Hypnosis for Birth - surviving the test of time

I've recently become more and more interested in the use of hypnosis historically in child birth and historical childbirth rituals. Today I scoured the bookshops in Charing Cross Road with two small children which was not easy task. But bingo I turned up two that look interesting.

The first was written in 1952 by A.Philip Magonet a Doctor and President of the Medical Hypnosis Association. In the nine chapters of his book "hypnosis in medicine" he looks at several issues, but dedicates a whole chapter to the use of hypnosis of birth. He writes about the fear and apprehension of birth stopping muscles in the uterus from working harmoniously. The chapter was interesting in that it looked at the use of hypnosis in birth - focusing on conditioning the women to believe that when she "gets feeling" in her abdomen that these will be painless.

This is different the approach taught by Mongan whose method is fundamentally based in the premise that if a woman is relaxed enough she should not feel pain. Her use of hypnosis is abut fear release and relaxation.

I am intrigued about the concept of a woman being hypnotised to regard contractions as painless and will spend some time reflecting on this. The author mentions another book Delee's "principles and Practice of Obstetrics" (1947) in which it's written "Hypnosis has been used in obstetrics for a longtime and should be employed more often than it is in the present". My trail hopefully will take me to this book which I'm going to track down.

When I turned the book over - other recommended publications by the same publisher included "Childbirth without Fear" - maybe there was a small group of doctors in the UK in the 50's who celebrated natural birth and if so I'd love to know more...

The second book I picked up was on rituals of childbirth in Renaissance Italy - a big glossy book - I have only managed to flick through it but came across images of birthing stools and lots of references to post partum confinement, a term which appears to coincide with a period that allows baby to gradually adapt to its new surroundings. When I've finished this book and digested it I'll post something new.

In the meantime if anyone has a any recommendations please let me know....

Can hypnosis really help breastfeeding?

The answer is an emphatic yes! It's national breastfeeding week and the focus has turned to the imnportance of breastfeeding for your baby. I fed one of my boys for a year and the other for 7 months and I loved it. I can't say it was easy at first, while we prepare for the birth, we are just told that breastfeeding is best and that we need to let baby suckle straight away - but there is no real guidence or advice antenatally.

I was all geared up with visions of me lovingly feeding my baby from the word go, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. When I was in hospital I stuggled to get my son to latch on, I became anxious and stressed - I remember vividly the challenge of finding a comfortable position - my breasts blew up like balloons on the third day and a midwife ripped up a sheet and bound my breasts after cold compresses wouldn't work while telling me I was a big cry baby. This was because baby blues had well and truly set in and by this time I was bawling like my baby. I was confused, disorientated and felt imposed upon by the staff.

At the same time I read an atricle by a journalist in the Times saying she reached a point of enlightenment when she was lying in a cold bath having her breasts massaged by a stranger and said "enough"!

However I persevered, I was so determined to feed, but it wasn't until I relaxed and really began to trust in my body and my baby's innate ability to feed that it really settled down. I learnt that when I was relaxed my milk flowed better, when I drank more that I had more milk and that when I ate better and was calm my baby was more willing to feed.

After about 6 weeks we really got to grips with it and the tears were all worth it. I could feed anywhere, at anytime knowing my baby was getting the best food. One of my happiest memories is that wonderful last feed of the evening when you snuggle up and have real quality time with your baby. I get all misty eyed thinking about it now, and still miss that closeness.

I find it frustrating that there is so much pressure on mums to feed without proper preparation and knowledge. Most mums do need guidence at first and the added pressure and stress of having to feed only exacerbates the problems and leads to statements like "I couldn't produce milk" or "I had a really big hungry baby and I couldn't satisfy it". Stress is known to compromise milk supply so it is crucial mum remains comfortable, confident and relaxed.

If you are relaxed and trust in your body then your milk flow will respond. Your baby is working in harmony with you and if you are supported, prepared and able to trust in your body then you can feed you baby. I always say to my mums, if you can't do it get help from someone you trust. There are some fabulous lactation consultants and the cost of them far outweighs the cost of formula over a 1 year and is unparalled in the value to your baby's emotional and physical well being.

Hypnosis can help by teaching you to relax, to trust in your body, and to visualise your milk flow, unobstructed and free flowing. I encourage mums to listen to one of my cds when they are feeding and to learn self-hypnosis techniques which encourage milk flow.

Most importantly be happy, a happy mum means a happy baby whatever you choose.

To celebrate breastfeeding week I have a free 10 minute mp3 to help you relax during breastfeeding and encourage milk flow. Click here if you want a copy and most of all enjoy the gift that feeding your baby can be.

Happy breastfeeding week....

Water Retention - natural remedies

Ahhh the hot weather, glorious for most us but for those carrying a minature incubator around, it can be hard work - ankles may start to swell and the lethargy can kick in. Water retention and swelling can be really problematic for some women, while people joke about ankles, I have known some women to have swelling in thier hands leading to carpel tunnel syndrome which can cause quite a bit of discomfort.

Usually water retention is worse in the morning and in the evening, but it can can happen any time of the day. There are lots of methods of beating water retention and allowing yourself to be more comfortable and sleep better. Before you try any of these - if you think your swelling is getting worse, mention it to your midwife as swelling can indicate other issues and it's a good idea to get yourself checked over.

Here are my tips to beating water retention:

• Drink, drink drink. You may not feel like it but water can help flush your system out, it's also really important to keep yourself hydrated during warm weather. Also try cranberry juice this can act as a diuretic and can help ease swelling resulting from oedema. Cabbage is also a diuretic so try that as well - munch it raw or make yourself a salad with it.


• Stock up on bananas. Bananas contain high amounts of potassium, which helps eliminate fluid retention. If you can't stand bananas, try raisins instead.


• Try applying an ice pack can help bring them back to normal size. Wrap a light towel around the bag, and apply for five to ten minutes. A bag of frozen veggies also works well.


• Lift your legs! Exercises that work the calf muscles help move blood and excess fluid out of the ankle area. If ankles swell while seated at work, try lifting your legs up parallel to the floor every few minutes. During breaks, walk around the office or up the stairs. Spend a portion of the lunch hour on your feet, exercising.


• Keep your feet up. While resting, reading, or watching television, prop your legs up. A little help from gravity can go a long way in draining fluid from swollen limbs.


• Make sure that you are wearing comfortable clothing - if you have to squeeze into your trousers (which may be the case later in pregnancy) you can be guaranteed that pressure is being placed on your upper thighs and waist, in turn restricting the removal of fluids from the lower legs.

You can also use visualisations to help reduce water retention, make yourself very relaxed, imaging your whole body relaxing, taking deep slow breaths. Then visualise all your blood vessels allowing the blood in your body to flow freely, allowing water to subside and flow in its natural way. Imagine how your body is when water is flowing freely and imagine the skin relaxing and becoming more comfortable. When you are pregnant your capillaries leak fluid due to hormonal changes so you can imagine patching up those leaks and making your capillary walls stronger and more robust. Imagining the fluid to move freely through your body.

Give it a go and listen to a free sample mp3 on reducing water retention. Click here to download

Tea and pregnancy - a great combination

One of the nutritional recommendations of hypnobirthing is to cut down on caffeine and pop, which for some is easy but for others is part of their routine and a difficult habit to break.

When I'm working with clients I suggest alternatives and have been researching many different options.

When I was pregnant I steered clear of caffeine but being a big tea drinker I missed my cuppas and used it as an opportunity to seek out other types of tea. It was a real journey of discovery and not only did I learn about what teas I could drink safely, but what different cultures around the world used for certain ailments during pregnancy.

My favourite was honey bush as you can drink it with milk ( very British I know) and it is full of antioxidants. I also loved rooibos or red bush as it's otherwise known, and I know a wonderful shop called The General Store in Nottingham which stocks a mouth watering range of rooibos infused with different flavours, such as blood orange and vanilla. They are lovely warm in the winter and in summer I would make up iced jars of them in the fridge. For mums that love fizzy drinks you can mix these with soda water and a little brown sugar.

I began to learn more about the medicinal qualities of tea and have now put together a range of teas that can be drunk at different stages of pregnancy. The best thing about working with the General Store is that its teas are top quality so that drinking Raspberry Leaf tea became a joy rather than a bit of a chore.

I've started to work with a tea consultant at the moment to put together a set of teas and visualisations for pregnancy, combining natural approaches through the mind and body to help ease niggling symptoms of pregnancy.

I learnt some amazing facts and realised that the use of teas has been used by different cultures for thousands of years. The Chinese have revered the peach tree for its medicinal value since the fifth century, when Confucius mentioned the tree in his writings. The Chinese use the leaves of the peach tree to make a tea that relieves morning sickness. Europeans use pieces of the tree's bark to make their version of this morning sickness anecdote. They claim that tea made from the bark is stronger and more effective than the tea made from the tree's leaves.

If you want to try some teas, get them from a good source as there really is a difference in taste. Teabags from the supermarket of Raspberry Leaf Tea taste pretty vile compared to fresh leaves. The General store sells online and is the best tea, coffee and chocolate place I have come across. Make sure you take advice if you are not sure, some teas such as Sage should not be drunk later in pregnancy as they can reduce your milk flow.

Always check the label and if you are not sure google the ingredients or ask a professional.
In the meantime here are some of my choice teas for pregnancy:

• Morning sickness - ginger tea
• Heart Burn - peppermint tea
• Sleeplessness or anxiety - camomile or Lemon Balm
• Energy - rooibos
  
• Water retention - dandelion
• Strengthening the uterine muscles (after 36 weeks only) - Red raspberry leaf tea

After the baby is born the following teas can help - the tea makes it into the baby if you are breastfeeding and can help with all sorts of things such as milk flow and colic

• milkflow - fenugreek and Fennel
• colic - fennel or camomile
• postnatal depression - Jasmine
  

So get drinking and enjoy it knowing that it's doing you and your baby the world of good!