With all the negative stories and dramatic birth scenes we see on TV and in films, it's no wonder why we tend to associate giving birth with pain and drama, and how we come to believe it's the hardest thing your body will go through.
However, labour and birth is the most natural thing in the world, and the fear that's ingrained in us by the media can be the exact thing that makes birth more difficult. If you can find ways to release fear, embrace the power of your body, and remain calm and relaxed during your pregnancy and labour, you can find your birth journey to be completely different to what we see on TV.
Hypnobirthing is one technique of approaching labour that can put you in a place of calm, and uses self-hypnosis and relaxation techniques to release fear and encourage confidence, control, and relaxation. It's becoming increasingly popular with mums all over the world to help them get cope with the pain of labour.
There are many hypnobirthing classes and courses you can attend to help you learn the important techniques, aimed at teaching you the power of your body, what happens during birth, and why remaining calm and in control will help your labour be more straightforward.
You can also practise these techniques using books, podcasts, websites, and apps. If you don't want to join a course, or if they are out of your budget, there are still lots of ways of learning some hypnobirthing techniques. Have a scroll through our favourites, and find the best hypnobirthing app for you.
Best hypnobirthing apps:
Birth Made Easy appBirth Made Easy covers all the possibilities of birth, and things you can do if you go past your estimated due date. You can also create your own playlist to suit your preferences.
Freya appapps.apple.com
The Positive Birth Company brought out Freya, an app that helps you to put your hypnobirthing techniques into practice during your labour and birth. The app provides guided relaxations, affirmations, gentle music, and calming visualisations, plus a timer you can use to keep track of your labour surges. The app will also suggests when it might be time to contact your midwife. You can also use the app during your pregnancy to practise breathing techniques.
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GentleBirth
Gentle Birth appThe GentleBirth app combines brain science, birth science, and technology to empower your birth. It educates you on mindfulness, hypnosis, CBT, and sports psychology, and provides breathing techniques to help prepare you for birth. You'll be able to enjoy daily 'brain training' sessions, with short meditations and hypnobirthing techniques; playlists for sleep and tackling anxiety; personalised tracking; and support from the community of more than 10,000 members.
Pregnancy Music appAiming to calm your baby's heartbeat, and put you at ease, the Pregnancy Music app includes a selection of audio tracks to listen to that will help you stay calm and relaxed. There's also a sleep timer included.
Mindful Birth appCreated by The Mindful Birth Group, this app allows you to create and work on your birth preferences, and includes information about your growing baby's milestones, their size, plus positive affirmations and relaxation audios. There's also hospital bag packing lists, a contact list, and a contraction timer.
Hypnobirthing pregnancy appA Hypnobirthing Pregnancy App aims to help you relieve any anxiety and fear you have around pregnancy and transform your journey in a positive birth experience. It uses meditations, sleep stories, music, and more to help you enjoy a calm pregnancy. It aims to help you learn and practise breathing techniques, visualisations, and self-hypnosis.
Christian Hypnobirthing appChristian Hypnobirthing brings you Christian hypnobirthing tracks to support and empower you throughout your pregnancy and birth. The tracks aim to make you feel more confident, in control and connected to God and your baby. The scripture-based audio tracks are suitable for any type of birth.
Watch our Mother&Baby Hypnobirthing YouTube series
If you want a taster of what hypnobirthing is and the different techniques, you might want to head over to our YouTube channel where you can watch our 10-part hypnobirthing series with clinical hypnotherapist, Doula, and author Sophie Fletcher. In this series, Sophie has covered everything from helpful techniques, to putting it all into practice on the day as well as some tips for your birth partner.
Below is a taster of what you can expect from the series:
Ellie Kirwin-Jones is an Editorial Assistant for Mother&Baby. While training as a journalist at the University of Gloucestershire for three years, she was nominated for the Best Feature Category at the Midlands Student’s Media Awards, and Head of News and Social Media for the university’s radio station, Tone Radio. Ellie has been published by the likes of Heatworld, Heart, Gloucestershire Live, and ITV West Country. Her days are spent obsessing over marmite, reciting Gavin & Stacey quotes, and drinking gallons of tea (milk, no sugar).