Beyond Lamaze...

Lamaze is the only childbirth classes I was familiar with, and I only had rudimentary knowledge of what those classes offer. Then I started seeing information on Bradley method classes posted at my midwife's office and online, and Andy and I thought, "oh the Bradley method classes seem to be what many people who want a natural birth take, so let's take those." We compared information on Lamaze to Bradley and thought Bradley would be best for us.

Last week when we asked our midwife for Bradley instructor recommendations, she also gave us brochure for hypnosis for childbirth. I did not really pay attention too much to it thinking it was just some supplemental thing you could do like getting prenatal acupuncture. However, this weekend I decided to look more into and found that it is a series of birth classes like Lamaze and Bradley with its own philosophy and method for birthing.

FYI: its nothing like stage hypnosis or what you see on TV--women are not put in some type of trance while they are in labor.

So I have been doing research online, getting books from the library, and talking to an instructor. I am finding it all very fascinating. There are various curricula within hypnosis for childbirth such as HypnoBirthing and Hypnobabies. The instructor I talked to gave me the history on these curricula and pros and cons of each. She doesn't use one of the standard curricula but has created her own. I am going to do a little more research but I think the hypnosis for childbirth are the type of classes I want to take.

I also learned the difference between a doula and a monitrice in my conversation with the hypnosis instructor (She also offers monitrice services). I had never heard of either of these before becoming pregnant. A doula is a trained professional that assists women through childbirth. She provides emotional and psychological support throughout the labor. A monitrice also provides this emotional and psychological support but also can provide clinical or medical support. Monitrices typically come to the woman's home when she starts labor and monitors the labor progress and then goes with the woman to the hospital when she is in late stages of labor (or continues to assist at home if it is a home birth). The monitrice also provides postpartum support especially with breastfeeding. It would be nice to have a monitrice (or a doula) but I don't know if I want one enough to pay the fees because they are quite expensive and not covered by my insurance.

Well, I continue to learn more and more, and I find the knowledge in all my prenatal and birthing options empowering. The journey continues...