If you having a caesarean birth.

Hypnosis and mindfulness are excellent at helping you prepare for a positive birth.  Remember you have grown, loved and cared for your baby/ies. They just have to be born a different way.  

Preparing for your birth consciously enables you to connect with the immense changes your incredible body has made, the little baby about to be born, and to help you create a calm environment within you (in how you think) and around you (in how the space is). 

I can say from experience that it can be a very calm and empowering experience.  With just a few adaptations and changes you can create really lasting benefits to you and your baby/ies.  

As with any birth, keeping adrenaline low and oxytocin high, will help keep your heart straight and your heart full. 

1.  Preparation still matters! The time you spend preparing for a positive caesarean birth and listening to your audio will benefit your baby, and you. When you use hypnosis audio-tracks your mind and body rest. When they rest your soothing system is activated which helps support your body and your baby. There is some evidence to say that reducing stress during pregnancy can impact on your baby's brain development for life, so this is an easy way to reduce stress and support your baby's development.

2.  Feeling calmer and more confident about the birth can help you to enjoy the day your baby is born. We all remember the day our baby/ies are born, you CAN make it a wonderful memory. 

3. It can increase your mental capacity to make choices and decision that matter for you. And to question things that may not feel quite right. 

4. Learning tools for after birth can help with your healing.  Hypnosis is evidenced to support and even accelerate wound healing. 

5.  If you want to breastfeed you can use hypnotic imagery and tracks to help bring in your milk. 

The night before 

• Get a good nights sleep  by listening to the long audio track (calm and confident caesarean) 
• Make sure that you have gone through your caesarean plan, and that your partner is familiar with it. 
• Ensure that all your tracks are easily accessible on your phone and that you can charge it. 
• Take a bath/do something with just you and your partner. Soon you will have baby joining the mix. 
• One of the best things about having a caesarean birth is you know when your baby is coming which means that you can be really intentional in how spend your last night before baby is born. 
• Have a checklist, and put your bags by the door, or in the care. 

On the day

So this is it, your baby's birthday!  

• Get up, have a quick shower. If you have time it can be nice to wash your hair. But don't use any overpowering scents, as you don't want them to overpower your smell.  Which will help baby, connect. 
• Make sure you have a copy of your plan to hand, your tracks, and headphones.
• Take your own blanket and a pillow to make the room comfortable. You. may be there for a little while before things start and making the space feel familiar will help you relax. If you have done a hypnobirthing course think about your environment and your oxytocin triggers.  They still have a place in the room before a caesarean birth. 
• While you are waiting do the long track or the birth baby body track.  It's really important to rest as much as you can.  Listening to the tracks will slow your brain waves down, creating a deep sense of rest even if you are too excited to sleep. 
• If you are not an emergency and they are busy you may be waiting a while. Make sure that you are ready for this and have a book, a film etc that you can watch. 
• If you have time talk to your baby, pop the background music on to relax you both.
• Make sure that your partners eats and rests as well. It's all gong to change and you both need to be as rested as possible. 
• When you are called in, use your 321 relax relax relax to stay calm and use the frame breath in this video.  If you can't see a window or door, you can use the access panels on the ceiling or you can even trace a rectangle on your leg or arm with your finger. 
• When you are in theatre, make sure your plan is put in place. If the lights are to be dimmed, your music choice on, if you want the team to be quiet during the birth. 
• Use the 321 relax relax relax and frame breath.
• When baby is born use mindful awareness to notice the sensations, and connect with you the moment you give birth. 
• Have skin to skin. If you are separated you can use the invisible umbilical technique from my second book Mindful Mamma. Simply imagine a cord between you and your baby, and sending love down it. 
• Continue skin to skin in recovery.  And use your general relaxation track to rest your mind and body. 
• You can also use hypnotic imagery to help heal.  Think of healing colour, close your eyes and imagine it pouring into your body.