Your Baby, Your Birth: Hypnobirthing Skills For Every Birth

by Hollie de Cruz

No matter how you birth your baby, feel calm and safe with hypnobirthing"This woman is a great healer and birth expert. This book will be brilliant." Russell BrandYour Baby, Your Birth is a truly modern hypnobirthing book for ALL births. In-demand hypnobirthing coach Hollie de Cruz provides you with the skills and tools to make any birth feel safe, calm, connected and empowering. Drawing on her experience working with new mums, including Fearne Cotton and Giovanna Fletcher, Hollie de Cruz helps you prepare for a positive (not 'perfect') birth experience and approach motherhood with confidence in yourself and your instincts. Your Baby, Your Birth will teach That birth is safe - listen to your body, embrace the changes, prepare your mind and relax during pregnancy- Exercises and breathing techniques for labour and birth for you and your birth partner, along with guided meditations to keep you calm and engaged- How to trust your instincts, understand your body and baby, and make informed decisions throughout your pregnancy and beyondHollie de Cruz, creator of the award-winning yesmum positive affirmation cards, is renowned for demystifying hypnobirthing and her down-to-earth, realistic approach is highly sought after. Whatever kind of birth you are planning, let Hollie de Cruz provide you with a set of deep relaxation, mindfulness and meditation tools for an empowering experience.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Childrens, Self Help, Psychology

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 30, 2018

Reviews

[Jessica Mule` · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every pregnancy and birth is different but reading this book between my first and second birth was a game changer. My first I got lost in the pain/fear cycle and needed an epidural and then was so tired and exhausted the actual birth of my first daughter is a fog. After reading this book and using the audios I (mostly) slept through active labor, mediated through transitional labor, and pushed for a half hour and was clear headed and completely present for my second daughters birth.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

None of the content of this book is rocket science, especially if you've done any yoga or meditation in the past. But it does help to highlight how best to use techniques of breathing, affirmations, etc in the context of pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. A lot of the literature in this field demonises medical intervention and the medical team, which was thankfully much less the case in this book.

[Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Về chủ đề mang thai, cuốn mình tâm đắc nhất là The Mama Natural của Genevieve, nhưng cuốn này là sự bổ sung cần thiết cho quá trình sinh nở.

Hypnobirthing là phương pháp được đánh giá khá cao từ nhiều mẹ bầu, các bà đỡ, cũng như các bác sĩ phụ sản. Về cơ bản, phương pháp này là sự chuẩn bị về tinh thần cho các mẹ bầu trước ngày đi sinh. Nó cung cấp cho mẹ bầu kiến thức về diễn tiến của quá trình chuyển dạ và lâm bồn, cách thở ra sao, sự phối hợp giữa tinh thần và cơ thể như thế nào.

Người phụ nữ đã làm công việc sinh nở một cách hết sức tự nhiên từ thời điểm con người xuất hiện trên trái đất này. Thế nên, đây là một phần tất yếu của cuộc sống. Nỗi sợ hãi, nếu có, thì chẳng qua là do chưa được chuẩn bị tâm lý và hiểu biết đầy đủ. Và nỗi sợ hãi cũng là kẻ thù số một đối với quá trình sinh nở thuận lợi. Sự co thắt tử cung không phải là nguyên nhân của cơn đau mà mẹ bầu cảm nhận trong lúc chuyển dạ, mà nguyên nhân chính là do nỗi sợ hãi sản sinh ra andrenaline - hóc môn làm ngăn chặn sự dịch chuyển máu tới tử cung.

Mọi người có thể nghĩ rằng một ca sinh không sử dụng bất cứ biện pháp can thiệp y khoa nào, mẹ tròn con vuông, không vết rách nào (hay tối thiểu nhất) thì được gọi là hoàn hảo. Nhưng tác giả cho rằng, đối mặt với quá trình sinh nở đầy những ẩn số, bất cứ tình huống nào cũng có thể xảy ra, kể cả khi đối mặt với tình huống xấu nhất, nếu như người mẹ được trang bị với sự bình tĩnh, tự tin, và hiểu biết để tự đưa ra quyết định có cân nhắc phù hợp nhất cho bản thân, thì đó luôn là một ca thành công.

Mình đã nghe qua affirmations của nhiều người, nhưng đây là bản khiến mình thấy bình an thư giãn nhất. Hơn nữa, bản này hoàn toàn miễn phí: https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/20...

[J.P. Ashman · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've learnt a lot reading/listening to this as a couple - and it's not our first birth coming up.

After a traumatic birth the first time round, this has instilled knowledge and a confidence - coupled with the great NHS team we have this time - to head into the birth of our second child in an incredibly positive manner. Cannot wait!

[Hannah Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to follow, practical advice on how to give birth without fear regardless of what path you choose (or end up going down.) I highly recommend this book to any pregnant woman or birthing partner.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Hoping it helps keep me calm in labour. Will definitely try and read it again. All practical, sensible steps and advice. I'll update on whether it works :D

[Jenny White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, 4.5 ⭐️ but rounded up because I will be talking about this one, rereading, and recommending. Super approachable and engaging - I especially loved how much the author emphasized the inclusion of a women’s partner during pregnancy, delivery, and post-partum. The first pregnancy book (albeit one of the only lol) that’s led me to feel a deep sense of peace and excitement about birth!

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I'm going to need to implement the practices and practical elements mentioned throughout this book, but I found the reading experience very calming and reassuring, which is exactly what I would like to take into my future birth. Excited to also revisit all this with my husband so he's clued up too! Very accessible and very inclusive I felt.

[Nikita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Understanding hypnobirthing techniques has made me feel so much more reassured about birth and post birth. I will be keeping this book on my nightstand to read during the next few months! I have already recommended this to my friends!

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really helped me feel more at peace with labor. Am I still scared? Hell yes. But I know with the support from my husband & help from breathing techniques, I can do this!

[Hannah Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most helpful thing I have read on my pregnancy journey. I would recommend to anyone. I have definitely drank the coolaid!

[Rachel Biggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heads up to those who have already had a traumatic birth experience: this book doesn’t really touch on what to do if the negative story has already happened, and it’s your story. The author talks about asking people to not share their negative birth experiences with you, but when that’s your story it’s a little difficult. Some of these conversations were a little bit triggering for me, but I still found the book helpful as I find ways to prepare for my second delivery with PTSD from my first experience.

[Rikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic starting point for a journey toward a positive birth. Hypnobirthing courses can be sparse and expensive - this book makes all of the practices affordable and accessible. Highly recommend if you are expecting.

[Milly Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it, can’t recommend hypnobirthing enough!

[Eliza ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book! Definitely recommend to anyone who's pregnant or planning on extending their family. Giving birth is something incredible :)

[Rucha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmable

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m ready! 🤣

[John Poulain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixing helpful advice: "schedule a nap into your day." "Sleep is really important to all of us but even more so during pregnancy."; "Your body does require additional nutrition as it adapts to pregnancy and growing your baby but the idea of ‘eating for two’ is a bit of a myth." The book goes through the stages of labour and what to expect, making sure to stay in control and aware of what you need and want from medical intervention. It does lean a lot more into murkier natural remedies, and parts of it ask you to think about if you really want Vitamin K to be given to your babay (you really should) as it's a rare disease to it might not be applicable for every baby. This sort of thinking might be ok for the few people she's coached, but as its hard to identify the 2% of babies who will have haemorrhagic disease the more people who look at this sort of advice of just cross my fingers because I don't want my baby having an injection is goign to result in more dead babies. Similiary things such as "Simply pop a band on each wrist with the button placed face downwards over the Nei Kuan, an acupressure point that is located between the two wrist tendons, three finger widths from the wrist crease." veers into some really odd ideas which whilsts not harmful (it's jut a wrist band) takes up more space in the book than would probably warrant.

Underlying these ideas is the idea that "with the effects of clinical drugs on a developing baby still questionable, many women during their pregnancy look for alternatives to modern medicine to help the body heal and thrive." because if drugs that have been tested and approved for human consumption are questionable, how can alternative medicine (which has been tested in no way) be any better? Occasional questionable statements "As your spine and pelvis change each week to accommodate your growing baby, embedded tension in your body can sometimes cause areas to become ‘stuck’ along the nerves, joints, muscles and ligaments." which I'm sure have an alternative medicine component (no idea stuck areas of muscles are meant to be) undermine the veracity of other statements which mean I wouldn't rely on the advice in other parts without double checking it, even when helpful to understand such as being more likely to "go into labour at night. This is because melatonin (a hormone your body releases at night) synergises with oxytocin"

The understanding of risk is poor, as described above with the Vitamin K and also with statements like "home birth slightly increases the risk of a poor outcome for the baby (from five in 1,000 for a hospital birth to nine in 1,000)" which she explains away as being not too high, similar to a risk you had earlier in pregnancy and other ideas to try and explain that its double the risk, and if everyone followed this advice then agaItin there would be more dead babies per year.

Positive Affirmations are the key for this, ideas such as "Each day I nurture myself so that I can nurture my baby." which as the birhting partner I can't really speak about because the Birth Partner really needs to decide for themelves what helps them.

The book ends with the really odd addition of "Another thing to consider ahead of time is whether you would like to keep your placenta for consumption. Stay with me. We are one of the only mammals who don’t consume their placentas after birth. Mammals consume their placentas not only to hide traces of birth from potential predators in the wild," which of course is odd as we dont need ot hide from predators, there are plenty of other things wild animals do that we dont, and theres no evidence that its beneficial other than anecdotal despite studies being done on it. Other mammals also eat their own feces to keep birth dens cleaner, and lick their newborns clean and no one is recommending that.

All in all, whilst some parts of the book would be harmful if followed by a large number of people the majority is ok and as long as you read selectively and use your brain to think about what is good for you then it's not too bad. It does miss out speaking about postures for labour. It seems to mostly be recommended on celebrity endorsements, which is more marketing and ancedotal than anything useful. There are better hypnobirthing books.

[Jo Hepworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book has been a real turning point in my pregnancy. I've always had fears about child birth and how painful it'll be but reading this has put me in such a positive mind set. I can actually say after reading this book I am excited about the birth!
I love how the book is written and the positivity that Hollie emanates. The stories from other women are also a comfort to read.
I highly recommend this book for expectant Mum's & Dad's to be.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tldr: Helpful grab bag of tools, tips, skills - really great if that's how you use this book. IMO, unsuccessfully tries to be a complete guide to pregnancy/labour overall. Author has a bit of a superiority complex about hypnobirthing.

What I liked:
- Focus on creating positive birth, not a perfect birth.
- Hypnobirthing tools for all types of birth, not just unmedicated/vaginal births.
- Found it useful to see this book as a toolbox. Not every tool was relevant, comfortable, or resonated with my partner and I. But enough of them did that we gained a lot from reading it together and doing the exercises.
- Guess I'll report back how much this helped me in actual birth haha

What I didn't like:
- This book attempted, sort of inconsistently, to be a guide for pregnancy and labour overall. If this was the only book you read on the topic, I would argue it is incomplete/biased in that aspect. For my partner and I, there were large sections we glossed over because we feel we got more well rounded and compete info from other sources.
- I love positive birth stories, and appreciate them, but each one did feel like a testimonial for buying more of the authors products (courses, coaching)
- I found it unhelpful that she framed people as "hypnobirthers" or "not hypnobirthers" and the former being superior, calmer, better at childbirth. Really, IMO, hypnobirthing skills are mostly a collection of pain management/labour skills that you can also gain elsewhere, especially in a midwifery model (breathing techniques, touch/massage, affirmations, visualizations, movement, muscle relaxation, focus on reducing adrenaline and increasing oxytocin, etc.)

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very very very helpful book that I shall be continuing to delve into throughout my fourth trimester.

Hollie is insightful, thoughtful and positive and the fact that this book also comes with free MP3 tracks to help with the hypnobirthing journey is invaluable.

Now all I need to do is keep practising everything she has instructed on and have a wonderful birth.

[Christina Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was initially extremely sceptical about hypnobirthing - the name doesn't help!- as it seemed to be saying that any problems in childbirth could be overcome simply by changing your mindset, replacing the language you use to talk about childbirth and some calming music. I feel like this could minimize the problems many people encounter and lead to women not asking for pain relief or medical intervention when it could be needed. However, after a friend had a very positive experience with hypnobithing, despite her birth not going at all to plan, I decided to give this a go. One thing I have discovered since becoming pregnant is that nobody agrees on anything and everyone has an opinion about it - either your bump is too big or too small, pain relief during childbirth is to be expected or seen as you 'failing' etc. Nothing is without controversy, but I am firmly sticking to the belief that each individual has to find out what works for them and go with that. 

I found this book a useful introduction to the theory behind hypnobirthing, as well as providing some ideas you can use - I have yet to see whether or not they will make any difference, but it's worth a try, isn't it?

[Ohhellojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I won’t be sticking affirmations around my home, the YOU ARE STRONG vibe doesn’t do it for me in particular, I really appreciated how informative this book is overall - I had no idea about how the muscles in my belly will move, nor what function they have; nor any knowledge about what rights I have when in hospital (something I was nervous about asking my midwife); nor what happens immediately after birth and the options available to me at that point (vitamin K for the bambino? Delivering the placenta? Cutting the cord straight away?)

All of these things were discussed in detail with options I’d never thought WERE options, so for that fact I loved this book and have so many notes scattered throughout to help nudge me towards a birth that I’m actually a little bit excited about now.

A very honest, real and positive book about how to mentally prepare for one of the best days of your life.

[Giulia · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're interested in learning more about hypnobirthing techniques but can't afford to pay for an expensive course (or want to know more before you invest), this book is not a bad place to start. While the book's title may lead you to think the entire thing is about hypnobirthing, it is rather a general pregnancy and birth guide with some hypnobirthing strategies, such as mindfulness and breathing exercises, scattered throughout. It's not top long, making it easily digestible.

I listened to the audiobook version which I enjoyed as I could close my eyes and practice each technique in real time. You also get access to two tracks to download so you can practice daily (or as regularly as you'd like): one is of affirmations and the other is for relaxation.

So if this all sound like something you'd like to explore as part of your pregnancy and/or birth experience, you might like to give this book a go.

[Rosalyn Oxer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t easily put into words how reassuring and calming I found this book. I thought I was reading it a bit early, at 16 weeks pregnant, but I’m so glad I picked it up now because there’s actually a lot of pregnancy content that I’ve found really helpful. As a fairly anxious first time Mum to be, I’m thrilled I’ve discovered it and will be getting started on breathing technique practise and the affirmations soon to help me go through this pregnancy in a much calmer way.

The way Hollie described surges (contractions) and described how the muscles work together was totally new to me and having a better understanding of how the body works to deliver a baby was so helpful. I now get why some women describe it as “breathing the baby down” and say they don’t feel it as pain as such.

Just absolutely fantastic and I’ll be recommending it to friends.

[Lora Grigorova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review here: https://bookspottingdotblog.wordpress...

As an introduction to hypnobirthing, Your Baby, Your Birth: Hypnobirthing Skills For Every Birth is great. However, having already done a course on hypnobirthing, I felt that some of the explanations and exercises were rushed, and if I hadn’t deep-dived previously into hypnobirthing, I would have had a hard time seeing the benefits from this for both mother and baby. It’s definitely a good book to read to see if hypnobirthing is something that might makes sense for you, but I don’t think relying purely on this book is enough to fully grasp the amazing benefits re-training the mind can have both on your perception of birth, but also on your day to day life. Therefore, use it as a first step but definitely go deeper through courses and more exercises as it’s completely mind-blowing how something so simple can transform a way of thinking that has been rooted in our minds for years. Hypnobirthing will help you provided of course you do the exercises (as we shouldn’t forget that similarly to our body, our brain needs daily exercise to change and transform).

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm gearing up for the birth of my baby in August and have been making my way through a stack of books in preparation. I picked this one up to learn more about hypnobirthing ahead of my antenatal classes, and I’m so glad I did.

The book is beautifully written and packed with useful information and practical tips for incorporating hypnobirthing into your birth. It also includes empowering stories from women who used the same techniques, which I found really encouraging and inspiring.

Hollie’s writing style is relatable and supportive. It’s clear she has a wealth of experience and knowledge, and she communicates it with kindness and patience. I felt like I was being guided by someone who genuinely cares.

[Jenny Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third hypnobirthing book I have read and I really enjoyed it, it has made me feel calmer and more confident about giving birth and the postnatal period.

I also liked the fact it was a bit less “preachy” than some of the other hypnobirthing books I have read, ie this author believes you can use the techniques regardless of your labour choices, pain relief choices and feeding choices.

The only downside is that although the author has more than one child, it seems very much aimed at first time mums in some respects - I will not be getting days in bed watching tv, reading magazines, dozing and feeding the new baby with a toddler!

[Anna Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has made me feel infinitely more calm about giving birth. Obviously proof will be in the pudding once D-Day actually arrives but for now, I feel equipped with tools to get there and a stronger understanding of what my body is doing. I also am glad that I have a better idea of what I can and can’t ask for from my doctors and midwife. Some of the things make me go, oh that’s a bit hippy dippy but I gave them a go anyway with my husband and I really did feel so calm and relaxed. The audio files are great, I fell asleep to the relaxation one in about 10 minutes last night. Bring on labour!

[Leanne Roed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on practical natural birth techniques

Don’t let the “hypno” part fool you. My first birth was unnecessarily medicalized and I regret it. Women in general aren’t educated on how their bodies work at the best of times and i have learned so much through exploring hypnobirthing.

Interventions are lifesaving technology but there is no reason they need to be used in the large percentage of healthy pregnancies that they are currently. The medical system has no incentive to make birth a positive experience. If you’re pregnant you owe it to yourself to hear the other side of the story.