Hypnosis and Childbirth

Conventionally medical interventions are resorted to in procedures relating to childbirth, which are fraught with complications and also associated with less satisfactory birth experiences. Hypnosis training prior to the occurrence of birth (antenatal) is scientifically credited with a reduced need for drugs and improved childbirth experiences which also means bringing in a  better health and well being for the  mother and  as well as the child. 

Hypnosis offers a simplified inexpensive method to improve the child birth experience by reducing the complications associated with medical interventions and as a result not only prove beneficial to the mother but also help in the reduction of the costs associated with maternity care. Thus at the micro level it is beneficial to the mother (and the child) and at macro level to the state because it reduces the cost of health delivery services. In the rest part of this article, we would narrate how hypnosis accomplishes the objective of providing a comfortable birth experience to the mother.

During Labor pain and childbirth, the pregnant mothers experience complex interaction of multiple physiological and psychological factors. This necessitates administering injections via the spinal chord in order to anesthetize the patient from the Labor pain. While this provides the relief to the mothers, yet it deprives them of an optimal birth experience besides subjecting them to adverse effects as post-dural puncture headaches and in some case to neurological injuries. Besides, when this pain occurs it produces a high level of discomfort to the mothers. Medications are also known to result in crossing of the placenta which has the potential of bringing in undesirable consequences on the fetus. In short, pharmacological interventions, however high quality it may be in nature, can not automatically be equated with high levels of satisfaction in the child birth delivery. This has necessitated both the pregnant mothers and also medical fraternity to look into scientifically acceptable alternative methods of child birth which on the one hand would be   less debilitating in nature and on the other hand bring in an acceptable way of child birth to the mothers. It is in this regard hypnotherapy comes in handy because it conforms to scientific specifications if and when used in a constructive manner by trained/qualified and experienced hypnotists.

It is not as if the childbirth experience  per se  is such a serious phenomenon but the perceived fears and anxiety are seem to be playing  greater role in aggravating the incidence and intensity of pain during child birth and the infusion of medication to calm down the mothers has the effect of increasing the post-traumatic disorder and depression.

Hypnosis is known as a psychological intervention which is shown to provide the analgesic effect and help in reducing the anxiety. At least since the 1980s it has been gaining recognition among the scientific and medical fraternity as a valuable tool for the management of child birth with a reduced unpleasant experiences in child birth. Scientifically, hypnosis is more and more applied in clinical settings. This has been made possible because of the scientific evidences available via the neuro-imaging techniques which support the evidence that neuro-physiological changes are occurring when the subjects are induced into analgesia in the course of hypnosis sessions. Such an analgesic effect is reported to be produced via the changes taking place in the anterior cingulate gyrus, a part of the brain which handles complex functions of which pain is one among them. When the subject is hypnotized, there is evidence to prove the occurrence of suppression of neural activity between the sensory cortex and the amygdala-limbic system which has the ability to inhibit the emotional interpretation of the sensations which is other wise interpreted as pain. In essence, hypnosis is seen to work as a 'state of narrow focused attention, resulting in reduced awareness of external stimuli' when the subjects respond positively to suggestions. Such suggestions in scientific parlance are described as therapeutic communications which enter into the patient's subconscious mind and the outcomes are seen to be independent of any conscious effort or reasoning.

From the above discussions we can draw conclusions to the effect that hypnosis in a medical sense could be used to manage pain during child birth and such medical use of hypnosis should be seen more as an adjunct procedure to facilitate and enhance other procedures undertaken as deemed fit by the Gynaecologist. The clinical research in this regard is an evolving one but from whatever pieces of evidence available so far indicate that at least up to 25% of pregnant mothers experience a total analgesic effect with the use of hypnosis for pain relief in child birth. We are sure that when more scientific experiments take place, we may have evidence of an increased percentage of pregnant mothers experiencing a relatively more satisfactory Labor pain and less traumatic post birth experiences which would augur well both for the mother and the child.