The third trimester of pregnancy is from seven months onward. As mentioned, Unii Hypnobirthing Expert Tamara Cianfini recommends you learn and begin practicing from week 20, but she herself first learned at 36 weeks and still managed to achieve her dream birth with ease. A similarly compressed timeframe may even make you more committed to learning the techniques and making them second nature. There is no set time to begin, and many hypnobirthing programmes offer flexible learning options. Still, all providers agree that daily practice makes for the best experience, so consider how you will make a routine of what you will learn and how you will make this part of your schedule. Unii’s hypnobirthing resources are available to users 24/7, before, during, and after your birth experience.

Planning a calm environment

Hypnobirthing techniques support your natural oxytocin and endorphin production. This journey would not be complete without recommendations for the love bubble in which you plan to give birth. A calm environment can be created in a hospital, midwifery unit, or home setting. While the degree of control you have over these environments varies, each can be tailored to suit your individual needs and preferences, whether that’s a love of fairy lights, family photos, and your favourite smells, or a TENS machine, your favourite pillows, and a poster of a lotus flower. The place in nature you envisage in the Relax With Nature session that you will listen to nightly for this course may be a real place that you can signpost with photos in the birthing room. Tamara visited a beach in her mind.

She even suggests creating a space that emulates the environment in which your baby was conceived, as long as this is appropriate. Article Five of this series covers sense anchoring, and, once created, your anchors are powerful tools you can use to get your real-life birth experience as close as possible to your ideal. Your birth partner and plan can both help to create and protect this space during your labour, birth, and immediate postpartum period. We provide background music with this course. When you listen to the same music over and over, you are creating a conditioned response whereby your body will instantly relax when it hears this familiar sound, making it an ideal support for your calm environment.

How to adjust your birth plan for a hypnobirth

Your healthcare team is sensitive to your needs, but they are not mind readers. Your team should definitely be made aware of your desire to use hypnobirthing techniques, both prior to the big day and in your birth plan. You may even be able to access midwives trained in hypnobirthing, depending on the staff available.

As Unii has recommended in all our advice on birth plans, it is important to know what you want weeks in advance, keep them informed, and bring copies of the plan for everyone involved. From a hypnobirthing perspective, your conscious, analytical mind can become distracted by large amounts of unfamiliar information, producing a stress response in your subconscious, which in turn can affect your body. Write out your ideal labour, birth, and postpartum period, alternative options if necessary, as well as your thoughts on special circumstances. There are also less medical things to consider, like the language you’d prefer your midwives use (or avoid), the maximum number of people you want in the room, or whether you’d like to be left alone as long as things are going well. Many people choose to learn hypnobirthing because they do not want to take medication, so you may also like to add that you don’t want to be offered any at any stage.

There is a lot to think about. You may have heard of the B.R.A.I.N. technique for decision-making. It is also mentioned on hypnobirthing courses from a number of different providers. B.R.A.I.N. is an acronym.

What does B.R.A.I.N. stand for?

Benefits: What are the benefits of making this decision?

Risks: What are the risks associated with this decision?

Alternatives: Are there any alternatives?

Intuition: How do I feel? What does my ‘gut’ tell me?

Nothing: What if I decide to do nothing, wait, and see? What happens next?

Tamara likes to add an ‘S’ (so, B.R.A.I.N.S.) for'smile’! This adds a positive “full-stop” to the decision you’ve landed on, reminding you that you are in control.

It’s also vitally important to remember that your consent is required for anything that’s done to you during pregnancy, labour or birth. This includes things that you might perceive as routine and necessary, like vaginal examinations. Birthrights is the leading authority on the rights of women and birthing people during pregnancy and birth in the UK. We suggest you review their website to be fully informed.

How can I tailor my medication choices for hypnobirthing?

Tamara advocates “hugs before drugs,” and you may have heard similar ideas from other hypnobirthing experts. This is a reference to supporting your natural oxytocin as well as endorphins, your body’s natural pain relief. Unless you are medically advised otherwise, you can look at ways to produce them naturally before opting for medication. Even spending five minutes with your partner, having a hug, a slow dance, or a hand or back massage can help you tap into the necessary birthing hormones.

The ways in which different medications will affect you depend on what you are taking and how far your labour has progressed. For example, some parents’ experience of Entonox (gas and air) is dreamy and broadly supportive of hypnobirthing techniques, and others find it nauseating. You and your pregnancy are unique. You may wish to speak to your doctor, midwife, or anaesthetist about any pain relief options.

Many parents find hypnobirthing techniques complement any strong medication, from listening to your Cove of Confidence to eliminate any fears about an elective Caesarean birth to practicing your Waves of Relaxation when special circumstances arise while you’re waiting for your baby to appear. In short, no matter how your labour unfolds, your hypnobirthing techniques will support you.

Do I need to put anything specific in my hospital bag for a hypnobirth?

Your hypnobirthing relaxation sessions (these may be downloaded to your mobile phone), anything that supports the calm environment above, and copies of your birth plan are all essentials. Here are some optional bits and pieces Tamara recommends:

A rebozo scarf (using a rebozo wrapped around your midsection can make it easier for you to squat while in labour)
A head massager (to help produce endorphins, nature’s pain relievers)
Mints (for those around you while you give birth)
Camomile tea (to relax everyone)
Lip balm (especially if you plan to have gas and air)
Hair scrunchie (though we will teach you how to take any errant hairs in your face in your stride)
A mirror (for down there, if you want to look)
Your favourite (or anchoring) scent
A heat pack for your lower back

Hypnobirthing in the Third Trimester