Is Hypnobirthing just about being calm?
Here are just some of the many benefits to being calm during labour:
Less adrenaline, meaning more Oxytocin to help labour move forwards
Less tension, meaning more effective and efficient contractions (which may help avoid interventions)
Optimising physiology to help the body work in the way that it needs to which could shorten the length of labour
Higher levels of endorphins and being able to welcome each contraction rather than tensing up, helping labour feel more manageable. Not being able to cope, running out of energy, or panicking about ‘how long is left’ can all lead to more intervention.
The Last Days of Pregnancy: A Place of In-Between
“The last days of pregnancy — sometimes stretching to agonizing weeks, are a distinct place, time, event, stage. It is a time of in between. Neither here nor there. Your old self and your new self, balanced on the edge of a pregnancy. One foot in your old world, one foot in a new world. Shouldn’t there be a word for this state of being, describing the time and place where mothers linger, waiting to be called forward? Germans have a word, Zwischen, which means between”.