Hypnosis and Creative Visualization for Childbirth Preparation

What is Hypnosis and How is it Beneficial As Childbirth Preparation?

Hypnosis is a powerful tool that can help women before and during labor. It allows women to relax, surrender and remain calm during the labor process – decreasing or eliminating the tension that many women experience as pain. Hypnosis leads you gently and easily to a deep state of relaxation and peace.

Creative Visualization Exercise for Childbirth Preparation

You can record this exercise on a cassette tape (with music in the background), and play it back for yourself, or have your partner read it aloud to you.

Close your eyes and become aware of your breathing. Inhaling and exhaling. Breathing in and breathing out. Think of the word peace. Breathe in peace and breathe out everything that is not of peace. Allowing your body and your mind to go deeper and deeper in relaxation. Give yourself permission to go deeper and deeper. (Pause)

Now visualize, imagine, or pretend that you are surrounded by a very powerful, loving, healing light. This light can be any color that you wish. Choose your color now. This light surrounds you from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. This light will enter into your body through an imaginary hole at the top of your head. This powerful, loving, healing light is now entering into your body. Feel the light’s powerful presence as it enters into your body.

This light moves easily and effortlessly to your forehead. If you’re feeling and tension in your forehead you can release it now to the healing light. This light now easily moves down your face to your eyes and all of the muscles behind your eyes. Your eyelids feel so very heavy that even if you wanted to-you would not be able to open them. If you’d like — you can try to open them or just allow that healing light to continue moving down into the area of your nose and the area around your mouth — continuing down into your jaw. If you’re holding any tension in your jaw — you can release it now to the healing light. Now this light moves to that area around your ears down into your neck-the front of your neck and the back of your neck-all the way down your spine-the sides of your neck — down into your shoulders. If you’re carrying any burdens, worries, or concerns in your shoulders-you can now release it to the healing light.

Give yourself permission to go deeper. Deeper and deeper as this healing light continues down your arms, to your hands, down through the tips of your fingers. Now the healing light is in your chest-where it pauses around your heart-expanding your heart where you are now able to give more love and receive more love in your life. The healing light continues down into your abdomen and your pelvic area where your baby also feels this powerful, loving, healing light. (Pause)

This light continues down into your thighs, your knees, your calves, your ankles, your feet-all the way down to the tips of your toes.

Your entire body is now filled with this very powerful, loving, healing light. Going deeper and deeper within. (Pause)

Now imagine, visualize, or pretend that you are standing on a staircase. There are ten steps that you will walk down-each step will take you deeper and deeper. There’s a hand railing for you to hold on to-staring at step #10 going deeper and deeper/ #9 deeper and deeper/ #8 deeper and deeper/ #7 deeper and deeper / #6 deeper and deeper/ #5 deeper and deeper/ #4 deeper and deeper/ #3 deeper and deeper/ #2 deeper and deeper and #1-deeper and deeper letting go-giving yourself permission to let go even more. There is a place inside of you that knows only peace. There is a place inside of you that has never been touched, harmed, or endangered in anyway. This place inside of you that knows only peace will be that place that beckons you during your labor — your labor of love.

Breathe in the words-labor of love. That is what you will experience in your labor journey. A journey of love. Ease and effortlessness. Ease and effortlessness. (Pause)

Imagining, visualizing, or pretending that you now find yourself in this beautiful, magnificent garden, feel the cool grass beneath your feet. See the brilliant colors of the flowers all around you-the different greens of the plants. Feel the gentle caress of the wind against your cheek and the sweet warmth of the sun. In this garden you feel powerful and confident. This is your garden of labor-your labor of love. There is a pathway in this garden and as you step on this pathway, your confidence and power grow with every step of the way. Confidence in your strength and ability. Powerful with every step and every breath that you take. Step by step-breath by breath-power and confidence grow. (Pause)

You feel an opening, a surrendering in your pelvic area. The surrendering and the letting go begin in your mind. You begin to think the words-surrender and let go. Surrender and let go. (Pause)

Go even deeper.

As you walk your birth pathway-you notice to the left and to the right that there are these ancient midwives walking beside you. Your excitement and anticipation grow. The path now seems rockier. The tendency to stay focused on your breath grows stronger. The tendency to totally affirm your confidence and power grows stronger and stronger. (Pause)

The midwives are on each side of you as the pathway becomes more rockier. You allow them to take your arms-one on the left and one on the right-supporting you through this rocky part of the pathway. You completely trust them.

Trust. Trust. Trust. Let go.

Your pelvic muscles relax more. You surrender more to this part of the journey. Opening. Surrendering, Easy and Effortless.

There are other ancient midwives who have gone before you and prepared a place for you to lie down if you feel like it. That’s good. Make yourself as comfortable as you can. Become aware of your breathing again. Breathing in peace and breathing out anything and everything that is not of peace.

It is soon time for your precious baby to be born and the sensations in your body are growing stronger and stronger. As the sensations grow stronger you breathe in deeper and deeper. All the way down to your abdomen-that’s right. As you breather in peace-allow yourself to go to that place that knows only peace. You are totally safe in that place and when the sensations become so strong-go inside to your place of peace. As your labor of love continues-breathe in deeply and enter into your place of peace. Easy and Effortlessly. Easy and Effortless. Your labor of love.

This Page Contributed by Caroline Fitzgerald, Certified Hypnotherapist

Caroline Fitzgerald is a certified hypnotherapist who has been practicing in the LA area for more than twenty years. Ms. Fitzgerald is certified by the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners, the largest and most respected national organization of professional hypnotherapists in the USA. Her training includes hypnotism, healing, and pain control.  If you have questions about hypnosis, Caroline can be reached at 323-660-3629.

Original Watercolor Artwork Copyright 1998 Catalina O’Brien