Intervention Fear
Penny called me a few days past her due date because she was starting to feel particularly nervous about the prospect of intervention in labour. Penny had read that intervention was more likely following induction and feared this might happen to her if labour didn’t start spontaneously in the next week.
One of the biggest road blocks to the natural onset of labour is fear and in Penny’s case, she had recognised that this fear was detrimental and wanted to do something about it as quickly as possible. When I asked her what was at the heart of these anxious feelings, she said it was the thought of needing to be cut and then have a surgical instrument inserted to ease her baby out. The thought filled her with terror and she was worried that this would bruise her baby and was extremely fearful of the pain she might endure in the process.
We started working on Penny’s fear of needing an episiotomy and cleared feelings of having no control in the event of this happening. We also cleared feelings of intimidation and embarrassment. These emotions cleared quite quickly but they did not have the full impact I was looking for, so I asked Penny if there were any other contributing factors relating to her fear. At this point she became very emotional as she explained that she was one of three children and had only found out a couple of days earlier that her mother had needed a forceps delivery for two births, Penny’s arrival included.
Whilst Penny’s mother had successfully delivered one large baby unassisted, Penny’s greatest fear was having to birth a big baby of her own. When I questioned Penny further, it was clear that her community midwives had not expressed any concerns about this matter, so we needed to dissolve her fear of this happening so that she could let go of the anxiety and take a more objective view towards the birth. As we cleared the anxiety about birthing, Penny noticeably relaxed and some colour returned to her cheeks. She also noticed a difference in her breathing as the tension in her body started to dissipate.
In the remainder of the session we cleared Penny’s anxiety about healing after an episiotomy and her fear of bruising her baby if this method of assisted delivery was needed. I asked Penny to work with a short hypnosis track to aid her relaxation up until the birth to seed positive expectations in her mind for when labour started.
Penny called a fortnight later to share the news that she birthed her baby who weighed close to 9lbs and coped well. She did require an episiotomy but had avoided any further intervention beyond that. She was healing well and whilst absolutely shattered as most new mums are, she was enjoying motherhood.
Often, we find ourselves reacting to fears which can unsettle us during pregnancy and create a snowball effect of anxiety as we try to prepare ourselves mentally for birth. You may be reassured to know that no matter how close you are to giving birth, many of these anxieties can be dissolved relatively quickly and a lot of the time we can work via a telephone consultation to avoid unnecessary travel close to term. I have on occasion received calls to help women where their labour has come to a standstill and anxiety has set in. Once fear is eliminated, these women invariably find their labour starts again and they go on to birth without unnecessary intervention.
If you would like to find out how I can help you clear fears and phobias in pregnancy, visit the Pure Therapy Programme page. You may also find the page on HypnoBirthing® of value too. Alternatively, use the form below to drop me a line or call and speak with me directly on 01276 21386.
Conception & Birth Services
Pure Therapy Programme Brief therapy to dissolve your fears, phobias, anxieties and any emotional trauma. This programme focuses on calming your mind, restoring your confidence and self-esteem, giving you back a sense of control in your life as well as the clarity to make important decisions.
Essential Support Programme Regular, short check-in sessions by phone to keep you calm, relaxed, optimistic and positively focused between significant milestones from conception to birth. The therapeutic toolkit enables sabotaging emotional wobbles to be dissolved in an instant.
HypnoBirthing® Classes The ultimate in birth preparation classes to teach both you and your partner how to use hypnotic relaxation skills, special breathing techniques and endorphin releasing massage to manage the physical demands of labour and feel calm, relaxed and confident during the birth.
Parent Coaching Programme No baby arrives with a manual and few parents have endless hours to devour a ‘how to’ book. Parent coaching is a supportive route to helping you create your own practical solutions to whatever parenting challenges you are facing, in time sensitive short sessions.