Mindful Hypnobirthing: Hypnosis and Mindfulness Techniques for a Calm and Confident Birth

by Sophie Fletcher

Overview

Hypnotherapist and doula Sophie Fletcher shares with you the secrets to a safe, natural, and positive birth. Using a powerful combination of mindfulness, hypnosis and relaxation techniques, Sophie will ensure you feel genuinely excited and completely prepared for birth. With stories from women who have successfully used the tools in this audiobook, as well as exclusive hypnosis and relaxation tracks, discover how to use your mind and body together to stay focused and in control, draw on visualization and breathing techniques to help birth progress, and feel positive and empowered, before, during and after you give birth. Reassuring, practical and based entirely on what works, Mindful Hypnobirthing is your essential guide to giving birth the way you want to.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786140609
Publisher:	Random House UK
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged
Pages:	1
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 5.75(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sophie Fletcher is the founder of hypnobirthing company Mindful Mamma, which teaches expectant mothers hypnosis and mindfulness techniques for birth. She is a qualified clinical hypnotherapist, doula and accredited supervisor with the National Council for Hypnotherapy. 

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

How to Use this Book 3

Part 1 Preparation and Pregnancy

1 What is Mindful Hypnobirthing? 7

Hypnosis and Mindfulness 8

Hypnosis for Birth 10

Your Conscious and Unconscious Mind 12

Mindfulness for Birth 14

The Perfect Combination for a Positive Birth 16

Benefits in Pregnancy 17

What Will my Midwife Think? 18

2 The Benefits of a Mindful Hypnobirth 20

Benefits for Mum 20

Benefits for Dad 25

Benefits for Baby 26

3 Getting Ready for a Mindful Hypnobirth 29

Getting your Birth Brain into Condition 29

Practice Makes Perfect 31

Setting your Birth Intention 34

Listening to your Hypnosis Tracks 36

4 Getting to Know your Birthing Zone 39

Are You an Animal or a Human? 40

The Chattering Chimp 41

Discovering your Birthing Zone 43

5 Letting Go of Fear and Anxiety 50

Your Body: the Perfect Machine 51

Helpful Hormones 52

How Fear Can Slow Down Birth 56

Expectation, Anxiety, Fear and Pain 58

Creating your Blank Birth Canvas 63

Letting Go of your Fears 65

6 Creating Positive Birth Beliefs 69

Will your Internal Beliefs Hinder or Help You? 70

Changing External Messages 71

Changing Internal Messages 74

Birth Affirmations 75

Sit Back, Relax and Let Hypnotic Suggestion Do it for You 77

7 The Power of Visualisation for Birth 79

You Can Change what You Feel 81

Creating your own Visualisation 83

I Find it Hard to Visualise - Will it Still Work for Me? 85

8 Your Birth Belongs to You 87

Who Supports You in your Birth? 88

What Does Being in Control Mean to You? 91

Understanding Choices about Care 94

Will You Roar like a Lioness or Be Quiet as a Cat? 98

9 Birth Preferences 101

How to Write Mindful Hypnobirth Preferences 102

Tailoring your Preferences to your Local Guidelines 107

10 Birth Space, Relaxing Space 109

What Makes a Great Birth Space? 110

Who Makes a Birth Space Great? 116

Where You Choose to Birth 117

11 Turning a Birth Partner into a Hypnobirth Partner 125

Should a Man Be at the Birth? 125

Dads Have Choices too 126

Preparing Emotionally 127

Three Different Roles, in One 128

The Practical Partner 129

The Protective Partner 130

The Mindful Partner 133

I'm Afraid of Seeing my Partner in Pain 137

12 When Will I Go into Labour? 141

The Final Weeks of Pregnancy 141

How your Hormones Shift from Pregnancy to Birth 142

What Triggers Labour? 145

What Can I Do to Support my Body? 147

Part 2 Birth

13 This is it! Signs that Labour has Started 151

How Will I Know Labour Has Begun? 152

Braxton Hicks and Warming up 153

Tuning in to the Rhythm of Labour 154

Managing your Contractions 158

When Do I Call the Midwife? 164

14 My Baby's Nearly Here! 168

What Happens Now? 168

An Undisturbed Birth 170

A Medicalised Birth 171

Will the Hypnosis Really Work? 178

Final Stages of Labour 185

Breathe your Baby into the World 190

Meeting your Baby 191

The Third Stage 192

15 When Things Take a Different Path 194

Low-lying Placenta 195

Baby's Position: Breech and Posterior 196

Premature Rupture of Membranes (PROM) 197

Raised Blood Pressure 198

Going over your Dates 199

Pre-term Labour 201

Caesarean Birth 203

Part 3 Welcoming Your Baby to the Family

16 Welcome Home 207

The Fourth Stage 207

Keeping Centred in those Early Weeks 209

Birth Stories 213

Glossary 227

Resources 232

Acknowledgements 235

Index 236