A Rose By Any Other Name?

Changing the Language of Birth

Jane Keeler, MSW, RSW, Certified HypnoBirthing Practitioner

Preparing for a painful childbirth ordeal probably ensures that you will experience more pain!

If you are taking a HypnoBirthing course in preparation for your birthing, you will receive an interesting "vocabulary" list. Your practitioner will suggest that you re-vamp your language in preparation for your birth. Probably the most important word to delete and revise is one that is very common in many other childbirth classes:

"Contraction." Contraction means a tightening and closing, it may even suggest a cramping. We suggest you substitute the word "surges."

In the 60's,the pioneering American midwife Ina May Gaskin made a similar suggestion in her Spiritual Midwifery: she suggested "rushes." Hypnobabies suggests: "pressure waves." All of these alternative names remind us that these sensations are made of moving energy, designed for change and opening.

The natural work of labour is to open and thin the cervix. Waves of energy will move through the longitudinal muscles of the uterus to pull up and thin the more thick and circular muscles which surround the cervix. When we think "contraction" we picture the opposite action that our body is attempting. When we think of "painful contraction," the effect on our body is even stronger, and in the opposite direction from the movement we want, which is opening.

March 30, 2010, Thomas Weiss and others from Friedrich-Schiller University ( Germany) published the results of their experiment with language and pain. Using MRIs to observe the brain's reactions allowed them to gage the immediate effect of "pain-ridden" language. "These findings show that words alone are capable of activating our pain matrix," underlines Prof. Weiss. His colleague, Maria Richter, added that whether the person were distracted or focussing on the idea, "We could observe a clear activation of the pain matrix in the brain by pain-associated words."

Because of this effect, many women ask that hospital staff do not quiz them about "How much pain are you in now?" because that is so suggestive.

HypnoBirthers may also be seen sporting a button that says "Only happy stories please, my baby is listening!" Yes, your baby is listening – and so are you! We know that a mother's emotional experiences – including her release of pleasurable endorphins or panicky adrenaline – are transmitted to her child. So give yourself a maximum of positive thoughts. And when labour comes, allow yourself to go where your energy surges, to relax around them.

Meanwhile, don't allow others around you to dwell on stories of pain and suffering. Make sure you are hearing the positive news: both your body and your baby are designed miraculously for birth. You are designed to open as smoothly as a blossoming rose. Deeply relaxing and allowing your body and your baby to lead will provide you the best, most comfortable birth possible!