Phenomenon: hypnosis for a pain free birth?
Prejudices
Do you dream of giving birth as naturally as possible but preferably without (too much) suffering? Thedelivery under hypnosis (or hypno-analgesia) is for you! At the Robert Debré Hospital, the technique was adopted in 2008 already, but other institutions offer this rather exceptional care like the hospitals of Strasbourg, Rouen or Toulouse. So if you immediately think shamans, junky hippies and psychedelic spirals, read on!
The technique
If losing total control of your body and your feelings scares you, rest assured: thehypnosis is in reality a full awareness of his perceptions and sensations. This state, obtained from a work on breaths, allows the woman to better control and relieve her pain. In an interview given to L'Express in 2011, Isabelle Ignace, clinical psychologist and trainer athypnosis Robert Debré hospital explained this process: "We guide the woman to enter an imaginary and soothing world that she chooses herself. The goal is to give him the reins of his delivery. She must control and not suffer her pain. It helps to focus on the most pleasant thing possible, to reduce the threshold of fear that amplifies the pain. In an interview at 20 Minutes, Catherine Bassereau, a hypnotherapist midwife, explains: "They are brought into a particular state of consciousness, a light trance, which is not sleep. They are not completely absent, we can talk to them, make them move, they trust us. We can lead the patient to a real or imaginary place where she feels safe to limit pain, for example. Everything is therefore a question of diversion of the mind and the attention of the parturient so that the latter can achieve a perfect dissociation of the top and bottom of her body, to overcome the pain of contractions. All while remaining fully aware of what she is experiencing.
And it works ?
You are not told that you will not feel any pain at all, as is often the case with an epidural. But according to several testimonials gleaned from the specially dedicated forums, it is quite easy to "go over" and to reach "a kind of fullness" that puts into perspective or even forget the pain when you decide to trust method and give it back to the midwife who practices it. Ideal if you want to give birth under hypnosis is to refer you to a specialized service as soon as possible in your pregnancybecause, according to the professionals, a preparation session may be enough for the most receptive women, but it can take several months to acquire the method. On the practical side, know that the sessions are reimbursed by social security, just like the preparations for thedelivery classics.
Good to know
To consult the directory of therapists practicing thehypnosis near you, go here.
