Childbirth
Childbirth is an exciting and potentially stressful time, and research shows that relaxation and guided imagery can be very helpful in reducing anxiety and stress associated with labor and delivery.. Our "Preparing for Childbirth" CD will teach you three guided imagery processes will help prepare a woman for an easier, more natural childbirth while reducing complications and enhancing the enjoyment of this special event.
RESEARCH
January, 2006
Acceptance and efficacy of natural childbirth preparation
About four million births take place annually in the United States (NCHS). Many of the mothers involved are looking for ways to participate more actively in preparation for delivery and in the process of labor, and to avoid “medicalized” births. A search for "natural childbirth" books on Amazon.com, conducted on January 1, 2006, yielded 457 titles, up from 309 titles just three years earlier. Another indicator of this trend is the rise in the use of midwives, which rose from less than 1% in 1975, to nearly 8% of vaginal deliveries in 2003 (Martin, Hamilton, 2005). A survey of nurse midwives revealed that 48.8% of CNM’S recommend mind-body techniques for the birthing process (Gentz, 2001).
Multiple studies have shown that psychological and educational programs using self-hypnosis and guided imagery are effective methods of natural childbirth methods (Harmon, Hynan et al, 1990; Martin, Schauble, et al, 2001; Oster, 1994; Schauble, Werner, et al. 1998). Self-hypnosis and guided imagery – the terms are used interchangeably in the literature – combining deep relaxation with positive suggestion and positive expectation for a normal, comfortable birthing process which is often shorter, with fewer medical interventions, than with "prepared childbirth" methods.
In one study, women who used self-hypnosis for their labors had shorter hospital stays (p<0.005) and fewer surgical interventions (p<0.001) than a matched control group who received psychosocial counseling (Martin, Schauble et al. 2001). Harmon, Hynan, and Tyre studied 60 pregnant women, half of whom received hypnotic suggestions for a comfortable labor, deep relaxation, and glove anesthesia. Those using hypnosis had shorter Stage 1 of labor, reported less pain, and used less medication than the control group. The babies of the treatment group had higher Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes.
Imagery and self-hypnosis have also been shown to reduce complications of pregnancy (Mehl, 1994; Torem, 1994). Mehl used guided imagery with 100 women whose babies were in breech positions at 37 to 40 weeks' gestation and compared them with a matched comparison group. Eighty-one percent of the babies in the hypnosis group spontaneously converted to vertex presentation, compared with 48% of the comparison group. Gentz, in her 2001 review of the literature, concluded that hypnosis is “a helpful adjunct” for women during labor. Authors of a 2003 review found that women using hypnosis were more satisfied with the management of their labor pain when compared with women using other forms of alternative and complementary methods of pain management (Smith, Collins, et al, 2003). More recently, authors of a 2004 review reported that women using hypnosis needed less analgesia and rated their pain as less severe than those in the non-hypnosis groups (Cyna, McAuliffe, Andrew, 2004).
Potential Cost Savings
The 2004 national cesarean section rate climbed another 6% to an all-time high of 29.1% (Martin, Hamilton, et al. 2005), with individual hospital's rates approaching a staggering 57% (Goldstein, 2005). These numbers far exceed The World Health Organization's call for a rate no higher than 15% (World Health Organization). Clearly there is a need for greater education of the benefits to both mother and baby of natural childbirth and the potential complications of medically unnecessary interventions of "managed" birth.
According to a NEJM article, reduction of American surgical birth rates to European levels would save approximately $1.5 billion per year (Sachs, Kobelin, 1999). The use of guided imagery to reduce not only the number of surgical births, but also reduce the length of hospital stays, complications, and pain medications, would save additional resources.
References
Cyna AM, McAuliffe GI, Andrew MI. Hypnosis for pain relief in labour and childbirth: a systematic review. Br J Anaesth. 2004. Oct;93(4):505-11. Epub 2004 Jul 26.
Cyna AM, McAuliffe GI, Andrew MI. Hypnosis for pain relief in labour and childbirth: a systematic review. Br J Anaesth. 2004. Oct;93(4):505-11.
Epub 2004 Gentz BA. Alternative therapies for the management of pain in labor and delivery. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2001 Dec;44(4):704-32.
Goldstein J. C-sections: Why are so many South Florida babies born this way. Miami Herald, 2005 Nov. 29. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/newsspecial_packages/5min/13277728.htm Accessed January, 2006.
Hamilton BE, Ventura SJ, Martin JA, Sutton PD. Preliminary Births for 2004: Infant and Maternal Health. Health E-Stats. National Center for Health Statistics. 2005. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/prelim_births/prelim_births04.htm Accessed January, 2006.
Harmon TM, Hynan MT, Tyre TE. Improved obstetric outcomes using hypnotic analgesia and skill mastery combined with childbirth education. J Consult Clin Psychol, 1990 58:525-30.
Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Sutton PD, et al. Births: Final data for 2003. National vital statistics reports; vol 54 no 2. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2005. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_02.pdf Accessed January, 2006.
Martin, AA, Schauble PG, Rai SH, Curry RW Jr. The Effects of Hypnosis on the Labor Processes and Birth Outcomes of Pregnant Adolescents. The Journal of Family Practice, 2001 May Vol. 50, No. 5.
Mehl LE. Hypnosis and conversion of the breech to the vertex presentation. Arch Fam Med, 1994 3:881-87.
Oster MI. Psychological preparation for labor and delivery using hypnosis. Am JClin Hypnosis, 1994 37:12-21.
Schauble PG, Werner WEF, Rai SH, Martin A. Childbirth preparation through hypnosis: the hypnoreflexogenous protocol. Am J Clin Hypnosis, 1998 40:273-83.
Sachs BP, Kobelin C, Castro M A, Frigoletto F. The Risks of Lowering the Cesarean-Delivery Rate. N Engl J Med, 1999 Jan. 7; 340:54-57.
Smith CA, Collins CT, Cyna AM, Crowther CA. Complementary and alternative therapies for pain management in labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(2):CD003521
Torem MS. Hypnotherapeutic techniques in the treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum. Am J Clin Hypnosis, 1994 37:1-11.
World Health Organization. Joint Interregional Conference on Appropriate Technology for Birth. Apr,1985. Qtd on Choices in Childbirth. http://www.choicesinchildbirth.org/who.htm Accessed January, 2006.
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