For context, my husband and I are expecting our first child this fall. This is my first pregnancy…read moreand because of my rare chronic illnesses, I tend to have medical anxiety due to past experiences with healthcare providers not listening to my concerns/needs and facing the repercussions of that. My ideal birth would be an at-home water birth but due to limited physical space and being higher risk, I am planning to have a hospital birth.
Even before my pregnancy, I knew that I wanted to do some kind of hypnobirthing practice. There are lots of resources (online articles, books, videos, etc.) these days that go over the medical aspects of labor and birthing as well as physical preparation, but being someone that is anxiety-prone, especially with unfamiliar medical providers/spaces, I knew that my main goal was to get mentally prepared. A class was ideal because I wanted to get actual practice/feedback (rather than just reading about what to do from a book) and also wanted to learn alongside my husband. He will be my sole birth companion and advocate, and I felt that it was important for us to be on the same page in regards to how we would approach stressors and challenges.
Admittedly, my husband was a bit skeptical about "hypnobirthing" before our first class. He thought it would have to do with me being under hypnosis in the sense that I would be "controlled" by someone else. He also didn't want me to get scammed lol, since there are sometimes cases of "new age"/"alternative" practices that end up being scams. However, after attending classes and practicing the exercises, we can both confidently say that we are glad to have taken Vivien's class!
After we registered, we received a package in the mail with the class materials. There were some aspects of the book (not written by Vivien) that came across to me as a little fear-mongery and against hospital births but Vivien does a wonderful job in her classes at emphasizing the benefits/uses of hypnobirthing for all types of birth experiences, whether you are planning for a home vs. hospital birth, vaginal vs. C-section birth, spontaneous vs. induced birth, etc. And of course, we can always prepare with visions/plans but things can happen; what's most important is that we feel confident and safe regardless of how the labor/birth actually plays out. The concepts can also be used outside of labor/birth. For example, I was recently struggling with side effects from getting my COVID booster recently. I felt miserable and was having difficulty falling asleep. My husband did some of the exercises that we practiced in class (reminders to do calm breathing, doing light tough massage, reading a relaxation script) and it was really helpful.
Vivien's classes are a great mix of presentation slides, watching videos, discussions, and hypnobirthing/breathing exercises. The videos in particular were powerful for me. I realized that up until Vivien's classes I had only heard of labor/birthing horror stories from family/friends (and TV shows/movies!), including that of my own birth when my mom was pregnant with me. Vivien's classes were the first time I had seen/heard examples of such calm, peaceful births and I was grateful to see examples of hospital births too. Of course, you could still tell when the person was experiencing discomfort from a surge, but it was a complete 180 from my previous perceptions/mental images of birth where the person is screaming, red/purple in the face, crying, exhausted, and/or barely coherent.
The classes also have specific materials/practices for birthing companions too, so your partner/support person can feel involved and be prepared to be your advocate when the time comes.
In regards to logistical things, the location is downtown. Parking is in a private lot but Vivien provides validation. Clear directions and parking instructions are texted ahead of time. There is a clean, private bathroom located in the office so no need to worry about bathroom breaks :)
I would definitely recommend Vivien's hypnobirthing classes to expecting parents!