Blissful Birthing

As her contractions strengthened during her 23 hours of labor, Debbie McCue closed her eyes and took a mental vacation. She pictured herself camping by a beautiful lake. That mental picture along with deep, rhythmic breathing eased the tension from her muscles and the fear from her mind. “Labor was more intense than I thought it would be, but the breathing and visualizations made it manageable,” she says.

The 36-year-old Bethlehem woman came up with that lakeside image during a HypnoBirthing™ class she took with her husband, Mark. Developed during the late 1980s, HypnoBirthing uses a combination of deep breathing, visualizations and affirmations (positive statements that you repeat, such as, “I will birth easily and naturally.”).

The goal is to help expectant mothers enter a deeply relaxed state. “Relaxation helps the body produce endorphins, our natural painkillers,” says labor and de-livery nurse and HypnoBirthing teacher Pat Cameron, R.N., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “Fear, on the other hand, tightens the uterine muscles that must be relaxed for the cervix to dilate. Fear makes labor slower and more painful.”

To stay relaxed during labor and delivery, you need daily practice ahead of time, says Cameron, who used relaxation techniques to birth her own daughter. Relaxation doesn’t always come naturally. But with enough practice, the techniques produce an automatic body response. As soon as you hear your affirmation or think about your favorite place—such as McCue’s campground—your body and mind instantly loosen up.

Relaxation offers added benefits before the big day. Stress hormones cross the placenta into the baby, and high levels of these hormones can cause a premature or low-birthweight baby.

As for the mother, it can be stressful just thinking about giving birth. Lynne Vettraino of Kutztown is a classic example. During her pregnancy, the 29-year-old watched every birth-related reality show on television, witnessing one delivery complication after another. “I was petrified,” she says. “HypnoBirthing helped me enjoy my last month of pregnancy and focus on what I had control over. After the class, I made the decision to turn off the medical stories and become at peace with my body.”