Hypnosis For Childbirth, Part 1

Some point form notes for now. I might get around to putting more here at some point.

• Class was held in a room off the garage of instructor's home.
• Instructor was a registered midwife until 1999 then started teaching hypnosis for birth.
• She also has multiple certificates in reiki, crystal therapy and others. Hmm.
• Three couples: one woman is a midwife, another a nutritionist, very much into alternative medicine
• We talked about our histories, what our goals were. It sounded like the instructor really wanted us to be able to measure whether we achieved our goal, whether it be a stress-free birth, or a less-painful birth.
• Talked about importance of Omega-3 oils, 300-500 mg of DHA per day. 
• Watched a video about babies, skin-to-skin contact after birth, analgesics and rooting and latching. This video is by Righard and Frantz (1992) and comes out of research by Righard and Alade (1990) published in the Lancet. I found a chapter (PDF) discussing this study in a book about feeding problems in children.
• Talked about what hypnosis is: mental focus, entering trance state, making yourself more open to positive suggestions.
• We tried a brief hypnosis session. She played some relaxing, synthesized, New-Agey kind of music, while she spoke softly and had us visualize descending into a deeper state of relaxation.