What Are The Benefits of Hypnobirthing?
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Kaely Harrod 0:01
Hello and welcome back to Kaely Daily Today's question is what are the benefits of Hypnobirthing?
Kaely Harrod 0:08
This is Kaely Daily, the bi weekly podcast about all things doula Tips and Tits where we answer one question about pregnancy, labor, postpartum, or lactation, in order to have your journey in this parenting world be just a little bit more informed and filled with consent.
Kaely Harrod 0:34
Hello, and welcome back to Kaely daily. I'm Kaely Harrod, your host of this beautiful podcast. And I have another dear friend and guest speaker with me today, Lindsey Beck is one of my Doula mentors and a wonderful Hypno like genius, I'll say, and has a lovely new class all about Hypno birthing. And so she's here to answer the question, what is the benefit of Hypno birthing? And to tell you about her awesome class, because you know, this whole series is about childbirth education options. And so I'm gonna pass it over to Lindsey to tell us a little about herself and about the benefits of Hypno birthing.
Lindsey Vick 1:15
Awesome. Well, hey, Kaely thanks for having me on this morning. I'm happy to talk about Hypno birthing. In fact, that's all I talk about.
Lindsey Vick 1:24
I've been a hypno birthing instructor for a little over 12 years now. And I've taught 1000s and 1000s of families this amazing program, hypnosis is just a state of mind, right? So if we can start from that definition, that hypnosis is a normal state of mind that everybody goes into many times a day, when you're brushing your teeth and daydreaming, you're reading a book and you get so engrossed in what's happening, that you can see yourself there with the characters and you're thinking, Well, I would have said this, and you know, then this happens. And you kind of feel all of these these emotions. That's a form that's the same state of mind as hypnosis is.
Lindsey Vick 2:02
So with Hypno birthing, we're using that state of mind to create positive change in our bodies, to create a sense of control and agency over how our labor unfolds. And that's one of the definitions of a good birth. I refer to this book by Dr. Ann Lyerly, frequently called a good birth. I love that sort of why some of the concepts that she writes about include agency, and when we add control, and when we can have agency and control that results in better birth outcomes that results in more satisfaction from parents with their birth experience. And that is what Hypno birthing seeks to provide folks. Yeah. The benefit, right in a short summary is that people generally have more comfortable births. They often have shorter births and less complicated birth experiences. That doesn't necessarily mean that everybody who has a hypno birthing will have an unmedicated vaginal birth with no intervention. Sometimes there are interventions because you know, life, right? Not everybody's going to have a perfect birth. How would you interpret that birth? Right? It's so much more, so much more. I've had some students over the years who had cesareans or had an unplanned epidural or any kind of variation from their birth preferences. And almost always they come back and they say, I felt like we made good decisions. I felt in control of the decisions we were making. And even though I had a cesarean or even though I had an epidural, it was the right choice for me. And I'm really proud that that's how my labor went. Of course, I wish it had been different, right. But that was the hand of cards that I was dealt, right. And there's peace that comes with that.
Lindsey Vick 3:57
I found hypnobirthing, Kaely, after my first child was born and I take a different childbirth class, which I loved. It was a great class. But I didn't feel like it prepared me for the variations that happened in labor, right. And when I had a big variation, I didn't really know how to process that. Hypno birthing is one of my favorite parts of Hypno birthing is how we help parents reframe how they perceive labor, right? And that's really part of of hypnosis as well. We're able to reframe for our own brain, how our brain interprets sensation. Mm hmm. And if we can reframe how the brain interprets sensation, well, could not mean that we could reframe the sensations of birth as well. That's pretty amazing. Yeah, yeah, these aren't things that happened Kaely overnight. You know, you don't read it and then tomorrow, you're like, I'm a hypnoBirthing queen, right. Practice.
Unknown Speaker 5:00
Yes, it takes practice. And you know, there are some programs where you can learn on your own. Yeah, this is gonna be totally self serving, or at least it will seem self serving, I really recommend taking a class, okay? It doesn't have to be my class, but any heck, these concepts with another person so that you can kind of bounce off of them the expert on what's happening, how you're feeling, and they can give you feedback. Yeah, this is what's supposed to happen. Or, you know, that's actually not supposed to happen that way. Let's retool, let's maybe modify that technique for you a little bit. Let's help you perfect it for you. Yeah, another benefit of Hypno birthing is that it's malleable. We can modify absolutely anything. Right? There's really only a couple ways to do counterpressure. Right, right.
Kaely Harrod 5:54
There are only so many bones in your pelvis.
Lindsey Vick 5:56
Right. But there are a bazillion different ways to use this for birthing. Yep. So yes, there are lots of different classes that are out there on the market. And my new class seeks to kind of fill in the gaps. We have Hypno birthing classes that are super, super rigid, you have to do this this way. And there are others that say, here's a zillion different things you can do figure it out
Lindsey Vick 6:21
from the file, file. Also, there's a right way there's a right way. And if you don't do it that way, you're bad. Or if the outcome isn't how you wanted it. It's your fault. Yeah, yeah. I'm my co founder of Hello birth Hypno birthing, and I wanted to create a program that was inclusive, that spoke to the needs of the people who are birthing babies today, that gave permission for folks to use the program, how they see fit, right? And that yay, is the benefit of hypnosis, right? You can reframe it in a way that works for you. And our birth Hypno birthing class seeks to help parents absorb the information in a way that works for them. So it's true to the definition of hypnosis as well.
Kaely Harrod 7:10
Yeah. I love that. Because I think hypnosis, I feel like Hypno birthing has been a turnoff for some clients who are like, but what if I decide I want an epidural like then am I messing it up? You know? And I'm like, it's not it's never that black and white. Like, it's not that simple. So I love that your class includes a wide variety instead of just like there's this one way, you know, because so much about birth, we can't anticipate until it happens. And you know, this having had two children, you know?
Lindsey Vick 7:42
Yeah, the things I like to say to prospective students of my classes, you know, Hypno birthing is not for the person who's planning an unmedicated vaginal birth at home. It's not for the person who's planning a medicated, you know, Severian in a hospital, it's anybody who is planning to birth the baby. Yeah. However, it is that they're planning to do that. And you see a lot of my students come into class not really knowing what they want. Or they have an idea of what they want, because that's what their mom did, their sister, their friend, their cousin, their co worker, it's not authentically what they want, because they don't yet know what they authentically want. Yeah, do we spend a good deal of time in class sort of exploring all the options?
Kaely Harrod 8:27
Mm hmm.
Lindsey Vick 8:28
And helping folks narrow in on the things that are important to them, their priorities, their vision of their birth, we help crystallize that for them, but not giving them, You know, the vision, you know? Yeah.
Kaely Harrod 8:42
Yeah. Not your vision,
Lindsey Vick 8:43
yeah, with their own vision. And I think that's really neat. It's a neat part.
Kaely Harrod 8:48
It's, I feel like it's so important to have that like, space for people to even imagine that it can look differently like it can, you can have a plan and also have some flexibility around that, right, like, have some like space to move as things unfold. Because I feel like so many, so many folks go into a particular childbirth method thinking, this is like the magic ticket to make my thing happen. And that's not true for any of the methods first of all, but also, it puts so much pressure on you to learn it correctly, or practice it sufficiently or whatever thing. So I love that the framing that you and Jenny have is is more like we're gonna help you like prepare for this experience, not knowing exactly moment by moment, how the experience is going to unfold, you know, and not like if you do it well enough, you're gonna get this experience that you want, you know?
Lindsey Vick 9:46
Yeah. What are the neat things about hypnosis is it the brain absorbs information, and when you repeat that information over and over and over again, and you dig down to the subconscious and repeated over and over again there. The subconscious absorbs that information and relays it back to the conscious mind in real time as though this is a past experience that already happened. So you understand that second time bursts tend to be faster than first time births. Yeah. Why is that? Because there's muscle memory. Yeah. Because they're like, we've done this before. I know I can, yes, mental memory, there's less fear of the experience, because it's already happened. And so with hypnosis, if we can sort of trick the brain into believing that this is a thing you've already done? Yeah. Doesn't anybody say here? Yeah, you already done it. It's not as big of a physical feat because you have muscle memory, because you've already done it. Then that first birth for that person who has absorbed this experience of having already done it can be at birth? Yeah. And that's a beautiful way to describe it. Yeah.
Kaely Harrod 11:03
Yeah, that's awesome. So um, so how, what are your classes like? So I think Lindsey is the person you should do Hypno birthing. For the record. She's my first recommendation always.
Kaely Harrod 11:19
But what are your classes? What are they set up like? Like, are there like, is it a series or you already mentioned, it's taught live? Yeah.
Lindsey Vick 11:25
Yeah. So I do two forms of this class one, live group class online. And the other is an asynchronous self paced option with live touchpoints. So I wanted to go over some on the live group class, I teach several times a year, and it's on Zoom. And so for our four week, class three hours each week, I tried to set it up so that they're consecutive weeks, because we do offer students a practice schedule. So it's technique that we learned in week one, and we ask students to practice that technique each day, the first week, and then we build on those techniques. Throughout the program, I have three main techniques. And so we'll learn those in week one, week two, week three, and sorry, week one, week three, week four, and two, we have less of a technique and more of a practice to deepen relaxation.
Lindsey Vick 12:20
So learn how to apply the first technique in week one. And then they learn deepening skills in week two, that set the stage for the next step several techniques that they'll learn. I'm so in our three hours of class each week, we have a little bit of time to process and share what's been going well, what kinds of things do you might need help with? There's lots of opportunity for interaction with the students. You know, most of us used to teach our classes in person. Yeah, the pandemic changed a lot of that folks are moving going back to in person, but I really love the online format. It's one thing that endemic taught me, so I'm going to continue to teach online. One of the downsides of online childbirth education is the students don't get to form those peer to peer relationships. So Jamie, and I built that into the class. There's lots of opportunity for breakout section sessions. If we have a break time, sometimes the students leave class for breaks, sometimes they stay, they hang out and chat with each other. So I love that part of this course, as well, that it's built in that that relationship building. Yeah.
Lindsey Vick 13:32
In week three, we do a mock birth scene where you didn't get to experience a visualization of birth, and we have their make sure that their their birth companion will be there with them in that class, the class is designed for the person giving birth and their companion. Okay. Sometimes that companion isn't, you know, present or into, you know, couple kinds of relationship. And so the birthing person is there on their own. But we asked that their primary support person, accompany them to week three, where we'll have a guided mock birth, with opportunity for the companion to have an active role. We do patient changes, we do a scenario. We invite them to bring all the supplies that they might need for birth, like their water bottle, their birth balls and pillows. And it's a really fun and enlightening experience. Often our students finish that experience and go, I'm really ready for this. Yeah, light bulb goes off. That's the coolest thing.
Kaely Harrod 14:36
That's my favorite part of teaching. When that happens. You're like, Yes, you are ready. Right.
Lindsey Vick 14:44
It's very cool. and then, the other thing that I really love about this particular classes, we cover the fourth trimester as well. So it's all about newborn care. We learn about care for the postpartum person how to take care of their body but their emotional needs might be how to make sure they have the support system in place to aid that fourth trimester, making sure that everybody's needs are met. So that's awesome. Of how we close our class. Yeah. So then what is the how does the asynchronous asynchronous? Why can I say that word?
Kaely Harrod 15:21
How does that version differ? I guess two questions about it. How does it differ? And, and are those like touchpoints? Personal where it's just you? And the couple? Or is it like group? touchpoints?
Lindsey Vick 15:32
Yeah, great, great question. So let's start with that word, asynchronous. Three years ago, I had no idea what that word meant. And to be honest, almost six months into the pandemic, while my children were doing asynchronous classes. I was like, what does that mean? It means on your own, but sort of in combination with others who are doing the same thing?
Kaely Harrod 15:58
Okay.
Lindsey Vick 15:59
So my asynchronous class offers the videos of class. So I recorded one of my live group classes, students for the asynchronous option get for three hour videos, each of the four classes that are taught in the helo perfect no birthing program at the same guidebook that all my students get, and the same digital materials that all my students get, our students of this program have an app that they can access that has an audio library, it has a digital book that's interactive, it's really, really advanced and sophisticated, really neat. As well, I know, this is part of why I'm so excited about. I'm gonna give my birth companion here, my business companion, all of the credit for that she did an amazing job. In getting those digital materials ready, I wrote and recorded the scripts for the hypnosis audio library, and that's pretty awesome as well. So everybody gets access to the same materials. Okay? Live students will attend class with me and their peers together live, my asynchronous students will watch the video on their own on their own time. And then they schedule a one hour touchpoint with me after each video. Okay, where weeks of videos for one hour touch points. And it's just me. So it's my time and my students time, individually. And we'll talk about you know, what did you get out of this week's class? What questions do you have that weren't answered? Let's talk about how you are experiencing this material and the techniques, let's make sure that they are working for you. If not, we have time in a group class, we only have 10 students, we might not have time for each individual student in class to have all their questions answered. I see my students as part of my larger business family. So in class is just that it's just our time in class, if there are things outside of class that they might need, you know, a little conversation about how things are going for them. I'm always available to chat with them. Yeah. In the asynchronous option, we have that opportunity during those touch points to have that kind of more intimate conversation about how this is working for them, and how they might apply this material in the birth facility that they've chosen. And with the provider that they've chosen. Yeah, for those students who are local, I probably know their provider having been for so long. A lot of my students are across the country. I have students right now in Colombia. So I don't know their providers out there. I've had students as far away as California and Hawaii. I'm Florida, New Hampshire, Texas, North Carolina.
Kaely Harrod 19:02
Yeah, that's awesome, too, because I know not everyone who listens to this podcast is DC local. So that means people have a chance to work with you no matter where they live, which is amazing.
Lindsey Vick 19:13
Yeah, my students who are out of the area, I do try to tap into the local birth community there. So for instance, if they're looking for a maternity based chiropractor, I might be able to help find that in their areas needed. If they're looking for doula in their area, I can probably help them that as well.
Kaely Harrod 19:32
Yeah. I love that the fact that we have some of those networks nationwide and worldwide to be able to be like, Hey, I have a student like, right, someone that you actually know and love, because you're Googling just like them otherwise, yeah, so Right, right.
Lindsey Vick 19:47
Yeah, that network is super key.
Kaely Harrod 19:49
Yeah, that's awesome. Well, um, I want to leave some resources for listeners to connect with you. And aside from your classes do you have like, freebies or anything else that you want people to know about?
Lindsey Vick 20:04
Sure, if they go on to my website, which is sunflowers wellness.com. They scroll around to the Hypno birthing page, which is also just slash Hypno. Birthing. They can scroll down to the bottom of the page and download our Hello birth Hypno birthing, positive pregnancy affirmations, maybe 15 minute mp3 That gives you a flavor and a sample of the kind of material and messages and ideas that are part of this class.
Kaely Harrod 20:37
That's awesome.
Lindsey Vick 20:38
That that list of affirmations, it was all my favorite concepts about birth and pregnancy.
Kaely Harrod 20:45
Yeah, that's amazing. I also love that because I think hypnosis one of the things that can be really great about it is that you're listening to the same person often, you know, like you have the same voice. But if that voice and person doesn't resonate well with you, that's not helpful, you know?
Lindsey Vick 21:02
That's right.
Kaely Harrod 21:03
You get a really good sense of like, this is what Lindsey sounds like, and these tracks.
Lindsey Vick 21:09
And I hope people like how my voice sounds good. Get a lot of feedback on that. Oh, yeah. In addition to being hypnobirthing instructor, I'm also a Hypnotherapist. I often hear back from clients that my Voice is so soothing.
Kaely Harrod 21:26
I mean, I feel like that, like I bet you'd be amazing.
Lindsey Vick 21:31
Okay, you need those positive pregnancy information.
Kaely Harrod 21:36
I feel like I'm gonna turn them into positive doula information.
Lindsey Vick 21:39
Oh, there you go. That's another neat part of hypnosis is that you can, you can substitute out a word or phrase if it doesn't really apply to you. For instance, in those affirmations, there are also affirmations about birth and cremation in our present state. Right. And I am or I do, or I feel, not in the future, I will, right. Yeah, maybe for some people as they're listening, they might think, Well, wait, I'm not in labor yet. Mm hmm. And that's, that's a normal response to have. So for those people, I would say, just accept that this is in the this is a future state. Right? Yeah. Change that language. You can hear what it is that you want to hear from parents. How many times have you told your kids? Oh, you just heard what you wanted to hear?
Kaely Harrod 22:29
Yeah, you're not actually listening to my whole thing!
Lindsey Vick 22:34
Right!
Lindsey Vick 22:36
Yeah, so you can use that to our advantage in this case?
Lindsey Vick 22:40
Exactly. Welcome, anybody to come and download it, and got some feedback on it. I'd love to hear that as well.
Kaely Harrod 22:47
Yeah, of course, I'll make sure that all those links are in the shownotes. So you all have can easily connect with Lindsey. I do highly recommend her classes. And I'm looking forward to one day training even with her. So that's a future goal of mine.
Lindsey Vick 23:02
Yeah, we've got our second educators training coming up at the end of this week. I'm really excited about that.
Kaely Harrod 23:10
Yeah, I'm so pumped for you and also like a tiny bit jealous that I can't do this round. But it makes absolutely no sense in my life to do it.
Lindsey Vick 23:19
Well when it does, I'm sure we'll see you.
Kaely Harrod 23:21
Yes, yes. Well, thank you again, for giving us this bit of your time. I know the listeners will find it so helpful. For everyone listening, this is not yet the last bit of our childbirth, Ed. So we have a few more episodes left in this series. And then we'll be moving on from there. But please do send me questions that you have. I would love to add your question to the list for this semester this semester. I'm so stuck in school this series and in the meantime, we wish you well informed consent filled births.
Kaely Harrod 23:53
These episodes are edited and produced by Kaely. For rod as I'm sure you can probably tell, and our amazing music is credited in the show notes as well. So we look forward to seeing you on the next episode. And in the meantime, have a wonderful in consent filled birth.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
I’m joined this week by one of my mentors in this world of birth and I am so honored to share her knowledge with you all!
Today’s Episode dives into Hypnobirthing. What is it, why is it helpful during birth and in other ways? HelloBirth is the new program that Lindsey is the cofounder of and this program not only emphasizes birth, but also preparation for all the variety of things that can come up in the midst of delivery. It does not shy away from teaching possible changes to plans or even give you a specific plan to begin with. Lindsey and her co-founder Jenny both work hard to create a space for parents to discern what they want their plan to be without crafting that for their students or trying to fit them into a mold.
Quote from Lindsey “I've had some students over the years who had cesareans or had an unplanned epidural or any kind of variation from their birth preferences. And almost always they come back and they say, I felt like we made good decisions. I felt in control of the decisions we were making.”
MEET OUR GUEST:
Hi, I’m Lindsey! I’m the founder of Sunflowers Healing and Wellness and co-founder of HelloBirth® Hypnobirthing. I am a Birth Doula and Doula Mentor, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Usui Reiki Master-Teacher, and HelloBirth® Hypnobirthing Instructor. I also train and certify birth doulas and childbirth instructors.
Since 2009 I’ve been working with hypnosis and have seen first-hand the power of the mind to positively alter a person’s emotional, physical, and mental states. I believe that true healing can begin when both the mind and body release negative energy to accept positive change. As a former corporate and management consultant, I also bring a structured understanding of problem-solving and excel in helping match tools and solutions to client needs.
I have a passion for helping people achieve satisfying birthing experiences derived from my own personal experience. I’m the proud mother of two children, the firstborn via cesarean in 2006, the second, a HypnoBirthing® baby, born at home in 2010.
A graduate of Wellesley College (Economics & Urban Studies), I studied hypnosis with the National Guild of Hypnotists, the National Association of Transpersonal Hypnotherapists, the HypnoBirthing® Institute, and Birth Arts International. My Reiki Master lineage is six degrees separated from Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of modern Usui Reiki.
RESOURCES
CONNECT with Lindsey
https://www.instagram.com/sunflowerswellness/
Hello Birth Classes:
FREE OXYTOCIN GUIDE:
6 Ways to Increase Oxytocin for Labor Progression
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/free-guide-6-oxytocin-tips
CONNECT with Kaely on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/
This podcast is hosted by the Birth Prep Blueprint - comprehensive Childbirth Education for expectant parents to feel calm, prepared and confident about labor and birth. Podcast listeners (that’s YOU!) get 10% off! Use the link below to get that great deal!
https://thebirthprepblueprint.com/offers/884d5a56-9089-4482-a944-6bb7c26c9b04
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
