Hypnobirthing

Ok, Keith and I are hypnobirthing this child out! basically take what you know about birth: epidurals, beds w/ bottoms that drop out, stirrups, IV's, no food or drinks, machines, doctors and being told when to push and throw them out the window! (don't worry, we are having this kid in a hospital, sorta, not at home.) It is basically the belief in positive thinking, so please keep ALL of your negativity and horror stories to yourselves! :-P Ofcourse once we have given birth in our fabulous way with as little discomfort as possible we will be more than open to hearing everyone's stories. But for now, if it's not filled with champagne wishes and caviar dreams we would like for you to hold the memory until our newest edition arrives, thanks!!

For those unfamiliar with the method:

HypnoBirthing® - The Mongan Method is as much a philosophy as it is a technique. The concept of HypnoBirthing® is not new, but rather a "rebirth" of the philosophy of birthing as it existed thousands of years ago and as it was recaptured in the work of Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, an English obstetrician, who, in the 1920s, was one of the first to forward the concept of natural birthing. The method teaches you that, in the absence of fear and tension, or special medical circumstances, severe pain does not have to be an accompaniment of labor.

You will gain an understanding of how the birthing muscles work in perfect harmony--as they were designed to--when your body is sufficiently relaxed and you trust birth. You will learn how to achieve this kind of relaxation, free of the resistance that fear creates, and you will learn to use your natural birthing instincts for a calm, serene and comfortable birth.
When you have your baby with HypnoBirthing®, you will not be in a trance or a sleep. What you will experience is similar to the daydreaming, or focusing, that occurs when you are engrossed in a book or a movie or staring into a fire.

You will be conversant and in good spirits--totally relaxed, but fully in control. Awake throughout, you will be aware of your body's surges and your baby's progress; but because you will have trained yourself to reach completerelaxation, you will be able to determine the degree and the manner in which you will feel the surges. You will experience birthing in an atmosphere of calm relaxation, free of the fear that prevents the muscles of your body from functioning as nature intended them to. In this calm state, your body's natural relaxant, endorphins, replaces the stress hormones that constrict and cause pain.

Trained HypnoBirthing® educators are successfully teaching women and their birthing companions to trust birth and release all fear and limiting thoughts. HypnoBirthing® practitioners can be found in 34 countries throughout the world.

"When you change the way you view birth, the way you birth will change."-Marie F. Mongan

Benefits of HypnoBirthing
* Fewer drugs or no drugs at all means less risk of side effects on mother and baby * Shorter labors - resistance of the birthing muscles as a response to pain is minimized. * An awake, energized mother, due to total relaxation. * A calm, peaceful birthing environment. * Breech and posterior babies can be turned using hypnosis. * Fewer interventions and complications during labor. * Babies who are better sleepers and nursers due to fewer drugs in their systems.