As a person who suffers from chronic back pain, I am always looking for pain management techniques that could bring me some kind of relief. Recently, a family member of mine, who is training to be a midwife, told me about Hypnobirthing. To preface, my back pain is nowhere near the pain women experience during childbirth. I also don’t plan on having a baby in the near (or distant) future. That being said, I thought it might still be worth looking into new pain management techniques. So, down a rabbit hole I went…
Hypnobirthing was first introduced in the 1990s by Marie Mongan and has since been used as an anxiety and pain relief method for childbirth by expecting mothers (Atis & Rathfisch, 2018). Essentially, hypnobirthing is a form of hypnosis that prepares women for childbirth by teaching them to trust that their bodies know exactly what to do when it comes time to give birth (Buran & Aksu, 2022). With the reassurance that birth is completely natural and normal, women feel less anxious when the time finally comes. Which, in turn, lowers their pain levels, and can help the childbirth process go a bit more smoothly (Atis & Rathfisch, 2018).
So, if hypnobirthing can help reduce the pain of childbirth, maybe another form of hypnosis could help ease my back pain? Ok, I know what you’re thinking… hypnosis??? That sounds like a whole bunch of gobbledygook! Turns out, it might be legit! Maybe. Turns out, hypnosis might be a safe form of pain relief for people with low back pain (Ruan et al., 2021). Some medical professionals see it as a fantastic intervention that does not have any unwanted side effects like ibuprofen or acetaminophen would (Ruan et al., 2021). I will be sure to keep you all updated on my hypnosis journey!
Resources:
Atis, F. Y., & Rathfisch, G. (2018). The effect of hypnobirthing training given in the antenatal period on birth pain and fear. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 33, 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.08.004
Buran, G., & Aksu, H. (2022). Effect of hypnobirthing training on fear, pain, satisfaction related to birth, and birth outcomes: A randomized controlled trial. Clinical Nursing Research, 31(5), 918–930. https://doi.org/10.1177/10547738211073394
Ruan, Q. Z., & Chen, G. H. (2022). Hypnosis as a therapy for chronic lower back pain. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 26(1), 65–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-022-01004-2
Hypnobirthing sounds like something I would try when the time comes. I did a little bit of research on my own and read that there is a focus on reinforcing positive thoughts and words. For example, instead of using the term "contraction" to describe tightening during labor, you would want to use more uplifting words like "surge" or "wave". I am curious how long you would have to do this for and would you have to go through this process for every pregnancy?
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