Health Eu

RUNNING HEAD: PREGNANCY & HYPNOSIS 1

Pregnancy and Hypnosis 2

Pregnancy and Hypnosis

Western Oregon University

HE 381 Mind/Body Health

April 28, 2014

Pregnancy and Hypnosis

“Hypnosis has been used in obstetrics for than a century” (Martin, Schauble, Rai, and Curry, 2001). Everyone experiences stress everyday, both good and bad. However, adding pregnancy in the mix can make stress more dangerous for both the mother and the child. Everyone experiences and perceives stress differently; some events of pregnancy can be perceived negatively when other events are looked at in a positive manner. Dr. Calvin Hobel (2014) called stress a “silent disease”.

Werner, Uldbjerg, Zachariae, Wu, and Nohr (2013) stated that childbirth is one of the most intense and demanding events that a woman is likely to go through, requiring not only physical but also psychological resources to deal with the labor process. The childbirth experience can be influenced by various factors, including unexpected medical problems, emergency operative delivery, low levels of support from partner or caregivers, pain, and loss of control. The woman’s own anticipation about the upcoming childbirth have also been found to influence the subsequent birth (Nohr, 2013).

There are many different ways to deal with stress during pregnancy. For example, I know a woman who is currently pregnant and she is going to do HypnoBirthing when she gives birth in a couple of weeks as an alternative to receiving an epidural. According to Sierra Tzoore (2014), “hypnosis is a state of deep mental and physical relaxation that enables the hypnotized person to focus intensely on a thought or feeling, blocking outside distractions.” She has been taking classes that teach her how to hypnotize herself, so when she is in labor and gives birth, she can ease the pain from labor without the use of drugs. A theory from labor says that when a woman feels scared or anxious during childbirth, her body releases stress hormones that trigger the body’s flight or fight response, which causes the muscles to tighten and gets in the way of the birthing process. So by training the mind to a develop a positive outlook on their pregnancy, it will release “feel-good” hormones that relaxes the muscles, so pain is less evident or not evident at all (Tzoore, 2014).

Most perinatal deaths and long-term neurological handicaps are prevalent in preterm infants, and late-preterm infants (34-36 weeks) have increased death rates and have increased rates of respiratory distress syndrome, apnea, transient tachypnea of the newborn, hypoglycemia, hypothermia, hyperbilirubinemia and feeding difficulties versus infants that are born at term (Reinhard, Huesken-Janben, Hatzmann, and Schiermeier, 2009). There are interventions such as regionalized care, and treatment with antenatal corticosteroids, tocolytic agents and antibiotics to help reduce the problems with preterm birth (Reinhard, Huesken-Janben, Hatzmann, and Schiermeier, 2009).

An alternative intervention is hypnotherapy, which can play a significant part in decreasing preterm labor for patients who have higher levels of psychosocial stress (Reinhard, Huesken-Janben, Hatzmann, and Schiermeier, 2009). The use of hypnosis during preterm labor can be beneficial because it controls psychosocial stress, teaches women to be more aware of their contractions, causes relaxation that reduces side effects from drugs and muscle contractions, social support, and women are using imagery to focus on a healthy infant (Reinhard, Huesken-Janben, Hatzmann, and Schiermeier, 2009). The study conducted by Reinhard, Huesken-Janben, Hatzmann, and Schiermeier (2009), found “a reduction of chemo-analgesis, fear, tension, and pain before and during labor, control of painful uterine contraction, speedier recovery and fulfilled feeling of accomplishment.”

Another study compared using hypnosis and not using hypnosis with women who had a surgically induced first-trimester pregnancy termination. Those that chose not to participate in hypnotherapy chose to do so because they were skeptic, didn’t want the accompaniment of the hypnotherapist, and were too worried about the abortion. The results found that patients who underwent hypnosis found that using imagery (by picturing being in a secure place) and listening and focusing on the hypnotherapist’s voice helped with the procedure (Marc et al, 2009). In addition, those under hypnosis could go back to doing their regular activities after they left the hospital, while those who didn’t have hypnotherapy had to decrease their normal activities after they left the hospital (Marc et al, 2009).

There are also mind-body programs that have been shown to increase pregnancy rates for those going through in-vitro fertilization (IVF). If stress management skills are taught, it can have a positive impact on pregnancy rates. A study by Domar, Rooney, Wiegand, Orav, Alper, Berger, and Nikolovski (2011), found that patients who were recommended to start an IVF, started an mind-body program and had an increased pregnancy rate.

I think that mindfulness is an important and necessary technique that pregnant women can use to help their pregnancy and after giving birth. In a study conducted by Dunn, Hanieh, Roberts, and Powrie (2012), pregnant women participated in a mindfulness-based group intervention to determine if there were declines in depression, stress, and anxiety. The results found that “teaching mindfulness in the perinatal period seemed to have the effect of broadening women’s personal repertoire of coping strategies” (Dunn, Hanieh, Roberts, Powrie, 2012). Pregnancy is a short time in a woman’s life when she is willing to receive new information and skills to deal with birth and parenting, so childbirth preparation classes should integrate mindfulness training, so that other women can learn and develop skills that can help them better cope with their pregnancy (Dunn, Hanieh, Roberts, Powrie, 2012). All of these findings suggest that hypnotherapy is beneficial because women are focusing on the positive and breathing. They are aware of what is happening to them, so their body isn’t going into shock, thus their labors or surgeries are a lot more peaceful and easier to deal with post-labor or post-surgery.

Both conventional and alternative methods are effective in coping with stress during and after pregnancy, but I think that the alternative methods are the most beneficial because if women just keep practicing our skills in breathing, or if they rest and get exercise, ultimately stress will reduce. Hypnotherapy is a prevention therapy that can help in reducing late-preterm delivery, during labor, and first trimester pregnancy, and it is also side effect free! It can be used with conventional medicine to help reduce the side effects of the medication as well. “Pregnant women need to be educated in recognizing when they have stress, the consequences and some of the simple things they can do to make a difference” (Hobel, 2014).

References

Domar, A., Rooney, K., Wiegand, B., Orav, E.J., Alper, M.M., Berger, B.M., Nikolovski, J. (2011). Impact of a group mind/body intervention on pregnancy rates in IVF patients. Fertility & Sterility, 95(7): 2269-2273.

Dunn, C., Hanieh, E., Roberts, R., and Powrie, R. (2012). Mindful pregnancy and childbirth: Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on women’s psychological distress and well being in the perinatal period. Arch Womens Ment Health, 15: 139-143. DOI 10.1007/s00737-012-0264-4.

Hobel, C. (2014). Fetus to mom: You’re stressing me out. Retrieved April 29, 2014 from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51730.

Marc, I.,Rainville, P., Masse, B., Dufresne, A.,Verreault, R., Vaillancourt, L., and Dodin, S. (2009). Women’s views regarding hypnosis for the control of surgical pain in the context of a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Women’s Health, 18(9): 1441-1447. DOI: 10.1089=jwh.2008.1015.

Martin, A.A., Schauble, P.G., Rai, S.H., and Curry, W. (2001). The effects of hypnosis on the labor processes and birth outcomes of pregnant adolescents. The Journal of Family Practice, 50(5): 441-443.

Reinhard, T., Huesken-Janben, H., Hatzmann, H., and Schiermeier, S. (2009). Preterm labour and clinical hypnosis. Contemp. Hypnosis, 26(4): 187-193. DOI: 10.1002/ch.387

Rochman, B. (2011). Mind-body programs boost pregnancy rates for IVF patients. Time. Retrieved April 29, 2014 from http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/17/mind-body- programs-boost-pregnancy-rates-for-ivf-patients/

Tzoore, S. (2014). Hypnosis for labor: Does hypnobirthing work? Retrieved April 29, 2014 from http://www.babycenter.com/0_hypnosis-for-labor-does- hypnobirthing-work_10351603.bc.

Werner, A., Uldbjerg, N., Zachariae, R., Wu, C.S., and Nohr, E. (2013). Antenatal hypnosis training and childbirth experience: A randomized controlled trial. Birth, 40(4): 272-280.