Looking back, I can’t remember which internet rabbit hole got me to searching for hypnobirthing classes in New York City. It was probably mentioned in the documentary “The Business of Being Born”, which I watched on my phone while commuting to work.
I guess you could say that I’m more crunchy-granola than the next person since I saw my sister go through her vegan phase, studied sustainability during my grad degree and learned how to cook at the Natural Gourmet Institute. Full disclosure, I’m currently an omnivore with mixed feelings about food labeling. I could go on about food in another post. Anyway, back to hypnobirthing.
I found Maeva at Hypnobirthing NYC and started her class when I was around 21 weeks pregnant. Most of the other moms were further along.
It was a childbirth education class that you and your partner attend once a week for five weeks. It covered all the basics of childbirth preparation with an emphasis on unmedicated births. Hypnobirthing highlights how positive language affects people’s perception so for example, “contractions” should be called “surges” instead. There was a long list of words to use in place of more common terms that have more unpleasant connotations.
Here’s some of the information I picked up:
-Reverse kegels, or training to relax your pelvic floor is important.
-Red Raspberry Leaf Tea is good for you
-Read the Birth Partner
-Don’t feed the fear, focus on the positive
-A pigeon pose a day keeps the c-section away
-Calm breaths- counting up to five, then down to one.
-Surge breathing
-Ragdoll relaxation, Rainbow meditation
-Writing out your birth plan
-Belly mapping
-More guided visualization and relaxation exercises. I think these techniques should be taught to everyone, TBH.
-Gate control theory of pain
-Packing your hospital bag and the postpartum period
-breastfeeding basics
I love going to classes, so I enjoyed taking time to learn about birthing with other people. I think that the information could definitely be found all over the internet, but I appreciated the pace and Maeva’s calm presence. It was definitely more important that my husband heard all this information since I don’t think he would seek it out on his own.
Another bonus from the class was where it was located, in Greenpoint. Paolo and I would eat at Paulie Gee’s since it was so near.
Overall, I’m glad we attended a hypnobirthing class since it helped with the mental preparation for the big day, and I was able to have a positive birth experience.