Labour Pain Fear
Vicky was fifteen weeks pregnant with her first baby and her panic from the start of her pregnancy centred on coping with labour pain and a fear of needing an episiotomy. Vicky wasn’t keen on needles either so had ruled out an epidural to help her during labour.
Vicky’s fears are common to a large number of expectant mums I see for therapy. All of us absorb information from a very early age without realising the impact it can have later in life. Vicky’s fears stemmed from a very graphic video she was shown in class during biology of a woman birthing her baby. She described the images as horrendous and remembers putting her fingers in her ears to block out the sound of the woman birthing as she assumed the sounds of the woman birthing equated to the woman being in a great deal of pain. Vicky half joked that she was amazed to be pregnant at all because the video clip had left all the girls in stunned silence that day, rather in awe and amazement of the human body.
When I asked Vicky what might be contributing to her fear of episiotomy it was experiences from closer to home that had seeded fears. Both mother and aunt had birthed babies weighing around 10lbs and had been given episiotomies during birthing. Vicky’s mum had made light of these necessary interventions when Vicky became pregnant but the seeds of doubt and anxiety had long since been seeded in her mind.
So, prior to Vicky’s session I asked her to complete a comprehensive questionnaire and add all the details which would give us the foundations for our work in session. The traumatic memory of watching the video clip cleared relatively quickly, as did Vicky’s fear of intervention and worrying about having a larger than average baby.
Whilst no one can guarantee what will happen as events unfold during a birth, irrational fears and phobias can wreck confidence and objectivity from the outset. Once cleared, an expectant mother can restore her self-belief and approach birth with a much more relaxed perspective.
To instil confidence and teach Vicky how to relax and work with her body, to eliminate anxiety and reduce the discomfort of birthing, Vicky and her husband attended HypnoBirthing® classes to learn how to work together and master the art of deep mental relaxation for calmer, more confident birthing. These skills combined with the education integrated into the course, dispelled myths about birthing and gave them both a greater sense of control and optimism about the birth.
Vicky opted for a birth at her hospital’s adjoining birth centre where she felt she would have the best of both worlds with a more relaxed setting and medical support on hand in the event that she needed an assisted delivery.
Vicky worked well with her husband and her first stage of labour passed quicker than she had anticipated. Vicky had chosen to birth in water and the combination of this environment coupled with plenty of advance practice of her skills enabled Vicky to birth her 8½lb baby girl with more ease than expected. She was incredibly proud of her achievement and her husband was amazed at just how calm and controlled she remained throughout the birth experience.
If you would like to find out how I can help you clear fears and phobias in pregnancy, visit my Pure Therapy Programme or HypnoBirthing® pages. 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.