HypnoBirthing - The Gentler Way Part 3

Part 3 

Part 1 starts of with what many of us are familiar with in Birthing and we we normally do in preparing for our latest addition to the family. 

Part 2 covers our journey again, understanding that there are better options and alternatives to birthing, and ways to being better prepared. Part 3 (this post) covers our actual learning and the tremendous knowledge we gained in the understanding of HypnoBirthing through the classes. Firstly, no, it's not a class about hypnosis. Read on.

Signing up for the Hypnobirthing session with BabywithBee was pretty simple and straight forward. The classes you’ll join mostly depend on your location, where different instructors cover different areas. Lucky for us, closest to us was Ampang, which was Ruz’s class. She was also one of the speakers during the Boot Camp.

Is this the blog post where I share in details the 5 sessions that we went through? Well if I do that; basically I would be conducting the gentle birthing classes wouldn’t I? Firstly for some of us out there (myself included) - for the sum of money you’re putting in, some will ask "Is it worth it"? To me, IF you want to be more informed when you go see your O&G , if you want to have a clear plan on the birthing, and if you want to know what are your rights and what is scientifically a fact or otherwise, if you want to have a more memorable and smoother, calmer birth, yes it is a well worth investment. In analogy, if you would be investing and spending an amount in taking a certification course for your career, wouldn’t investing in this very eventful occasion (your child’s birth) be a good investment? I’ll not go through each session here, but here’s some of the key learnings for me and how it worked out on D-day: 

1. Helped us stay calmer overall 
2. It helped us understand and practice better breathing techniques - Different techniques are applied at different stages of birthing
3. It has helped the partner / husband provide the much-needed support to be the core backbone to the mummy in delivery - 
• Yes, like it or not, many husbands are really unsure what is expected of them in the delivery room. If you go by what you see on TV, mostly it is to tell your wife PUSH, and hold her hand until u cannot tahan (can’t stand it) anymore.
4. Understand that most pregnancies don’t need much intervention.
5. Understand things like episiotomy and other birthing terminology – and yes you want to understand this and discuss with your doctor if things like this are really necessary. Tears lead to tears. Intentionally or not.
6. Come up with a birth plan, one that we actually understood and believed in. 
• Equipped with our own self-customized birth plan, we discussed with our O&G doctor, and were more well planned going into delivery. 
• We also shared the birth plan with the nurses in the delivery ward, and they acknowledged it.
7. It helped us talk to the doctor better during our visits, knowing what to ask, what to expect and how to manage expectations. 
• When you are more well informed, your doctor will also respond better to you as they appreciate and acknowledge that you have done your homework.
8. Helped us understand what to look for in a doctor, and to be upfront with doctors on your expectations. 
• We were recommended to quite a few doctors, but all doctors are different - what we’ve come to understand is that all doctors have different perspective and approach to gentle birthing. You’ll need to sync up your birth plan with your doctor and see what items the doctor is agreeable to and otherwise. Nothing fancy, but things like delayed cord clamping. Different docs will respond differently. 
• It is best to iron out these things early on, so as to avoid frustration during the actual birthing. This also gives you enough time to find your most preferred doctor. We actually met around 4 O&Gs before settling for the one we were most comfortable with. 
• On a side note, though all the O&Gs were from private hospitals, their consultation rates and final bill per visit differed amazingly a lot.

It is also important to evaluate the hospital. One way is to visit the delivery ward and talk to the nurses. Ask them about things like room-ing in, and based on their response you’ll know whether the hospital and their staff are pro-natural or not. See what messages and pictures are posted on the walls to get a feel of the birthing and post-natal culture there.

And if you’re like me; being a rather calculative person, you might ask, why not just google and read up about Hypnobirthing or Gentle Birthing. Some things are better left to be ‘learnt’ from a person. The sessions included guided practice, discussions, brain storming and also sharing of experience and ideas. Ruz herself gave birth using Hypnobirthing, so she can also relate very well based on her own experience. And I guess every parent (to-be) joining the session already has done some amount of reading, so all of us will have our unique questions to be answered.

In summary, when it mattered most – i.e. during the Birthing, we were more well-structured, calm and knew what to expect during every stage of Birthing. Yes, even when you are already in the delivery ward, there are stages in the birthing, and with knowledge and newly gained confidence, you will know how to adapt to and manage each stage better. We knew how to talk to and respond to medical suggestions and options. And kudos to the hospital staff as they went all out and were very supportive towards gentle birthing. They went along the birth plan and worked together with us to keep us on the path of a more gentle and calm birthing experience for mummy, daddy, and baby.

We were very happy with Ruz’s sessions, she is well informed and good in parting knowledge and explaining. Part 4 talks about what happens immediately after the birth. You can reach Ruz at 017-880 6061 or What'sApp her.