Hypno-Birthing
Every woman who enters the delivery room can be helped by hypnosis and many can have complete freedom from discomfort. I believe that the ideal time for conditioning the patient is about the sixth month.
In my pre-talk, here is the kind of talk I suggest giving expectant mothers: you are here for a very important reason – so that you can have your baby without feeling a thing, so you can have your baby with a great big smile on your face, so that you won't feel a thing, and the delivery of your baby will be a wonderful experience.
There is only one thing that will interfere with a pain free delivery and that is fear. Fear causes insecurity and there is a need, desire and want to be secure. Fear immobilizes, when you are relaxed, you can't experience fear.
You may wonder – what is hypnosis? All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. There are many definitions for hypnosis. Dr. Bernheim in the late eighteen hundreds called it heightened suggestion. Some say it is a communication of ideas to the unconscious. The definition I like is-hypnosis is a state of mind whereby you by pass the critical factor, and replace it with selective thinking. The selective thinking can be that you will hardly feel anything.
When the time comes, you will have been conditioned for a pain-free delivery. At the time of delivery you must be absolutely free of fear and worry. There should be only one thought on your mind – that in a little while you are going to see your baby — the baby you have been waiting for.
I want you to know if anything is bothering you, you should tell me about it. Is it possible that you won't get the state that we're working for now? I don't know that is up to you. You must give your consent, and follow the instructions. Please get rid of anything on your lap or in your hands. If you have to go to the bathroom go now. All right, we will now get started. Please follow my instructions, and you will have a wonderful experience ahead of you.
Now the doctor or mid-wife can begin preparing the patient for hypnotic delivery. This can be done individually or with a group of women. The first thing that you must do is to get the patients into true somnambulism or the instructions that follow will be ineffective. It is only in true somnambulism that the patients will accept these suggestions.
There are three parts – 1. Eye lock, 2. Relaxation, 3 Numerical amnesia. In somnambulism we have both physical and mental relaxation. The induction is as follows. Now take a long deep breath and hold it for a few seconds. As you exhale this breath allow your eyes to close. Just let your body relax as much as possible right now.
Now, place your awareness on your eye muscles and relax the eye muscles around your eyes to the point that they won't work. Now when your are sure that they won't work, then test them to make sure that they won't work. When you test them, with your eyes closed, allow your eye lashes to go up and down (three times) so just let this quality of relaxation flow through your whole body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. Now we can deepen this relaxation much more.
In a moment, I am going to have you open and close your eyes and allow the warm relaxation to flow from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. Now open and close your eyes and allow that warm relaxation to flow from the top of your head to the tip of your toes double the relaxation. Now, once more allow the warm relaxation to flow from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. Double the relaxation once again. Each time you do this you will do better and better. Let us test the relaxation. In a moment, I am going to lift your hand by the wrist just a few inches and drop it, and it will plop down. Let me do the lifting.
You have already proved that you can relax physically, now let me show you how to relax mentally. In a moment I am going you ask you to begin slowly counting backwards, out loud, from 100. With each number you say let your mind become twice as relaxed. Now if you do this, by the time you reach 98 or less you will have relaxed all the rest of the numbers out of your mind.
Now, say the first number 100 and double your mental relaxation. The numbers are fading, disappearing 99 twice as relaxed, all gone lights out. They are completely gone.