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No one can say it better than Penny Simkin. Check out her document on breathing here. And for bonus content, check out a video of the legend herself on how to breathe in labour. She is the absolute best. I'd also highly recommend reading her book "The Birth Partner" if you're looking for something to read to prep for the big day. |
Re: hypnobirthing + labour breathing, here are a few things.
If you're looking for more guided hypnobirthing meditations, Spotify is a great place to look because they have lots of great playlists like this one.
For actual hypnobirthing content, there's a great free class series on YouTube that I'd recommend as a great launching point/starting off point/maybe even complete education. You can learn the classical hypnobirthing breathing technique here -- personally, I find when the exhales are that long it deprives people of oxygen which makes them feel anxious which makes them become tense, and I also find the counting to be more distracting than helpful especially once a birther needs more breaths or can't exhale for as long, so make sure it feels right for you.
I usually recommend watching a video like this to get an idea of the spectrum of possibilities and I personally recommend using long, slow, non-counted breaths until it no longer works, and then move to 2-3 counts for inhale and 2-3 counts for an exhale. I liken this to Lebron James; yes, absolutely, he needs to control his breathing but the guy is working hard and breathing hard. If Lebron James needs to take quick controlled inhales and exhales, then a birther does too because y'all are working harder than Lebron ever has. Here's another hypnobirthing breathing video that I like with non-counted breaths but still very deep and relaxing. (Also, for breathing, this is the best video of labour breathing I've seen that's realistic to the sensations of labour but still well done).
If you're looking for more guided hypnobirthing meditations, Spotify is a great place to look because they have lots of great playlists like this one.
For actual hypnobirthing content, there's a great free class series on YouTube that I'd recommend as a great launching point/starting off point/maybe even complete education. You can learn the classical hypnobirthing breathing technique here -- personally, I find when the exhales are that long it deprives people of oxygen which makes them feel anxious which makes them become tense, and I also find the counting to be more distracting than helpful especially once a birther needs more breaths or can't exhale for as long, so make sure it feels right for you.
I usually recommend watching a video like this to get an idea of the spectrum of possibilities and I personally recommend using long, slow, non-counted breaths until it no longer works, and then move to 2-3 counts for inhale and 2-3 counts for an exhale. I liken this to Lebron James; yes, absolutely, he needs to control his breathing but the guy is working hard and breathing hard. If Lebron James needs to take quick controlled inhales and exhales, then a birther does too because y'all are working harder than Lebron ever has. Here's another hypnobirthing breathing video that I like with non-counted breaths but still very deep and relaxing. (Also, for breathing, this is the best video of labour breathing I've seen that's realistic to the sensations of labour but still well done).