For most of their lives, women have been inundated with the negative stories of other women’s birth experiences. Everyone, from their mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, friends, and even strangers, wants to tell them the horrors of giving birth.

They have been conditioned to believe that excruciating pain is associated with birth; we all see it on films and television and because of this conditioning, women today hold an unprecedented fear of giving birth.

This extreme fear causes their bodies to become tense, and that tension often prevents them from easily performing the normal, physiological function of birth. The result?—exactly what they feared most--long, painful, disappointing birthings.

People who are drawn to HypnoBirthing have long been searching for a way that helps women give birth as calmly, safely, and gently as possible. Until HypnoBirthing was founded, it seemed almost unattainable.

Through a very simple programme of self-hypnosis and education, women learn to release emotions tied to fear-based stories and misinformation, and they are helped to see birth as normal. They learn to trust that their bodies know how to bring their babies into the world in the calm and gentle way that Nature intended.

The Mongan Method

HypnoBirthing® was originally established in the United States by Marie (Mickey) Mongan, who is the founder of The HypnoBirthing® Institute.

Her book "HypnoBirthing®: A Celebration Of Life" was first published in 1989, and HypnoBirthing® is now taught in countries all over the world. In New Hampshire, USA, over 50% of births use HypnoBirthing.

When Marie Mongan's daughter expressed her desire to have a child, Mickey called upon her own experience of having laboured calmly, gently, and naturally, using the theories of Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, during the births of her four children back in the mid 50s and early 60s.

Using her counselling background, and her skills as a Master Hypnotherapist, she developed the HypnoBirthing® programme for her daughter and two friends. The success of these births brought several hypnotherapists to Mickey's office, asking to be trained in whatever she was doing in birthing.

From there the programme grew and took on a life of its own. Medical people who witnessed HypnoBirthing® became interested, and many became practitioners. Childbirth educators from other programmes came to be practitioners as well.

Soon, the natural appeal of HypnoBirthing® began to spread into the mainstream. Not long after that, in 1993, HypnoBirthing® was introduced into Canada, and later into Australia, and finally into the UK.

Since then, many thousands of parents and their babies have joined the ranks of HypnoBirthing® families. Today, HypnoBirthing® is taught in twenty-two countries, and more locations are being added on a regular basis.

The programme has been recognised by many leading newspapers and magazine publications across the world.

Because of HypnoBirthing®, couples today can look forward to a beautiful, calm and serene birthing experience, where mother, baby and birthing companion combine in joyful bonding.

“My dream is that every woman, everywhere, will know the joy of a safe, satisfying birth for both her baby and herself—one she’ll not need to forget.”
                - Marie Mongan

The origins of HypnoBirthing^®

HypnoBirthing® is based on the work of Dr Grantly Dick-Read, an English physician, and whose principles are also the foundation of the National childbirth Trust (NCT).

In his book "Childbirth Without Fear", originally published in 1933, he states that:

“There is no physiological function in the body that gives rise to pain in the normal course of health. In no other animal species is the process of birth apparently associated with any suffering, pain or agony, except where pathology exists or in an unnatural state, such as captivity."

“When we're afraid, our body diverts blood and oxygen from non-essential defence organs to large muscle groups in our extremities. Our face drains of blood and we are said to be 'white with fear'.”

Dr. Dick-Read hypothesized that the fear felt by a woman during childbirth also caused blood to be filtered away from her uterus, so it could be used by the muscles that would flee the dangerous situation. As a result, the uterus was left without oxygen and could not perform its functions efficiently or without pain.

This belief led to Dr. Dick-Read's theory that fear and tension cause the labour pains in approximately 95 percent of birthing women. He termed this phenomenon "the fear-tension-pain syndrome of childbirth," and he believed that by eliminating the fear, women could return the uterus to its normal function, thereby eliminating the pain.