Easing pregnancy anxiety with hypnobirthing

By Helen Bowman

Being pregnant brings a rollercoaster of emotions even in the best of times. But as the government highlighted pregnant women as being one of the vulnerable groups during the Coronavirus crisis, levels of worry can step up even more. The High Life North team has spoken to Shona Baxter, hypnobirthing practitioner and passionate warrior mamas advocate, to find out how hypnobirthing can help expectant mums get through the current situation.

Tell us more about you your business, Empowered Hypnobirthing

I’m Shona and I’m a mum of two gorgeous girls. I’m an avid researcher and must admit, I love being in control. When I fell pregnant with my first daughter, I found the whole antenatal process confusing and downright scary. I did my own research and found out there was so much more I wanted to learn.

My husband and I took an intensive hypnobirthing course over one weekend because I’d read that it helped women stay strong, confident and in control of their birthing process – perfect for me.

I set up Empowered Hypnobirthing two years ago to share my amazing experiences with hypnobirthing with other expectant mamas in the North East and deliver my courses in Northumberland, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear and the surrounding areas – at least I do when we’re all allowed out. During lockdown, I’m consulting with my clients over Zoom and telephone consultations.

So how can hypnobirthing be used to help women during the Coronavirus crisis?

There are several hypnobirthing techniques that can help expectant mums if they’re feeling anxious and stressed because of what’s happening now.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, remember to stay calm. By nature, we tend to think about worst-case scenarios. We panic, stress and work ourselves into a cycle of worry that we can’t get out of. My view is that worrying is only useful if it helps to find a solution.

We’re still unsure about how vulnerable pregnant women are to the virus and the recommendation of self-isolation is very much a precaution, as for most of the rest of the population.

If we allow ourselves to panic, adrenaline builds up in our bodies and we become tense. We become constantly stressed.

As a pregnant woman, if you feel yourself becoming stressed, take some deep breaths to the count of four and then slowly exhale for the count of seven. Make sure you empty your lungs of as much of the oxygen they held as possible. This process triggers the calming reflexes in the body and helps alleviate stress.

Set a time on your phone and repeat this process for two minutes to allow your heart rate to return to normal. Once you get used to doing this exercise it almost becomes second nature. It’s particularly good during labour, if you find yourself having a wobble.

Secondly, I highly recommend relaxation techniques. Switching off and relaxing really does take practice, because it isn’t something we get chance to do a lot these days. But it’s best to try and switch off your mind to the daily distractions we all have.

Find a quiet, comfortable space, put on a peaceful, calming track, spray some nice room spray and settle in. Close your eyes and practise the breathing technique I mentioned earlier. Work your way down your body, from your head to your toes, releasing the tension you may be holding in your muscles.

When you practise techniques like this, the music and the scents you use become triggers for your brain to take you back to that chilled state, so don’t forget to pack the same music and room spray in your birth bag too.

If you struggle to relax on your own, I do have a guided meditation track written specifically for this uncertain time, if any mums would like to contact me for a free copy.