Check out these web sites

http://www.amazingbirths.com/video.php?video=http://srv6.com/asfroot/ab/ffm-news-e.wmv

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/health/2175503/detail.html

http://www.amazing-birth.com/Documents/betterHomesAndGardens.doc

http://www.amazing-birth.com/Documents/GoodMorningAmerica.doc

http://www.amazingbirths.com/video.php?video=http://srv6.com/asfroot/ab/dateline.wmv Check out this video!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4880283/ Check out this article from Newsweek.

http://www.time.com/time/connections/article/0,9171,1101040301-593553,00.html Check out this article in Time

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/36/1728_61404.htm Check out this article from Web MD

http://cbs2.com/health/hypnosis.conception.baby.2.279261.html great news if you are having fertility problems.

Marie Mongan, a hypnotherapist who founded the HypnoBirthing® Method based on the Dick-Read philosophy of natural childbirth, explains it this way:  "When mind and body are in harmony, nature is free to function in the same well-designed manner that it does with all other creatures."  But this doesn't mean that your mind gets a free vacation while your body does all the work.  "A lot of people mistakenly labor under the impression that we're teaching them to go away to la-la land or something of the sort," puns Mongan.  "We are not.  In fact, mother and baby are working together."

Mongan trains moms-to-be in her care to break the fight-or-flight instincts that kick in during labor, because a birthing mother cannot take either course of action.  She says these instincts cause oxygenated blood and hormones to be diverted from the uterus to other muscles, resulting in the pain that many women experience.  Through hypnosis, she schools moms (and dads, too!) to relax without resistance and allow their body to do its job.

No Dangling Gold Watches

You've probably experienced self-hypnosis in your life, even if you didn't recognize it.  Have you ever zoned out while driving on a highway just from staring at those white lines in the road?  Have you ever stared into the flames in a fireplace and started daydreaming or drifting off?  Both of those common experiences are what experts say hypnosis feels like.

"There are several misunderstandings about hypnosis, due primarily to stage hypnotists," Tuschhoff says.  "Hypnosis is not a state of sleep, but one of deep focus and concentration.  It's a state we're in all the time, whether we're driving or sitting in front of a computer screen.  You are fully aware of your surroundings at all times."

Mongan clarifies the fact that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis and that it is a very natural state:  "It's not scary or threatening or dangerous."  She adds that using hypnotherapy doesn't mean you'll be a zombie in the delivery room.  On the contrary, you'll be wide awake, in charge and fully participating, though you'll also be completely relaxed and experiencing labor in total harmony of mind and body. [emphasis mine]

Visualization, imagery and special breathing techniques, in addition to self-hypnosis, are central to using hypnotherapy during childbirth.  Self-affirming scripts are offered as guides for entering the hypnotic state, but through the classes or practice at home each couple learns what works best for them.

For the Skeptics

You might be dubious about the possibility of feeling little or no pain during labor and delivery, or even about your own ability to be hypnotized in the first place.  That's what Julie Wilson thought.  Julie reacts badly to most common pain medications and decided she wanted to try natural childbirth.  She was very skeptical about hypnotherapy, and her police-officer husband was even more so.  The Scottsdale, AZ couple decided to try anyway, attending classes once a week for 6 weeks.  They learned relaxation and medication techniques that worked for them.

But when the time came for her delivery, some complications arose.  Julie's pregnancy had been high-risk from the start for a number of reasons, and her labor was not a typical one.  She ended up needing an epidural, but after the immediate cause for concern passed, the epidural was turned way down (effects wear off in about 45 minutes) and Julie used hypnotherapy successfully during 3 hours of pushing until her daughter, Cheyenne, was born.  "It was interesting to see how it really did work.  You could block out all those people, and I had a lot of people in the room--there was a lot of noise and a lot of talking."  She even scared her Ob/Gun a few times, appearing so calm and serene that the doctor kept checking her blood pressure.

Julie says, "I actually found it exhilarating to know that I could put myself into that kind of state and not feel the pain."  When pressed on that point, she emphasized, "I felt absolutely no pain." [emphasis mine]

Not Just for Labor

In addition to preparing for her baby's birth, Jennifer Hyvonen used daily self-hypnosis techniques to get through the aches and pains in her hips and joints during her third trimester.  A month and a half before her due date, she says, "A daily (sometimes twice daily) practice has helped [me] to calm my body and mind, relieve pressure and pain and get a full night's sleep again."

The Utah mom-to-be says.

Both Mongan and O'Neill highlight prenatal preparation and mothering as a huge component of their teachings, which are predicated on the idea that a mother who is in tune with her unborn baby and her gestating body will more easily be able to follow her natural instincts through the childbirth process.

Tuschhoff also stresses prenatal preparation with a technique called "compounding."  She says that if reinforced every day, the hypnotic suggestions become stronger and will be there in full effect when the HypnoBirthing mom gives birth.  She cautions that if a mom-to-be doesn't "do her homework," the hypnotherapy won't be as effective for her as for someone who prepared every day.

"If I knew [when my children were born] what I know now about using the power of my own mind to control my body, I would have used hypnosis and guided visualizations to eliminate my own fears, concerns and control issues about childbirth...and been able to experience natural, un medicated childbirth without suffering," says Tuschhoff, who delivered both her children using the Bradley Method of natural childbirth.

If you're worried about what you'll face when you deliver, or just want a little help battling the stress and aches of pregnancy, give hypnotherapy a try.  It just might help you have the birth experience you're hoping for!

Other techniques to produce a shorter, more comfortable labor.

to create and control the baby's own natural anesthesia.

HypnoBirthing was created by Marie F. Mongan M.Ed.,M.Hy.

Has devoted her entire life to working with women of all ages.

Marie first thought of a calm method of birthing in 1955 and it was later named HypnoBirthing.

HypnoBirthing. More then 500 media outlets- including Good Morning America, The Today Show, Dateline, The Richard & Judy show, Time, Newsweek, Parenting & Better Homes and Garden Have joined the movement for better birthing.

Why is HypnoBirthing changing the way the world gives birth? That's simple Because it works!

Call Dr. Joyce Gale HypnoBirthing Practitioner, Hypnotherapist. today for the next class. Private class also available.