Hypnobirthing: An Alternative Birthing Experience

Once you find yourself about to become a parent, your mind's wheels automatically turn a direction you never thought possible... Parenting is an emotion of it's own accord, but before you decided on bedtimes, and curfews, and parenting styles, you have to decide what methods you are going to utilize to ensure a safe delivery of your child.
Women all over the word are conditioned to feel certain ways about childbirth, but I knew that I was EXCITED! As I have already mentioned previously, I am somewhat of a traditional person, but I do like to try and experience new things! With my first child I knew I wanted to EXPERIENCE childbirth. I wanted to feel as much as I could so I would know and always remember the miracle of bringing life into this world. I love to research anything that sparks an interest so I started with Google, and explored just about every childbirth option there is. My husband and I started out by selecting and obstetrician and a hospital. We went through the regular routine of prenatal appointments and childbirth classes. About halfway through the pregnancy we stumbled on what is called Hypnobirthing. Hypnobirthing covers just about everything concerning childbirth, from the "origins on the concepts of pain during childbirth" to teaching a woman and her partner a whole new set of terminology and methods to be successful in their individual birthing experience. (Mongan 1998)
My husband, the amazing, supportive man that he is, jumped on board! We decided that we would continue to use our o.b. and still give birth in a hospital, but we were going to give going NATURAL a try. Hypnobirthing taught us how to "release our fears and preconceptions", gave us a complete understanding of how the muscles in the uterus work and how to work with those muscles and not against them,instructed us on "the body's endorphins as natural pain killers," our terminology transformed from contractions to "surges", and so much more. (Mongan 1998)
Every night we would lay in bed and practice different methods of self hypnosis, going to our "happy place" so to speak.
Showtime arrived and we were ready. My water broke at 10:00 pm on a Sunday night. We headed immediately for the hospital and due to my Group Strep B I was immediately placed on intravenous antibiotics. We immediately settled into our routine, with our nurse checking on our vitals at specific intervals. I am very proud to say that we successfully performed our Hypnobirthing for six hours of labor before we ran into a few complications. I am thankful we were at the hospital setting because they were able to accommodate to our immediate needs without many transitions. We ended up getting an epidural because our little guy got himself stuck under my pelvic bone, his heart rate would go down with every contraction, and there were talks of forceps. I received the epidural, labored for another six hours, pushed for two hours and we finally gave birth to a beautiful 5lb, 15oz baby boy, who we named Riley.
My birthing experience was one that I will never forget and I am so thankful for the opportunity to EXPERIENCE the sensation of the contractions and the human body's natural abilities, but I was also able to realize my own limitations and succumb to a little help. Life is truly a miracle...

Mongan, Marie F.(1998) HypnoBirthing. A Celebration of Life. Concord, N.H.Rivertree Publishing

Choice To Parent

In a constantly evolving world, opportunities for women are being presented in tumultuous amounts. I feel very safe in saying that here in the United States a woman can be or do just about anything she sets her mind to. My parents raised me with this core belief. With a lot of hard work and perseverance I could achieve what I wanted in my life. Education was always revered with great respect. As long as I can remember, my parents continuously stressed the importance of a college education. In a career minded world, we are seeing more and more woman making personal choices that do not follow the norm of tradition. The choice to parent is probably one of the most important decisions an individual could make. It is definitely not something to be entered lightly. I can only speak honestly and openly from my own experience.
I am a traditional woman in that I have always believed in the wonderful opportunity to find the right person, make a commitment, get married, have children, and, well, hopefully live happily ever after! Idealistic? Yes! I started out going to college, but was not so successful at first. However, in the mean time, I did meet the right person, make a commitment, and get married. Doing this at a young age, even ten years ago, was pretty abnormal because most young women at the age of twenty were focused on school , career, and enjoying life sans marriage and children.
My husband and I had always talked about the possibility of having children, but never actually made any plans. We were so young, focused on figuring out what we wanted to do when we grew up, and paying the rent. After three years of marriage, a little bit of school, and a lot of hard work at decent jobs, we found out that we were going to have a baby. We had always taken proper precautions but found ourselves about to be parents. I had never looked at it as a choice but just the natural course of the life I had chosen initially.
Hindsight is always 20/20! I believe that getting married and having children has been one of the most amazing things I could do in my lifetime. Parenting a child is one of the most intense yet gratifying experiences. Once you become a parent, your world is not just yours anymore and the responsibility is tremendous. Knowing this now that I have actually experienced it, has opened my eyes to the "other" side. I can understand why women are waiting longer and longer to have children. With life's other endless opportunities each individual has to make a choice how her life is going to map out. Including the molding and shaping of another person's life into your own life is a never ending commitment that you must steadfastly stay attuned with.


"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~Elizabeth Stone

Rating My Preventive Practices

When I thought about my Personal Health, I figured it would be best to just respond in a list to better evaluate all of my healthy practices. So here goes…

1.I try to consume a daily healthy diet, but sometimes it is difficult to squeeze in the combination of the appropriate recommended servings as well as a good balance of protein and carbohydrates. I do take a vitamin supplement because osteoporosis runs in my family, so I need that calcium!
2.Does chasing after two children and keeping house count as moderate activity, because if it does I am active all day long! I do also try to squeeze in a 30 minute walk about four times weekly, as well as, practice yoga twice weekly.
3.Sleep is my weakest link. It is not that I have a hard time getting to sleep but when you have two small children who wake up, on average, once a night, there is always a lack of the good REM sleep.
4.I abstain from all tobacco and drugs.
5.I do consume alcohol in moderation. A glass of red wine two to three times a week can be very nice.
6.I have been in a monogamous relationship for ten years so, thankfully, STDs are a non-issue.
7.I ALWAYS wear my seat belt, refuse to even go near a motorcycle, and most importantly I never take a chance behind the wheel when alcohol is involved!
8.I can honestly say that conflicts are minimal in my life, but when present, are handled accordingly and most appropriately.
9.I am a believer in seeking healthcare, preventive and on an as needed basis. With a family history of breast cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, (the list continues) I don’t like to take any chances!

After evaluating this list I feel very confident in my overall behaviors. I can safely say that I rate at about an eight on a ten point scale. However, there is always room for improvement. Those improvements can always be made in my diet to ensure the correct amount of fruit and vegetable intake. I am a kid when it comes to veggies… blah! I do believe that healthy behaviors must be at the forefront of our minds on a daily basis.

Health Concerns

When I think about the aspects of health that concern me the most, my biggest fear is developing heart disease. My job as a telemetry technician is to monitor the electrical activity of the hearts of several patients, so I am able to see the effects that heart disease has on a person. Heart disease runs in my family. My mother lost her father when she was fifteen to congestive heart failure, a massive stroke, and polycystic kidney disease. In my own practice, I try to consume a healthy diet, include moderate exercise every week, and attempt to keep my daily stresses in life to a minimum, in hopes that it will make an impact in my life as well as those for whom I set an example.
I interviewed two women from different walks of life, and their responses are included in the text below. For their privacy, they have chosen to remain anonymous.


I'm 43 and a beautiful African American Woman. The health issues and concerns that frighten me the most are Diabetes & Breast Cancer. Diabetes concerns me because this disease runs in my family and I have lost several family members to it. Today, it seems as if it's a common disease, everyone gets it not matter how you take care of your self. Cancer, because I'm a smoker (I know I should quit) and my grandmother developed breast cancer at the age of eighty, had a mastectomy, and she is still here ten years later (personal communication, June 8, 2009).


I am a fifty-one year old, Caucasian woman, and my health concerns and reasons why are as follows:
1. Dementia/Alzheimer's disease
2. Having had my grandmother suffer with dementia and perhaps my father in the very early stages, I would like to see more research done. To me, this is a very demeaning disease that robs the sufferer of any kind of lifestyle. I worry about not knowing my family and friends, not having any memory of life as I have known it. I feel that too many times, people who suffer from this disease are locked away and left to the care of those who aren't familiar enough with it. As we are all living longer, I feel this disease is a terrible drain on both the health system and the families of the sufferer (personal communication, June 8, 2009).

After speaking with these women, I have concluded that most common factor among our concerns is loss of family members and our own mortality. I also think about genetics and the diseases mentioned above, and all have the possibility to recur amongst family members. Knowing this fact can instill the question, “Is this going to happen to me?”

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