Any doctor, midwife, doula, or birth book will suggest that relaxation is one of the greatest tools to help a laboring woman. Yet, in our fast paced society many pregnant women are pressured to “do more” or “up their game” during pregnancy to prepare for baby, work, and the family. This can leave us feeling like a bundled bunch of nerves or like there just isn’t time to relax. However, when we can create the mindset to slow our pace and find some winding down time every day, it greatly helps the mother and baby in many profound ways. It can assist the baby in fetal development and also helps prepare the mother to find her own productive pace for birth. HypnoBirthing is a program designed to help women find the much needed “me time” for pregnancy. It is a constructive restful time to assist the nervous system in preparation for birth. HypnoBirthing is a way to go into labor with a calmer mindset that allows the mother to dial into her own powerful birthing instincts. HypnoBirthing will look different for each woman.

Birth is like a pair of jeans. It’s going to look different for every woman. There are tons of jeans. There is no right or wrong way to have a baby. Really. We can’t plan for everything that will happen in our labor but we can prepare ourselves for birth. One of the best tools to prepare is learning how to fully surrender and tune into the body. Hypnosis is one way to do that.

Are you longing for a childbirth education program that is something more than the “phases and stages” of labor? Then, you may find yourself wanting to be a hypnosis mama. Knowing the phases and stanges is helpful and important, yet the truth is women don’t think their babies out. Knowing your “numbers” in labor doesn’t really do much.

Babies are usually born when the mother can “let go”. HypnoBirthing is a class that is more than a discussion of pain management. It’s a class that helps to cultivate how to “let go.” HypnoBirthing provides practical practice so moms will learn the highly effective method of deep relaxation for birth and how to assist, instead of resist, the birthing body. HypnoBirthing helps both moms and partners have a game plan and a positive attitude for birth. With five hypnosis sessions, women and families learn to release limiting thoughts. Essentially, women are guided to work with their own minds and tune inward. Dad’s and partners often benefit greatly from the relaxation practices done in class as well. You guessed it, the baby benefits from all this relaxing as well.

Do the classes cover the basics about birth?

Yes. The classes also prepare women and families with information on:

• the hallmarks of labor, various comfort measures, and the best positions for birth.

• how to listen to their body with confidence and to conserve energy with a relaxed state of focus.

• the function of the nervous system, the operating system for the body, in relation to birth.

• the natural expulsive reflex to bring baby out, rather than an outdated, coached style of pushing.

• how partners can support mom during labor

• the importance of skin to skin with baby after birth and basics on breastfeeding after birth

• different types of care providers and how to select the right one for their family and key questions to ask care providers.

What are some of the benefits of the HypnoBirthing method?

HypnoBirthing does not guarantee a particular outcome, but it does promise that using relaxation techniques will help greatly. Some women have found that using the HypnoBirthing method has resulted in a faster and shorter labor and birth. Many women have also found it helped them remain calm and resulted in an easier and more peaceful experience. It has also helped families feel more connected with their baby and paved the way for a positive parenting journey.

What is one thing that makes Candice Enriquez HypnoBirthing unique from other childbirth classes?

What makes our HypnoBirthing class unique from other childbirth classes are the one on one, in-­person guided hypnosis sessions with a skilled hypnotherapist. Parents leave the class feeling excited to greet their baby and grounded in the knowledge of birth. The exercises in the HypnoBirthing book quickly become tangible tools and exponentially better when practiced in class rather than read alone. Also, a key feature is the focus on connecting with the baby in hypnosis and allowing this connection to guide mom during birth. This connection is THE motivation for birth! Yes, you can communicate with your baby.

Hypnosis works with emotions and motivation. It can target the root cause of many mental blockages. It can also reduce tension in the body. Stress stored in the body can affect the labor process. Working with the subconscious is a powerful and natural way to bring about a clearer mindset, positive attitude, and powerful body awareness.

Our subconscious holds our conditioning. We may have been conditioned to believe we are less than, not good enough, or bad. For women in our culture, our minds are bombarded with messages about body image. We grow up conditioned to believe we are; not thin enough, not curved enough in the right places, not young enough, not beautiful enough. We are reinforcing the advertising campaign dollars. We are also conditioned to be “good girls” when we are young. This so often creates tension in the area of the throat where we hold all we don’t say because we want to be “nice”. Additionally, women are often considered to be “bitchy” if they do speak up and are assertive and can alternatively create a “wall” to make it past those criticisms. The way we view women in our culture is with a sexual schism that ends up permeating every branch of our lives including birth. How we see ourselves as women, the role of motherhood, our bodies, sexual expression, and our connection to our baby are layers in the subconscious that impact pregnancy and birth.

Unhelpful beliefs can be like background apps open on our phone continually using up precious energy and draining our battery. If we can remove erroneous beliefs we can move into more of what we want and need. With hypnosis we can heal the mind and body together, to move us in the direction we wish. Also, with every mother-directed birth the baby holds the experience of birth in her (or his) subconscious mind.

Hypnosis specifically for labor is extremely powerful because birth is intricately linked with a women’s emotions. Hypnosis works with the part of the brain that governs feelings, motivation, and imagination. No matter how intelligent we are, we can’t think our babies out. Being aware of what our emotional state is and our patterns of response, allows us to be a grounded observer of the situation. Hypnosis done in class can help one to see this “birds eye view” to help women gain a deeper awareness and heightened sense of focused. The result is less scattered thinking and a greater sense of purpose This deep knowingness and strength is the place where women go to in labor. In many ways, the hypnosis is laying the foundation for women to reach the deepest personal inner resources that will be involved in labor.

In a world of consumerism, junk screen light, and instant everything, hypnosis is a method of reaching the inner self. Knowing this place and being able to access it easily circumvents fear. Ultimately, HypnoBirthing gives birth back to women.