Comments on: They Say: Childbirth Hurts and Hypnotherapy Won’t Help

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:14:20 +0000

This article adds nothing helpful to the discussions of natural childbirth, the value of hypnosis, and the origins and functioning of pain except to add a childish “oh huh!” to the well-documented argument that painless childbirth is possible. The women commenting are already evidence that of this. So am I.

Aside from the idea that childbirth pain comes from fear, even painless surgery with hypnosis and no chemical anesthesia is well-documented. Therefore, whatever your opinions about how unavoidable childbirth pain is, we must assume that even “normal” pain is a mechanism that can be turned off.

By: sarah

sarah — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:59:53 +0000

I’d love to see any of the above posters hypnobreathe their way through an emergency caesarian!

I’m neither bitter nor frustrated, having had two drug free natural births, one of which was very pleasant and didn’t particularly hurt much. But just as all birthing classes aren’t created equal, neither are all births. And that’s something that sometimes isn’t acknowledged in a lot (and I’m not saying all) of the painless birthing rot that is out there.

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:36:30 +0000

The journal that published this study lists editors who are obstetricians, whose primary objective is to justify their own methods and expertise. The western medical establishment has no place for hypnotherapy or natural methods of any kind – as the only acknowledged treatments must involve either drugs or surgery.

When we see a study that actually includes hypnobirthing specialists (or even mentions the word “hypnotherapy”), then perhaps we can discuss this further.

This article seems to be one borne out of bitter frustration at having been told that childbirth doesn’t have to be excruciatingly painful. The author jumps at the opportunity to say “See, I told you so! None of that natural stuff really works!”

Many, many women have had painless (or minimal pain) childbirth experiences. You simply won’t read about them in a medical journal or study published by western doctors.

By: Simone

Simone — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:49:43 +0000

I ‘breathed’ through my labour and although there was pain, it wasn’t unbearable. I had no drugs, just used massage, homeopathics and hot water.
I believe the culture of fear around birth increases the expectation of pain and undermines a womans faith in her own ability to birth.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:47:53 +0000

Having had two painless births myself, I can firmly attest to the fact that childbirth does not have to been painful, but that there’s more than “just breathing” to it.

You’ve made some sweeping statements and conclusions that can’t be drawn from this article, which in itself, made conclusions it couldn’t reach.

All NCB classes are not created equally. Without assessing exactly what comfort measures and/or breathing techniques were taught, one cannot conclude their effectiveness.

Hypnotherapy was never even mentioned in the article, so any statements you’ve made to its effectiveness are completely unfounded.

So, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this article is that classes that focus on unspecified breathing and relaxation techniques didn’t make a difference in pain ratings.

So, since so many of these factors appear to have not been controlled in the original study, it appears to be of poor design and unreliable in making broad conclusions about the impact of NCB education on birth.

Only when truly controlled studies that look in-depth at specific techniques are conducted, can conclusions be drawn about what type of birth preparation is most effective.