A really special delivery
HypnoBirthing is new technique that helps women relax for an easier labor
By JAMES REED, Standard-Times correspondent
Childbirth can be excruciating.
If we didn't know this from personal experience, we've heard about it from friends (and, perhaps, perfect strangers). Movies alone have done a dandy job of showing us women in labor, and it's rarely a peaceful picture.
Some would argue that an agonizing childbirth is part of our national psyche.
"When girls are little and they see someone who has just had a baby, they might say, 'I'm going to have five of those,'" said June Matthews, a labor nurse at Tobey Hospital in Wareham. "Then someone says to them, 'Just you wait.' "
Women are conditioned to fear labor, but why should they be?
"Through HypnoBirthing, you learn to set the stage for a birth that doesn't have to come with all that pain," Mrs. Matthews said.
Wait. Did she say "hypno," as in hypnosis?
"It is related to hypnosis, but I don't want people to think it's like they come into a room and I hypnotize them, because it's not. It's more than that."
Instead, HypnoBirthing is a relatively new trend in birthing techniques that utilizes meditation and relaxation for an easier delivery.
The key to HypnoBirthing is releasing the fear and tension that can actually worsen a woman's labor. Through a naturally induced state of relaxed concentration, the woman lets her muscles relax -- including the uterine muscles -- facilitating the natural process of childbirth. HypnoBirthing is such a stress-free approach to delivery that some practitioners avoid the use of such words as "delivery." A baby is "birthed," not delivered, and a contraction is a "surge."
Mrs. Matthews is a local certified HypnoBirthing instructor who teaches a four-week course every other month at Tobey Hospital. She has built her class to accommodate six couples.
The cost of the course is $150 per couple and includes a book and educational cassettes.
For Debra and Robert Anderson of Fairhaven, HypnoBirthing was a logical extension of what they practice already at home.
"We have made yoga and meditation a part of our lives, so this feels more like a natural approach to childbirth," said Mrs. Anderson, whose due date for her first child is tomorrow.
"Plus, we're both very spiritual people, and relaxing and being in tune with what's going on around us is very important," Mr. Anderson added.
Early on, they decided against Lamaze because, in Mrs. Anderson's words, "it gets you to the point where you're hyperventilating and eventually outside yourself. You don't even realize what you're doing."
Lamaze, Mrs. Matthews pointed out, has been the popular birthing technique for years, but lately it has become a catch-all phrase that's no longer associated with a specific approach.
The Andersons said they want to bring their child into a serene environment instead of one that's pervaded by screaming and pain.
"Pain is a reflection that something is wrong, and we don't want our baby to be brought into this psyched-out, bright-lights environment," Mr. Anderson said.
Mrs. Matthews said that makes sense, since "HypnoBirthing babies are calmer babies."
Heather Cozby's newborn may be proof of that. Ms. Cozby, a New Bedford resident, was enrolled in Mrs. Matthews's last class. She recently met up with the Andersons, her former classmates, for a discussion about HypnoBirthing. She had nothing but praise for it. She gave birth to her daughter Trinity nearly a month ago.
"(My labor) wasn't bad at all," she said. "I sort of lost it near the end, but my mom, who was there with me, was amazed at how well I was doing. She told me, 'I couldn't believe it. I was going crazy by the end of my labor.' "
As she speaks, Trinity lies cradled in her mother's arms, quiet as can be. Everyone in the room marvels at how a 17-day-old baby isn't shrieking.
Mrs. Matthews's class itself is straightforward. Couples, or individuals, meet in a room at Tobey Hospital for two hours of instruction that relies on videos, light-touch massage therapy and discussions of the birthing process.
Mrs. Matthews said women should begin the course no later than their seventh month of pregnancy. Their partners are not required to attend, though she advises it.
"The partner is there because he is more tuned in to what the woman is feeling," she said. "He can really pick up on things that we wouldn't normally know."
And if Ms. Cozby's testimony weren't enough, Mrs. Matthews recalled a former student who was on her seventh pregnancy when she enrolled in the course.
"She said to me, 'I figured after six babies there had to be something better, and this was definitely better. (HypnoBirthing) made a big difference.'"
To enroll in June Matthews's next HypnoBirthing class, call her at (508) 759-8627. For more information about the technique, go to www.hypnobirthing.com
This story appeared on Page B1 of The Standard-Times on September 17, 2002.
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