnobirthing for us was how much it helped my husband. He does not like hospitals and I think was genuinely quite concerned he would faint during labour! However, by watching the videos on the course and learning more about what would be happening in my body and the techniques I wanted to use, it gave him an important role and something to focus on which I think helped him hugely and allowed him to also have a positive experience.
I’ve since gone on to have another baby and had another very quick and very intense labour, but by using my hypnobirthing techniques was again able to have a very calm, positive birth and this time needed no intervention and was able to experience skin to skin with my baby straight afterwards which I hadn’t been able to first time round.
My big piece of advice would be don’t write it off if you think it might not be for you because it’s a bit “hippy”. If you have a brain that likes logic and science the more you explore the more it will make sense to you! And also be aware you can use hypnobirthing anywhere - I think depending on what you read, home birth can be mentioned a lot alongside hypnobirthing. However, as I said, for me I felt safe in hospital and the midwives were hugely supportive of me using my hypnobirthing techniques and helped me turn the space into the calm environment I wanted and allowed me to get on with it without unnecessary interruption.
Overall, I can’t imagine having done either of my births without hypnobirthing. I wouldn’t look back and say my births were pain free or easy, but I do look back and feel I had 2 positive births where I felt in control and calm - or in the moments where this slipped I knew the hypnobirthing techniques to get back to feeling in control. I recommend hypnobirthing to anyone preparing to give birth.
Tabitha's Story
I am a first time Mum and in my last trimester my husband and I, following the advice of my midwife, read up about hypnobirthing and followed some videos/accounts online. I really wanted to have a good understanding of breathing techniques before going into labour as I know these are powerful in staying relaxed. I wasn't too keen on learning all the biological bits about my body, however I found understanding the different stages of labour helpful and I made sure I understood enough about interventions etc. so I could make informed choices.
The night before my due date I had had some niggles that labour might be starting and then I had a show in the morning. My labour properly started with my waters breaking at home at 5pm on due date, in fact I was taking a nap so it was a bit of a shock! We phoned the hospital and went in for a check as I wasn't sure what colour my waters were. The hospital check was fine and they sent me home. Almost immediately my contractions started and I spent the rest of the evening at home, using breathing to manage the discomfort. My husband timed the contractions and my Mum helped me keep my breathing controlled and light through each contraction. I couldn't get comfortable resting or lying down so I tried to keep moving and upright so gravity could do its job. We kept phoning the birth unit at the hospital every so often to check when to come in. At about midnight they asked us to come in. They checked me and I was only 3cm at this point. They were concerned that baby's heart rate was a little high so I got hooked up to the monitor for an hour or so. This was a bit uncomfortable managing contractions and not being able to move very far, whilst worried about baby's heart rate. I relied on breathing and used "rectangle breathing" to help me focus. I vomited from the pain so was given paracetamol and codeine tablets. Once the midwife was happy with baby's heart rate, my husband and I got moved to a private room.
For the next 4 hours or so, I kept contracting and using breathing to cope as it became more intense. I sat on a birthing ball which was surprisingly comfortable. At 5am I was getting a bit exhausted and fed up so asked the midwife to check me again. I was now 5-6cm so they said I could move to the birthing pool. Once in the pool, everything felt different and changed. I remember my husband saying to me "do you need to do your down breathing?" so I did and I started pushing.
"My body just totally took over and I felt very much in the zone as I started pushing and making noises that I didn't know I could make!"
I was always worried I'd be embarrassed in the pool but I honestly didn't care at all about how I looked or what might be coming out of me. My husband gave me gas and air and about an hour later, my baby's head came out. I kept pushing but baby wasn't coming. I was unaware at this point of what was going on around me but my husband said the midwives had to pull a cord to bring in the emergency team as a precaution. I was then taken out of the pool by the midwives as the room filled with people and I was directed to the bed. I remember being vaguely aware of all the people around me and remember feeling comforted. They repositioned me and baby came out! I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl weighing 9 pound 5. I had already agreed to having the injection for the placenta and I'm glad I did because it came out quickly and easily almost straight after baby.
The staff in the birthing unit were absolutely incredible and my husband kept me going and was my support throughout.
Emily's Story
I had heard of hypnobirthing just from my friends who have had babies. However, I didn't really know much about it. It was only when my community midwife kept telling me that I needed to think about the birth and what I wanted as at 28 weeks I was still brushing it off. That was because I was scared of giving birth, every time I thought about it I felt anxious because of stories I had heard or read. I knew at that point that I needed to change my mindset and my community midwife recommended hypnobirthing to me.
Coincidentally, I was given a hypnobirthing book and after reading it I no longer felt scared about giving birth and felt more relaxed and even a bit excited. As my partner did not want to get involved (he was dreading the birth as he hates blood etc) and isn't the best under emotionally involved situations, we decided to get a doula as I knew I needed someone at the birth to advocate what I wanted who isn't emotionally involved. Our doula is a retired midwife so we felt at ease having someone there who is experienced and can give an independent opinion.
The breathing techniques got me through the contractions, by concentrating on breathing it helped to take my mind off them keeping me calm. I was also either on all fours or in the bath listening to a hypnobirthing playlist on Spotify. Both helped me ride out labour as long as possible at home, as well as our doula as I think we would have ended up going to hospital earlier if it wasn't for her. When we arrived I was 9cm dilated.
Hypnobirthing enabled me to give birth without any pain relief. I also think having a doula helped to keep both me and my partner more calm as she knew my birth plan and also knew what I would and would not agree to if we had to deviate from it.
I would highly recommend hypnobirthing, even if I was going to have a c-section I would use the breathing techniques I have learned to help keep me more clam and as relaxed as possible.
I would also recommend a doula as I definitely would not of had the natural birth I wanted without her there. Plus she was on hand for the first couple of weeks and we would have been lost without her!
