Leslie’s beautiful HypnoBirthing home birth.  Baby Sam weighed just over 10 pounds.

The ability to become hypnotized is available to anyone, barring any type of issue that would impair a person’s ability to concentrate and focus.  Some people who are new to hypnosis find that they have a natural ability to go into hypnosis quickly and easily.  In one study, pregnant women were separated into two groups based on their natural ability to go into hypnosis.  The groups were further divided and half of the women received childbirth education with hypnosis and the other half received childbirth education with relaxation and breathing exercises.  The women in both hypnosis groups had shorter first-stage labor, used less pain medication and had higher Apgar scores compared to the non-hypnosis women.  In this study both the women who were naturally inclined towards hypnosis and those who were not received the same benefits from hypnosis.  This shows that with practice, it is possible to benefit from hypnosis no matter what their skill level was when they first started out.  This study did find one way in which the women who were naturally inclined to hypnosis and who were trained in hypnosis benefited over the other groups; these women had lower depression scores after giving birth than the women in the other groups (Harmon, 1990).

So you just found out you’re pregnant and now you have morning sickness!  It is estimated that 50% of pregnant women experience morning sickness.  It’s interesting, that women who are planning a pregnancy are more likely to get morning sickness than those who are not planning a pregnancy. This could indicate that in addition to physical triggers, there is also a psychological component to some cases of morning sickness.  One in ten women experience morning sickness before missing their first period.  Women trying to get pregnant, could unknowingly be creating morning sickness symptoms as a way of confirming to themselves that they are pregnant before they are able to take a pregnancy test (Gillespie, 1992).

While not only uncomfortable, morning sickness can compromise the ability of the body to get the nutrients the mother and her baby need.  A bland diet with smaller, more frequent meals is often recommended.  Two studies, one about psychologically created nausea and vomiting and the other about reflex vomiting, are relevant to morning sickness.

A patient with cancer suffered from severe nausea and vomiting in anticipation of chemotherapy treatments.  Hypnosis was used to help the patient become desensitized to the idea of getting a chemotherapy treatment (Edser, 2002).  A 9-year old boy suffering from reflex vomiting was taught self-hypnosis to help control his symptoms. His hypnosis sessions included suggestions for relaxation and symptom relief.  Within four weeks his symptoms subsided and after twelve months his symptoms had not returned (Sokel, 1990).

There are also many physical remedies for dealing with morning sickness.  So if you’re nauseated and wondering what to do about it.  Here are some sites to help:

• Ask Dr. Sears
• American Pregnancy Association
• MorningSicknessHelp.com – Articles section
• Baby Center