Hypnotic methods for preparing for childbirth.

Abstract

Pregnancy is a highly personal experience that may involve great joy and excitement. It may also bring forth concerns, such as fear of pain and discomfort, body image issues associated with weight gain, anxiety regarding parenting ability, and relationship changes between the prospective parents. In addition, as medical technology has advanced, a woman in today's society typically undergoes a variety of medical procedures during pregnancy, labor, and delivery during which she must manage both physical and emotional reactions.In this chapter, we present a biopsychosocial approach to hypnotic childbirth preparation, which is viewed as being a useful adjunct to current medical procedures associated with pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Hypnosis can be used easily in conjunction with a variety of techniques, such as Lamaze, Bradley, cesarean section, or chemoanesthesia. Valuable particularly because of its noninvasive nature, hypnosis has been used successfully to reduce the use of chemoanalgesia; reduce undesirable postoperative effects for the mother and baby resulting from medication; reduce fear, tension, and pain before and during labor; control painful uterine contractions; enhance postdelivery recovery; increase resistance to fatigue and exhaustion;