Royal’s baby reveal lifts hypnobirthing

A NEW birthing technique helping mothers to deliver their babies calmly and safely is receiving global traction for its powerful abilities.

Hypnobirthing teaches relaxation and breathing techniques to facilitate a calm, gentle and controlled natural birth.

Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge recently revealed she chose hypnobirthing for all of her three pregnancies. The Duchess explained she used meditation and mindfulness to overcome her morning sickness symptoms.

“I really realised the power of the mind over the body, because I really had to try everything and anything to help me through it,” she said.

“The meditation and the deep breathing and things like that that they teach you in hypnobirthing, when I was really sick, and actually I realised that this was something I could take control of during labour.”

Hypnobirthing Townsville practitioner and childbirth educator Leigh-Anne Simms turned to the technique after the traumatic labour of her first child. She said she stumbled across hypnobirthing just in time for her second baby.

“When I had my first baby 12 years ago, I developed PTSD and post-natal depression,” she said.

“I was 36 weeks pregnant with my second child when I discovered hypnobirthing and it gave me a lot more confidence and it made me realise that I had the power to give birth because it was all in my mind.”

Ms Simms has been a practitioner for six years and was in the first group to go through the Hypnobirthing Australian program training in 2014.

Ms Simms said the notoriety the technique was receiving had seen increased interest at the Townsville birthing centre.

“The celebrities make it a little bit more known and I think it is brilliant that (Kate Middleton) has birthed all three of her children with hypnobirthing,” she said.

“I think (the coverage) is great for the industry and great for all birthing mothers.