You have discovered through our previous articles with Ingrid Regorsek, hypnotherapist: hypnosis supports every stage of motherhood, from the desire to have a child to the months following birth. By acting on confidence and emotional management, it helps expectant mothers experience their pregnancy with maximum serenity. Far from being just a relaxation tool, it enables you to mobilize your energies, both conscious and unconscious, to go through this period with increased confidence and well-being.
But it is especially during childbirth that hypnosis truly becomes an internal lifeline. Thanks to hypnoanesthesia and hypnoanalgesia techniques, it helps modulate the perception of pain and promote a smoother labor. By preparing your mind for this key moment, through visualization or breathing exercises, you can approach childbirth with more ease and recover better afterwards.
And because a peaceful birth experience impacts postnatal well-being, perinatal hypnosis can also play a role in preventing postpartum depression.
CONTENTS:
- Childbirth with hypnosis: three possibilities
- Hypnosis in the delivery room: a 100% winning duo
- Is it really possible to give birth without pain?
- A self-hypnosis exercise to practice throughout pregnancy to be ready for the big day
Childbirth with hypnosis: three possibilities
Around the world, countries such as the United States have popularized the use of perinatal hypnosis, notably through two well-known programs: HypnoBirthing by the Mongan Method for a natural and more comfortable birth, and Calm Birth, for a conscious and peaceful birth.
The United Kingdom, where hypnosis is also well established, and Belgium, where it is regularly offered as an alternative to epidural, work in the same way as the Scandinavian countries, favoring natural methods. For this reason and for its benefits, more and more midwives are training in hypnosis in order to support mothers throughout their pregnancy and on the day of delivery, using different methods.
Self-hypnosis requires some preparation
Learning and mastering self-hypnosis takes some time, at least a few sessions. Therefore, you need to prepare during your pregnancy, ahead of childbirth. Ideally, this means following the guidance of an experienced professional.
Ingrid Regorsek, Master Practitioner in Humanist Hypnosis and Practitioner in Ericksonian Hypnosis, guided you through the world of perinatal hypnosis in these five articles. Serving as both guide and reassuring reference point, she can help you make this approach your own and move toward autonomy with self-hypnosis.
In addition or as a complement, there are books and audio resources designed to further deepen the subject. Lise Bartoli, whom we have mentioned in a previous article, offers her HypnoNatal method; a mix of appointments, handbook, and audio resources to practice alone or as a couple at home.
Virginie Meirhaeghe, on her side, offers hypnosis sessions to select and listen to according to the theme that concerns you: fertility, ART, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and perinatal mourning.
Self-hypnosis audios
Did you know? Numerous self-hypnosis programs are available as audio, and, in most cases, you are allowed to wear headphones in the delivery room. (However, don't hesitate to ask your medical team in advance, and on the big day, favor wireless models.)
So, if this technique interests you and makes you feel comfortable, check out the app created by one of the leading representatives of hypnosis in France: Kévin Finel, a former IFHE student and founder of L’Arche, hypnosis training center.
Called Psychonaute, the app, dedicated to personal growth and therapeutic hypnosis, offers guided hypnosis sessions, a therapeutic approach based on hypnosis, mindfulness techniques, and audio content to support you on your mental well-being journey.
By the way, 'psychonaute' combines “psyche” (mind) and “naut” (navigator), literally suggesting the idea of a “navigator of the mind” or an “explorer of consciousness.”
The intervention of a third party requires trust
Hypnotherapist, doula, partner, midwife... In addition to their individual expertise, all can support you in practicing hypnosis for childbirth, provided that you trust them and their presence brings you comfort. Their involvement varies depending on their knowledge and your own needs.
- A hypnotherapist or midwife trained in hypnosis will be able to lead the session, suggest appropriate cues, and help you relax and experience pain differently.
- A doula or the person who shares your life, even without specific training, can support you by reminding you of the techniques practiced in sessions or at home, repeating reassuring phrases, or simply maintaining a soft, caring atmosphere.
The essential thing is that this person adapts to your needs, encourages you, and helps facilitate your immersion into the altered state of consciousness that is self-hypnosis. Their role is primarily to reassure you and help you stay fully connected to your body, sensations, and the experience you are living.
Hypnosis in the delivery room: a 100% winning duo
Hypnosis reveals sometimes unsuspected strengths that you should not miss out on, especially in the delivery room.
Did you know, for example, that you can visualize your baby's journey? Because familiarity is reassuring, help your brain focus on your baby’s passage into the outside world rather than the pain.
In hospitals, when hypnosis is used alongside traditional analgesic techniques, it is common to use distraction by focusing on a loved place or a pleasant memory.
Another hypnosis technique is to do the opposite exercise: focus your attention on the pain to welcome it, and connect with your sensations to guide them. You can then move them to another part of the body, reduce them, contain them in a specific area, or, on the contrary, dilute them until they are almost no longer perceptible.
More hypnosis and fewer analgesics
One of the main advantages of hypnosis and self-hypnosis during childbirth is their ability to help reduce maternal stress, which has a direct impact on pain perception.
By fostering a state of deep relaxation and modulating how the brain interprets sensations, hypnosis often reduces the need for anesthetics or epidural.
By activating the body’s natural resources, such as the production of endorphins, it helps you better tolerate contractions and retain a certain control over your birth. Generally, this results in a smoother labor, fewer medical interventions, and deeper recovery after delivery.
While it does not replace the epidural when it is wanted or necessary, hypnosis is an effective complement, allowing better management of discomfort and a calmer childbirth experience.
Greater maternal satisfaction
Using hypnosis, especially self-hypnosis, helps to strengthen self-esteem. Were you able to manage childbirth pain alone? No doubt you are proud! Furthermore, the WHO states on page 25 of its “Recommendations on Intrapartum Care for a Positive Childbirth Experience” that “women appreciate respectful maternal care and systematically attach importance to it.”
Respectful maternal care being defined as “the absence of harm and mistreatment, preservation of privacy and confidentiality, dignified care, providing information and support for informed consent, continuous access to family and community support, a high-quality physical environment and resources, equitable maternal care, effective communication, the ability to make choices and decisions, availability of competent and motivated human resources, and provision of effective and continuous care.”
Thus, by reclaiming control over your childbirth, you decrease emotional and physical exhaustion, and encourage a good postpartum recovery.
Hypnosis and self-hypnosis are powerful tools, but their effectiveness depends in part on practice. The more you practice before giving birth, the more easily you will be able to enter an altered state of consciousness on the big day. Visualizations, breathing, positive suggestions... Every session strengthens your ability to mobilize your natural resources to understand pain and stay calm.
Is it really possible to give birth without pain?
In our Western societies, the epidural is fully part of childbirth and is routinely offered to you. While this option remains valuable, it is not the only possible route. Giving birth does not always happen the same way, and yes, giving birth without pain—or with controlled pain—is possible, thanks to hypnosis.
Focus on the hyper-focus state
In extreme situations, your brain can activate an impressive survival mode: hyper-focus. Whether you need to save yourself or help a loved one, this state temporarily grants you exceptional strength and stamina. How? Through an automatic and unconscious modification of your perceptions, which allows you to think and feel as if everything else disappears. At that moment, only the present, the right action, and the life you are about to bring matter.
Moreover, this adaptive capacity of the brain is not limited to emergencies. It can also be voluntarily harnessed, notably through hypnosis and self-hypnosis. By focusing your attention, you can transform an intense moment, like childbirth, into a calmer experience.
This approach is increasingly favored in the medical field, where childbirth without an epidural thus becomes not only imaginable, but potentially manageable. With self-hypnosis, hyper-focus is used for childbirth to reinterpret pain, drawing on unsuspected strength within you.
The role of hormones in pain management
Pain, childbirth, and hormonal mechanisms are closely linked to directed attention techniques.
Throughout pregnancy, the levels of steroid hormones in your body can be 20 to 150 times higher than normal. Also, during childbirth, you naturally produce oxytocin, which promotes uterine contractions and helps reduce perceived pain by stimulating mechanisms of relaxation and well-being.
Meanwhile, the higher centers of the central nervous system (like the brain) play a key role, especially in diverting or focusing your attention. Various factors such as continuous support during labor, yoga, relaxation, visualization, breathing exercises, self-hypnosis, and cognitive restructuring have proven effective for activating these control mechanisms and approaching childbirth without pain.
Non-pharmacological approaches that optimize the neurophysiological and endocrine resources of women for a calmer childbirth and a reduction in the frequency or extent of medical interventions.
Carrying the hypnotic state through words
At your side, the future father is present. He fully wants to do well and help you so that the birth is as gentle as possible. You are then particularly sensitive to his words, gestures, and expressions. A word, a look, a shared memory can multiply your strength and courage to endure the process of giving birth.
In advance, and if he wishes, he can also learn to relay supportive and positive suggestions by participating in a hypnosis session designed for this purpose. Of course, hypnosis can also be directed at him if he is apprehensive about the moment. A burst of serenity that will also benefit you.
Although self-hypnosis is recognized for its effectiveness in the emotional management of pain and stress, it is still too rarely used in the delivery room. Yet, this natural technique allows women to approach giving birth with more confidence and calm. An awareness and support campaign for this practice could offer future mothers a valuable alternative to medicalized methods. However, hypnosis and self-hypnosis in no way replace the intervention of a healthcare professional, such as a midwife, gynecologist, or anesthesiologist.
A self-hypnosis exercise to practice throughout pregnancy to be ready for the big day
The wave exercise in hypnosis, and more specifically in perinatal hypnosis, originates from the HypnoBirthing® (Mongan Method) and HypnoNatal® (Lise Bartoli Method) approaches that we have already discussed.
The image of the wave is inspired by practices of meditation and sophrology. It is based on the idea that uterine contractions can be perceived as waves rising, reaching a peak, and then gently subsiding. By focusing on this imagery, you can:
- accompany the contraction rather than suffer through it,
- better manage the pain by visualizing it as a natural movement,
- relax between each "wave" to conserve your energy,
- create a positive mental anchor that replaces fear with a feeling of flow.
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🌊 The wave of relaxation in practice Settle into a comfortable position in a quiet place. Close your eyes and take time to feel your body—its warmth, its pulse, its energy, its points of contact with the chair, the bed, the floor… Connect to your breathing through long inhales, but especially by exhaling slowly and deeply through your mouth. Now, imagine a calm, peaceful sea—like smooth oil—in a pleasant setting. Then visualize or feel the change. A wave begins to form on the horizon. Associate this wave with a contraction that gradually increases in intensity. Accompany the rise of this wave and contraction by focusing on your breathing. Inhale slowly while saying internally: “I welcome the wave.” Feel the moment when it reaches its peak intensity, and then follow its gradual descent. Imagine the wave moving away on the horizon, fading into the tranquility of the sea as it becomes calm again. Exhale deeply while saying “I let the wave go, I relax.” Feel your body, limb by limb, cell by cell, relaxing as the wave vanishes. Focus on the calm time between two waves and take a moment to think about something that makes you feel good (a magical landscape, the sunrise from your window, your body immersed in calm water, a happy memory…). As the next contraction approaches, repeat the exercise. |
Ideally, it is recommended to practice this exercise throughout pregnancy to master it better for the big day, foster pain acceptance, regulate breathing, and avoid panic attacks by maintaining a regular heart rhythm.
Perinatal hypnosis, whether used to better approach motherhood, foster serenity during pregnancy, or support a gentle and conscious birth, proves to be a precious ally for every future mother. Throughout these five articles, we have explored how this approach can not only transform the birth experience but also guide women toward a more serene and fulfilling postpartum period.
Hypnosis allows you to rediscover a deep connection with yourself and your body by cultivating inner kindness and unwavering self-confidence. It offers a path to a more conscious motherhood, where each stage becomes an opportunity to reclaim your personal power. By adopting this practice, you can become the actor of your own maternal journey and open yourself up to a new vision of motherhood, imbued with love and serenity, more aligned.
Throughout this series, Ingrid Regorsek has guided you in the world of perinatal hypnosis. If you feel the urge to explore further or want support in your personal and/or maternal journey, she welcomes you via videoconference or at her office in La Valette du Var. To book an appointment, connect on the Resalib website.
