Book Review: Hypnobirthing, The Mongan Method

I kept hearing about hypnobirthing; it was all over the web, random people would tell me they'd hypnobirthed or knew someone who did.  Right when I was deciding that the universe was trying to tell me I needed to check out hypnobirthing for my next pregnancy, I got a box full of hypnobirthing books, CDs and DVDs in the mail!  I was so excited to dig into all the literature, I finished the book in a few days.  Thank goodness Sam is still an avid nurser; it's the only time I get to sit down and read!  I haven't watched the DVDs yet, but I'm really excited; they show several actual hypnobirths!

The book was great.  It just makes so much sense.  The basic premise is that our bodies are designed to birth.  So, all this screaming, pushing and crazy medical intervention is really not necessary (in the case of normal, low-risk births).  Have you ever watched an animal give birth?  I watched our cat give birth when I was a little girl and it left such an impression on me.  I remember that my parents had dinner guests.  "Where's Amy?" they might have asked, "Oh, she's in the den watching the cat give birth."  "Oh, of course..."  It was one of the neatest things I'd ever seen and I can still remember how calm the mama kitty was, so serene as she gently, graceful birthed several small, wet, eyes-sealed-shut, tiny kittens.   

So, why would women be any less expert at birthing their young than a cat?  Mongan goes into this whole explanation of medicalization and cultural programming and whatnot, that she says led to our current perceptions of what birth out to be.  Pretty interesting stuff.  But the best part was just reading about what our bodies do and how brilliantly they're designed.  Talk about inspiring!  After finishing the book, the dread that often creeps in when I think about having another baby (the birth part, not the baby part) seriously subsided and I felt kind of excited at the prospect of giving birth. 

And some good news?  Next week's giveaway is for a bunch of hypnobirthing stuff; books, CDs, DVDs, you'll be all set for an amazing, natural birth!  So, this weekend think about who you know who might be having a baby soon (or maybe you are!) and spread the good word about hypnobirthing!

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