When should you start hypnobirthing classes?

This is a commonly asked question - when should you start hypnobirthing? I advise from twenty weeks plus because the earlier you start, the more time you will have to practice and to listen to my hypnosis MP3s. However, you can still start hypnobirthing towards the end of your pregnancy and feel the benefits.

Hypnobirthing is evidence-based and is suitable for everyone. It really doesn’t matter whether you are a first-time mum or having your third birth, it can still help you to have a positive and calm, confident birth. Hypnobirthing arms you with information about the process and progress of birth and you will learn relaxation techniques, NLP, visualisation, and breathing so that you can remain calm, confident and in control.

You can use what you’ve learned in hypnobirthing for a home birth, a water birth, a hospital birth; you can use what you’ve learned during a vaginal birth, a vaginal birth with intervention, or a caesarean (planned or unplanned).

You can use hypnosis to turn a breach baby! Yes, that’s true. In a 1994 study, 100 pregnant women and matched control group whose foetuses were in breech position at 37-40 weeks’ gestation. 81% of breech babies were successful conversions to a vertex position compared with 48% in the control group. The success was thought to be down to psychophysiological factors which may influence the breech position (Mehl, 1994).

Hypnobirthing mums are less likely to experience postnatal depression, because they feel confident and in control about their birth. However, if you take a hypnobirthing course, you are more likely to have a spontaneous vaginal birth, with reduced need for interventions. Because you will be feeling relaxed, calm and confident, labour tends to be shorter.

So start your hypnobirthing course as soon as you can after 20 weeks gestation but start it when you feel ready. Of course, the earlier you start the more time you will have to practice but any hypnobirthing is better than none.