Rebekah: Hi guys.
It's Bex here and welcome to the conclusion, video number five in my series of five videos
on HypnoBirthing with the fabulous, calming, peaceful, angelic soul Grace Smith from GraceSmithCoaching.com.
She has promised me a blissful birth.
I don't know if I believe her yet but we're in video number five.
So here we go.
Grace: Yes.
Rebekah: I have some questions for you.
Grace: Please.
Rebekah: We've done these four videos and you've talked about all these great things
about managing your pain and talking to your baby.
But now I'm going into labor.
I mean not right now.
Grace: Right.
Rebekah: But theoretically I'm going into labor right now.
My water has broken.
And is it realistic?
I mean for real, for me to be able to use these tools on my own, like can I call you?
Do you need to be there by my bedside hypnotizing me?
Grace: It's a great question.
So what we always do whenever possible is we teach the course with the mama and the
birthing companion, so whether that's the father or the partner or the birthing mother's
mother.
Rebekah: Do you hear that behind the camera, Mr. Borucki?
Yes.
Grace: Well, he can come too.
Rebekah: Yeah, you have to come too and you can't fall asleep.
Grace: So one of the things that we do is we will have the birthing companion be one
of the anchors.
So that's a term we use in hypnosis.
An "anchor" meaning every time you hear a particular word you go deeper and we do something
called "light touch massage".
Some birthing mothers love it.
Some just want some space.
But for the ones who like it, we will have the birthing companion be an anchor.
So anytime that they gently touch their partner, they will go deeper.
Rebekah: OK.
Grace: Or it can just be a word and also the partner will be -- we have tons of scripts.
So when you're actually there in the birthing center or at home or in the hospital, wherever
you're having the baby, your birthing companion will have exactly what they need to say.
Rebekah: OK.
Grace: That is exactly what's on the Rainbow Relaxation CD.
So with some moms, you can watch on our videos too, they're actually there in the center
listening to the tape or they've got it playing on the loud speakers and it drives the doula
and everybody else crazy because it's the same thing on repeat, but it works.
So to answer your question, water has broken.
We say membranes have released and you immediately go into hypnosis.
That's a beautiful thing is you condition yourself to go straight in from the very first
surge which other people call "contraction".
We call surge.
Rebekah: I get that because I've been hypnotized by you many times now and the first time that
I was hypnotized by you , we used the word "green" to bring a sense of calm.
So even if I'm in my car and I'm feeling anxious, I can repeat that to myself and I instantly
become calm.
So it does work.
Here's the deal though.
Most women who are watching this video do not have a midwife because they are expensive
and most insurance does not cover them.
They won't have a doula.
They won't be at home.
They might not be in a beautiful birthing center.
So is this for women who may choose to have interventions?
They choose to have an epidural and they choose to have like different things that aren't
completely natural child birth.
Grace: That's a great question.
So HypnoBirthing is not anti-intervention by any means.
It is anti-unnecessary intervention.
Rebekah: OK.
Grace: So for those moms who feel completely -- it's your birth.
It's your life.
It's your baby.
It's your body and whatever decision you make is the right decision for you.
So in no way am I saying -- if you are looking forward to an epidural, I have no opinion
one way or another.
It's not my body.
We are giving an option for a calm, natural, birth that can be less painful or pain-free
even.
So what often happens in these centers where there are no doulas, there are no midwives,
it's purely clinical, a lot of times doctors will set a due date which is truly a guess
date and women will get very, very hyper nervous about it.
If they're not going into labor by that date, there's a tendency to get the Pitocin out
and start the labor early which can make it even more painful which brings out the epidural.
There's just a lot of things that happen that don't necessarily need to happen when you're
calm and relaxed and in control.
So what we always recommend is we have a sheet of birthing preferences.
That you go over this with your provider, with your doctor beforehand.
Well beforehand, not once you're already in labor.
Rebekah: Right.
Grace: Like weeks or months beforehand and have your doctor initial so that if the doctor
is not on call when you go into labor and the nurses are there, that they don't have
to call them and say, "This woman has this crazy hypnosis birthing preference.
We want to give her Pitocin and the epidural and she's saying no," and that you have already
discussed this.
That unless there is -- you can just ask.
Is my baby in danger?
Am I in danger?
No?
Then I would like to stick with my birthing preferences.
Rebekah: Those are excellent questions to ask because I think that the assumption when
the nurses and the doctors come in and say you need this, you need this, you need this,
you assume it's because you're in danger or the baby is in danger.
So you want to say yes because you don't want to be that person that's making things that
are counterintuitive to a healthy child birth.
Grace: Right.
Rebekah: But this puts you in control.
I love those questions.
That was really great.
I think that's like the big takeaway from the video.
Grace: And having your birthing companion ready to do that as well.
Rebekah: Yeah.
Grace: Because you're in the state of, "I'm having a baby," and your birthing companion
can say, "Is she in danger?
Is the baby in danger?
If not, we would like to stick with our birthing preferences."
Rebekah: Right.
Grace: You have a right to that.
You do and one of the other great things about HypnoBirthing is because you're so relaxed
and because you're working with your body, the risk of tearing or nicking or even being
hurt in any way is minimized to almost nothing because you're just working with your body
the way it's supposed to.
Rebekah: Every time you say that, a trigger goes on inside me that's like, "Bullshit!"
Grace: Yeah, yeah.
And that's totally fair.
Rebekah: OK.
I'm choosing to believe you.
I'm making another choice, but no.
Grace: Totally it's completely understandable and I know many of you are having that same
reaction.
So it's a great thing you're bringing that up.
I'm not saying that it discounts the pain you've had before because that's real.
All I'm saying is there is another way.
Rebekah: All right.
I'm going to try it.
I'm doing it.
I hope you guys are inspired to at least learn more because my motivation here is for people
to just be empowered, to educate themselves, to seek the information.
There's so much good information out there and it's so accessible now for women to be
empowered and to have the kind of birth that they want.
So that's all I want for you and I hope that you at least explore HypnoBirthing because
it's something that I am super excited about.
So all the links for Grace are going to be in the description including all her social
links because she's on social media just like me.
Grace: I learned from the best.
Rebekah: Oh my gosh.
You're very funny and they're also going to be in the blog.
If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below.
We will be stocking these videos like crazy and answering all of your questions.
It doesn't matter how personal, how crazy.
You don't have to be embarrassed.
This is my fifth baby and I am super afraid.
So it's OK to be afraid and to have silly questions like, "Am I going to turn into a
werewolf during childbirth?"
It's a possibility.
That's what happened to me the last time.
Thank you so much for joining me in these series of videos.
You always bring so much to us.
If you guys have any requests for Grace, for anything that hypnosis can help you with,
weight loss, relationships, love, anxiety, depression, stress, kids that piss you off,
whatever, post them.
We're here for you.
Grace: Yeah, it would be my honor.
Rebekah: All right.
Love you guys.
Grace: Thank you.