Hypnobirthing Cheltenham Gloucestershire
As a qualified and registered Confident Childbirth Practitioner, I run my hypnobirthing courses in my private rooms at Maxima Forum, Lansdown Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The successful, bespoke courses are designed to meet individual clients’ needs. My clients prefer the enhanced approach of 'one to one' care and attention at all times. Each session lasts approximately 1 hour and can be further enhanced with personalised CD support between sessions.
Having been present at the birth of both of my daughters I can honestly say that those positive memories are amongst the most precious and inspiring I possess.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if every pregnancy, labour and birth were a positive experience for all new parents?
Client reviews
"David helped me prepare for the birth of my daughter using his confident birthing techniques. They worked fantastically well allowing me to stay calm throughout the experience and deliver a lovely baby girl at home with no need for any pain relief. Myself (and my midwives) were so impressed we would recommend David's techniques to any expectant mother irrespective of the type of birth she is hoping for. The labour and delivery was actually an enjoyable experience and I felt fantastic afterwards. My little girl has also been very calm and easy going from day one. I felt the beneficial effects long before delivery when my blood pressure lowered and stabilised in the weeks before birth. Bizarrely I also (after 30 years of doing it) have stopped biting my nails without being consciously aware of doing so. Think David has helped create one chilled out mummy. Thank you.”
Vivienne W . Hucclecote, Glos.
"I found my confident childbirth sessions incredibly relaxing which was really welcome when I was heavily pregnant. Ther are very calm and nothing to worry about. I also had a bespoke CD so that I could learn to relax totally at home, which gave me 20 minutes of shut off time. I felt incredibly confident about the impending birth, I didn't have any fear just excitement and expectation. The birth was planned to take place at home but I ended up being admitted to hospital where they discovered our baby was back to back. The delivery took place in theatre with a lot of medication. We had a beautiful baby boy named Oscar and despite the 2 day labour I would do it all again in a heart beat. He is our world! Thank you to David for helping me to feel totally relaxed about labour.”
Kelly, Gloucester.
Unfortunately, for many mums-to-be and their partners, anxieties and fears about pain and complications during birth, overshadow what should be one of the most wonderful and happiest events of their lives. It needn’t be like that. Hypnobirthing courses offer a friendly and effective approach to pregnancy, labour and delivery. The benefits of the course also carry on long after the birth of your baby.
Learning to deal with negative talk is a key skill in itself. Listen in to many conversations on birthing and you’ll soon hear the most gruesome story of childbirth ever. For some, their pregnancy and birth experience has to be the worst - but why do you have to let yourself think that’s the norm? Alternatively, you can take a different path and set up the positive experience you wish to have. By participating in a hypnobirthing course here’s your opportunity to do just that with a professionally trained guide with a proven map. Wouldn’t it be marvellous to plan ahead and experience the forthcoming birth in a way that best suits your thoughts and emotions whilst feeling calm, confident, communicating clearly and in control? After all, you know your body better than anyone else.
Hypnobirthing can positively affect not just the quality of mothers’ experience but also the physical outcome. Listed below is a synopsis of the benefits of using hypnobirthing for Mum’s to be. For those attendees who would like to study the clinical evidence in more detail I have provided a selection of objective clinical evidence to illustrate the many proven benefits natal hypnotherapy can bring for all concerned...
Hypnobirthing;
- Reduces fear, tension and pain in the mother and increases her ability to relax mentally and physically – hence reduce the need for pain medication – you’re always in control.
- Reduces use of pain medication - i.e. undesirable post operative effects for mother and baby are also reduced
- Completely natural; no depression of respiratory or circulatory functions in mother or child.
- No interference with normal mechanisms of labour
- Shorter labour minimises maternal exhaustion
- Reduced incidence of instrumental / surgical deliveries (forceps, ventouse and caesarean sections)
- Promotes higher Apgar score
- Shorter hospital stay
- Reduces incidence of post-natal depression
- Promotes lactation
Clinical Evidence
Wales
In a study in Wales by Dr Mary W Jenkins and Dr M.H. Pritchard, Hypnosis: Practical applications and Theoretical Considerations in Normal Labour, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, March 1993, Vol 100 pp 221 – 226.
A five year study, based on data recorded in the labour ward, comparing 252 women who received six sessions of hypnotherapy, with a control group 300, same age to within 2 years. Only normal deliveries included in control group.
- Average length of first stage of labour for first time mothers : 6.4 hours after hypnosis training versus 9.3 hours in the control group ( i.e. no hypnosis training)
- For second child + births 5.3 hrs, compared to 6.2 hrs.
- Pain relief ; first baby, 50%+ had more than 100gm Pethidine, compared with less than 10% of hypnosis group.
- Pain relief ( more than 100gm of Pethidene) for parous women; nearly 60% for controls 33% for hypnosis group.
Toronto
A city wide retrospective survey. Self-referred first time mothers, low risk who had four 2.5 hrs hypnosis sessions, were compared to similar control groups, with variations per hospital noted for the control groups.
- Epidural rates ranged from 40 - 95% versus 18 % for self - hypnotised group
- Caesarean rates 20 – 25% versus 6.7% for self hypnotised group
- Average length of labour for non hypnotised women having first baby – 12 hrs versus 5.5 hrs for the self hypnotised group
Florida
A.A. Martin, P.G. Schauble, The effects of hypnosis on the labour process and birth outcomes of pregnant adolescents. The Journal of Family Practice, May 2001, Vol 50 , No. 5.
In this Florida based study 47, pregnant teenagers were randomly assigned either to supportive counselling or to hypnosis. They received 4 x 1 hr sessions at 2 week intervals. No hypnotherapist was present during the labour and results were entered by unaware obstetrics staff.
- Medical intervention(including induction, forceps, ventouse and Caesarean) : 60% of control group, i.e.12 / 20 patients versus none of the 22 hypnotised group of patients.
- Hospital stay of 2+ days : 40% 8 of control group versus just 1 of the hypnosis group.
Wisconsin
Relaxation techniques v Hypnosis training techniques.
TM Harmon, MT Hynan, TE Tyre, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. In 1990, the benefits of analgesia as an adjunct to childbirth education were studied in 60 nulliparous women ( i.e. women who have not given birth before). Subjects were divided equally into high and low hypnotic susceptibility groups before receiving 6 sessions of childbirth education and skill mastery. Half the subjects in each group received a hypnotic induction at the beginning of each session; the remaining controls received relaxation and breathing exercises typically used in childbirth education. Both hypnotic subjects and highly susceptible subjects reported reduced pain. Hypnotically prepared births had shorter Stage 1 labours, less medication, higher Apgar scores and more frequent spontaneous deliveries than control subjects’ births. Highly susceptible, hypnotically treated women had lower depression scores after birth than women in the other 3 groups.
(With thanks to Jane Hodgkin)
Frequently Asked Questions on Hypnobirthing