Ah, I don’t know. I did the hypnobirthing course and found parts of it very useful. Knowing what was happening during labour made me feel very calm which I think helped hugely, also the breathing techniques they taught really got me through the contractions. It was also beneficial for my partner to do the course too so he knew what was happening too. I wasn’t into the affirmations or anything but I found bits to cherry pick that I found useful.Melanie also did hypnobirthing which tbh is the biggest pile of crap, so anti medical and can set you up for really unrealistic birth expectations, mine and Melanie’s birth experiences are very similar both had big babies, both needed medical intervention, both had a 4th degree tear, both lost blood (although I listened to the doctors and had the blood transfusion my body needed) I haven’t a bad word to say about the midwives and doctors they where amazing and did what they needed to do to get my baby here safe and well which I’m very grateful for they also couldn’t do enough to help me and the baby afterwards. The way she speaks of those midwives and doctors is disgusting.
Now, my birth plan absolutely went out the window. I wanted a calm, serene home-birth (not because I don’t trust medical staff, I absolutely do, and they were so lovely and brilliant and I can’t praise them enough) but because I was nervous about being in hospital alone during Covid due to restrictions at the time, I really wanted my partner to be there for the birth, and obviously he wanted to be there too, but what ended up happening was being in active labour at home with no medication for over 24 hours before being admitted to triage and labouring for another 48 hours before being told that I needed an emergency C Section during which I lost so much blood I needed THREE transfusions (which I had, thank God) but sure didn’t our giant baby arrive safely and it was fine in the end?
Even though it didn’t go to plan I still found elements of what I learned in the hypnobirthing course useful and it helped me through a lot of my very long labour in helping me to stay calm. Might not work for everyone but I wouldn’t dismiss it completely.