In partnership with KG Hypnobirthing

Are you going to hypnotise me? No!

If "hypno" makes you picture a stage show, with someone apparently out of control, clucking like a chicken or eating an onion they think is an apple, you're not alone. That's pure showbiz, so it's no wonder you feel suspicious.

Stage hypnosis has nothing to do with the KG Hypnobirthing course.

The name is a bit of a historical accident. It comes from the Greek word hypnos, meaning sleep, yet at no point will you be asleep. The name has stuck, but it doesn't really describe what happens.

Will I be in control? Yes!

Completely. You'll be awake, aware and in charge the whole time. You'll hear everything, choose every idea you want to take in, remember everything, and you can stop whenever you like. Nobody can make you do anything you don't want to do.

The relaxation you practise feels much like being absorbed in a good book or drifting off as you settle down at night, except that you stay awake. It's a natural, calm state you already slip in and out of every day.

What does a hypnotherapist actually do?

As a hypnotherapist, I have never hypnotised anyone. In fact, I un-hypnotise people!

If you come to me with a problem, you weren't born with it. You learnt it along the way. That's when your mind changed; you could say that's when you were hypnotised. Sometimes a problem like a fear of spiders becomes so strong that it takes away from your enjoyment of life, and you need someone to help you let go of it.

That's what I do. My job is to help you release that learnt problem, using positive, focused words. It sounds gentle and positive, doesn't it? It is.

So will I be hypnotised on a KG Hypnobirthing course?

No more than you already are, quite naturally, every day of your life.

Every conversation has the potential to change how you see the world. You may come away with a different view of a subject. That's all we're doing here, with a lot of care and a lot of evidence.

As you fall asleep at night, your mind gradually becomes calmer, moving from beta waves through alpha and theta waves to deep sleep (delta waves). The process reverses when you wake in the morning. During a deep guided relaxation you follow the same path, becoming more and more peaceful as you move from beta to alpha, and possibly on to theta. It's exactly what happens naturally twice a day.

Why does this matter for birth?

On the KG Hypnobirthing course, we help you let go of:

Fear

The fear of birth fuelled by every frightening, dramatic birth you've seen in films or on television.

Negative birth stories

The horror stories that friends, and even strangers, love to share with you.

Assumptions

The beliefs that run right through our society. "Everyone knows" that birth is dangerous and needs medical support in hospital. "Everyone knows" that women scream and writhe in agony when they give birth. "Everyone knows" that women in labour lie on their backs on a hospital bed.

Misconceptions

The things you may have picked up trawling the internet. Some of what you've found will be good. Some of it certainly won't be.

These ideas sit deep in your subconscious mind, so deep that you may not even know they're there. We pick them up over a lifetime, yet they shape how we feel about birth and how our bodies respond on the day. Fear creates tension, and tension makes birth harder.

Once you've released that stress and negativity, you can replace it with positive information, knowledge and skills.

What's on the course?

There's far more in the KG Hypnobirthing course than we can cover here. People often tell us, "I didn't realise there would be so much in it!"

You probably expect:

• Breathing techniques. Simple and effective.
• Deep relaxation. A depth of relaxation you may never have experienced before, ready for you when you give birth.
• Positive statements. Simple, and more effective than you might think.

You'll also learn about:

• Your birth partner. Having a knowledgeable, like-minded birth partner with you is almost as good as having a doula.
• Alternatives. Routine procedures usually have alternatives, but they may not be offered to you. You need to know about them to make a choice.
• Outcomes. The risks, benefits and likely outcomes of the routine procedures suggested to you.
• Interventions. What routine interventions, such as induction of labour, actually involve.
• Planning. You may already have a birth plan, but it could be little more than a wish list. Birth matters too much for that. You need a carefully thought-through plan based on real knowledge.
• Practice. We practise for any important event. Practising for birth, using what you've learnt on the course, is vital, and it takes just 10 minutes a day. That's what makes the change.
• Evidence. Everything on the course is logical and evidence-based, and we'll show you how to ask for the evidence behind anything offered to you.

Still sceptical? Good!

You may have started out sceptical. You may still be. I welcome that. It means you have an enquiring mind and you're asking questions, and those are exactly the questions we answer on the course.

Please take that enquiring mind into all your care throughout pregnancy too.

Everything we say on the KG Hypnobirthing course comes with a "because". You're entitled to good, evidence-based information, and that's what we give you, along with skills that really work.

With the knowledge and confidence you gain on the course, you'll be well equipped to give informed consent, or to withhold it, for any procedure that's suggested.

Written by Katharine Graves, founder of KG Hypnobirthing and author of The Hypnobirthing Book. Find her on Instagram @kghypnobirthing.