Hypnotherapy for Pregnancy and Birthing

Scripts for Hypnotherapists

Jacki Pritchard

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781032003504
• eBook ISBN: 9781000417098
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Health Care Delivery

"Jacki Pritchard has done an excellent job in writing her new book. The many scripts are immensely creative and wide-ranging. Any Hypnotherapist working with childbirth should have this book in their tool-bag; I totally recommend it." – Steve Burgess, Hypnotherapist and Director of Lionheart Training

This practical volume provides resources and guidance for practising hypnotherapy with pregnant women and their birthing partners.

Hypnotherapy for Pregnancy and Birthing begins with an overview of the topic and discusses a range of complex issues and vulnerabilities that might arise during sessions, before moving onto setting up and running group and/or individual sessions. Then, presenting techniques to work with pregnancy and birthing draws on a range of methodologies including solution-focused, metaphors (Ericksonian), Gestalt therapy, benefits approach and regression therapy.

It covers:

• Hypnosis, pregnancy and birthing

• Getting into trance and relaxation

• Breathing

• Practising self-hypnosis and working on issues

• Preparing for birthing

• Bonding with baby

• Working with worries, fears and phobias

• Dealing with trauma and the unexpected

• Loss and bereavement

• Ego boosting.

Containing over 70 customisable scripts and designed to stimulate reflection, this book is a valuable resource for student, newly qualified and experienced hypnotherapists working with pregnancy and birthing.

Part I
Hypnosis, pregnancy and birthing

1 Using hypnosis for pregnancy and birthing
Understanding vulnerabilities and complexities

DOI: 10.4324/9781003173779-1

Introduction

The main objective of this book is to present scripts which will help a hypnotherapist (or hypnobirthing teacher) to use hypnosis effectively for pregnancy and birthing. I have written this book specifically for hypnotherapists – whether they are training, newly qualified or experienced. I am writing with two hats on: as a clinical hypnotherapist who enjoys working with pregnancy and birthing but also as a social worker who has supported many pregnant people over the years when they have needed help with complex problems. This is the reason why I wanted to look at pregnancy and birthing from a wider perspective. In all my years working as a social worker I have learnt that very often the problem a client presents with is not actually the main issue. Sometimes it can take time for the underlying problem to come to the surface. It is exactly the same when practising hypnotherapy. A client can contact a hypnotherapist for help with something specific and then once the treatment plan is in place and therapy is underway, the subconscious mind reveals related or other problems. A pregnant mum (and dad/birthing partner) could be attending a group or an individual session to learn breathing and relaxation techniques, but other issues are identified.

Using hypnosis is a really effective therapeutic tool to help mum with her pregnancy and prepare her for the birth using any number of techniques. The use of self-hypnosis can be extremely beneficial to mum and anyone else who might be going to support her. There are very many books written about pregnancy and childbirth and, since the 1980s, hypnobirthing has become very popular and trendy amongst certain sections of some societies. This is a very good thing, but the texts are often limited in that they do not consider the wider issues and problems that already exist for a client or those which can come to light during a pregnancy.

This book goes beyond what has become known as hypnobirthing and raises awareness about issues, problems and situations which could be presented to a hypnotherapist. I wanted to look beyond the stereotypical pregnant woman or couple. I want hypnotherapists to think about who their pregnant (or pregnant-related) clients might be:

• Child, young person or adult
• Mum (who could be in a one-parent situation or in a relationship)
• Biological dad
• A partner (i.e. in a relationship with mum but not the biological father of the baby)
• Surrogate
• Intended parents
• Birthing partner
• Couples: heterosexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary.

The book will help hypnotherapists to facilitate pregnancy and birthing groups and individual sessions, which will be beneficial to pregnant clients in general; but in addition the book raises awareness about important societal issues and the vulnerability of some clients which can result in complex cases.

History and developments

For an excessively long time, childbirth was seen very much as a medical matter and clinical procedures dominated the birth of the baby. In the twentieth century, some parts of the world became more enlightened. In the UK during the 1920s it was a doctor who first started thinking differently about childbirth and about the use of hypnosis in pregnancy. Grantly Dick-Read worked as an obstetrician and used the term ‘natural childbirth’, which was the title of his first book, Natural Childbirth.¹ Another book he wrote, Childbirth without Fear, whichwas originally written in 1942, is still available and well worth reading.² The term ‘hypnobirthing’ became popular in the 1980s and since then the use of hypnobirthing methods has developed worldwide. For someone who wants to focus solely on hypnobirthing techniques, I think it is useful to read the latest versions of the well-established texts written by Michelle Leclaire O’ Neill,³ Marie Mongan⁴ and Katharine Graves.⁵ A hypnobirthing teacher will normally follow a particular method (e.g. the Leclaire method,⁶ the Mongan method⁷ or the KGH method⁸) and may provide a book about the method as part of the hypnobirthing package they offer. The original texts, in some way, are presented like self-help books so are a helpful resource after the group classes have finished.

Hypnobirthing has become more and more popular during the past 40 years and women certainly now have more say in where and how they want to give birth. Quite rightly so after centuries of being told what to do (and what is best for them) by physicians, nurses and midwives. I welcome the progress that has been made as I totally believe it is a basic human right that a mum should decide how she wants to go through her pregnancy and ultimately deliver her baby. I am not forgetting dads in all of this but will come to them later. Suffice to say they have rights too.

It must be acknowledged that at the time of writing this book the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has affected how services are delivered to pregnant women and their birthing partners. Women have had to face many things alone and consequently have felt isolated and unsupported. Some midwives feel that choices have been limited for women giving birth and it is as though steps have been taken backwards.

Being properly qualified

In any profession it is imperative to undergo thorough training to develop knowledge and skills in order to become properly qualified, that is, fully equipped to do the job. It is also important that, once qualified, a professional continues to undergo training for their own professional development in order to maintain best practice. All this is true for a hypnotherapist, who should be trained by a reputable training school so that they can join a professional body and then undertake the required hours for Continued Professional Development (CPD).

When something becomes popular, people tend to hop on the bandwagon. With hypnobirthing, some people who want to run groups and classes may attend one or more taster sessions, learn some techniques and then believe they can teach others. They have learnt the hypnobirthing theory, concepts and techniques but many are not properly qualified as a hypnotherapist or hypnobirthing teacher. There are many professionals who do become hypnobirthing teachers and are not hypnotherapists (e.g. nurses in GP surgeries; midwives) and are well-equipped to deliver hypnobirthing groups. I feel strongly that in order to run any groups professionally and effectively, some basic training in group work is also needed.⁹

It is a fact that hypnosis is a natural state and we all go into trance at least one hundred times a day. The subconscious mind can take a person to different places – very often unexpectedly but with a purpose. The subconscious mind knows when things need to be addressed and worked on. People who are not properly qualified as a hypnotherapist may not know what to do when someone abreacts, that is, releases a suppressed memory – maybe of a traumatic event – and the emotions associated with it. This is when the skills of a properly qualified hypnotherapist are needed.

Anyone who wants to provide hypnosis for pregnancy and birthing should undertake so...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Part I Hypnosis, pregnancy and birthing
• Part II Getting into trance and relaxation
• Part III Breathing
• Part IV Practising self-hypnosis and working on issues
• Part V Preparing for birthing
• Part VI Bonding with baby
• Part VII Working with worries, fears and phobias
• Part VIII Dealing with trauma and the unexpected
• Part IX Loss and bereavement
• Part X Ego boosting
• Index