The good old epidural. Apparently the answer to all your pain? The most talked about pain-relief method I reckon. They generally work well and are totally necessary in some cases, but why is an epidural stopping you from doing hypnobirthing?
One of the things I hear about surrounding hypnobirthing is that women aren't going to try that, because they want an epidural. She wants all the drugs. She doesn't care what she is given, she just wants it all. She wants NO PAIN. A medical birth. By that point, she doesn't give a damn. JUST GIVE ME THE PAIN RELIEF.
Fair enough. If you can make an informed decision, you can have the pain relief. But there stands the issues.
1. If you are demanding drugs, not giving a monkey's and in excruciating pain, are you really considering your options and being informed? Probs not. Some drugs come with serious potential effects which you may not be aware of yet.
2. How do you know that you will want drugs when you are in the throws of labour and going to give birth? You aren't there yet.
3. Why are you going to be in pain in the first place? Are you setting yourself up for it? Who told you that? There will be a reason, which I spoke about in my previous post HERE.
4. Hypnobirthing doesn't claim to be a method of pain relief. Taking a course does not mean you are committing to a hippy dippy, whale music, home water birth, with no drugs, sitting naked in the pool and not letting anywhere near you. I know this is what you are imagining when I say 'hypnobirthing'. (I realise this is some people's reality and I have seen some beautiful births like this, but it really is NOT what hypnobirthing is all about. Sense the sarcasm). It commits you to giving birth wherever you want, being in control, understanding your body and how to optimise it's use, in order to birth effectively. Making proper choices and having a positive birth.
5. By taking a hypnobirthing course, you won't be told to forget your idea of having an epidural. That is fine by me, if you understand all your options. Put it in your box of potential tools, on the birth plan as a possibility. Awesome! You may not want it or need it when the moment comes. Even more so if you have tried hypnobirthing. You gain so many tools for controlling your comfort, that an epidural might not be what you want or be necessary. That said, it might be the best thing since sliced bread! But you don't know that yet.
Why am I telling you this?
The biggest misconception of hypnobirthing is that it is all natural. Only the home birth women will benefit. You can't have ALL THE DRUGS. I don't work that way. I understand that birth isn't perfection. Things happen. Things don't always go how you plan. Not everyone wants a home water birth, nor is it the safest option for everyone.
The majority of people DO give birth in hospital. People do need caesareans sometimes. People have health problems! We should not become brain washed into thinking things are always perfect. BUT. There is no reason why you can't be supported to have your best birth, whatever that is.
The priority is supporting you to birth in the place that you feel comfortable, you are happy with your choices and options and you have the tools in your toolbox to use as and when you need them. It just so happens that hypnobirthing women feel less of a desire to use medical methods to control their discomfort. By the end of the course, epidural die-hards know there are other options and generally give birth without using them!
My final question for you to consider is, what made you so set on having the epidural/drugs in the first place, before you are even in labour? Someone else's experience? Your previous experience? Fear? One Born Every Minute? This is a unique birth. Chat to me!
Contact me here if you want to get in on the hypnobirthing magic or have any questions!
Hannah x