Registered hypnotherapist Fran Jenkins is helping expecting couples on the North Island have easier birth experiences.
Jenkins, who is retired from a 20 year-long teaching career, decided to become a hypnotherapist after she used hypnotherapy to help her quit smoking.
“And then my daughter’s in-law got pregnant,” said Jenkins, explaining their birth experiences inspired her to also become certified in hypnobirthing.
“Hypnobirthing teaches and your partner how to use hypnosis for a calmer, gentler, and easier birth experience,” said Jenkins, adding “It’s about creating a deeply relaxed state so your body is not in the fight-or-flight state and your uterine muscles can do what they need to do.”
Jenkens is currently running her first set of hypnobirthing classes in Port McNeill.
“I’m excited to be able to bring this up here,” said Jenkins, adding, “because [the hypnobirthing classes] happen before they go into labour this is training that goes with them if they are going down island to deliver.”
The Hypnobirthing Institute website explains that “In the absence of fear and tension, or special medical circumstances, severe pain does not have to be an accompaniment of labour.”
“If we take expectations out of the picture bodies know how to have a baby and babies know how to get born,” said Jenkins, adding “It’s all about empowering women in their own birth experience.”
Jenkins also noted that learning hypnobirthing doesn’t mean a loss of control.
“What you will experience is similar to the daydreaming, or focusing, that occurs when you are engrossed in a book or a movie or staring into a fire,” reads a statement on the Hypnobirthing Institute website.
“I think every woman has the impression that childbirth is hell and it doesn’t need to be,” said Jenkens, adding “It’s a shift in perspective.”
For more information on hypnobirthing visit us.hypnobirthing.com or contact Fran Jenkens at 250-230-0271.