Monday, March 28, 2016

Hypnobirthing Class

At the beginning of our 5th month, I started asking around for antenatal class. A friend suggested either SALAM or HUKM antenatal class, and I also looked at options for classes in Penang as it would be more convenient for us to go to. Then one night my ever-so-helpful sister tagged me on this Facebook ad 'Seminar Hypnobirthing Womb2Room' or so it was called (she has been tagging me on pregnancy/baby/mommy related posts since I got pregnant). I've heard of hypnobirthing before from various sources, but I didn't thought of going to its seminars/classes. To cut the story short, I signed up for the seminar that very night.

At the seminar, we were briefly introduced with the whole hypnobirthing concept.There was also a session on breastfeeding and birthing experience sharing from hypnobirthing parents. At the end of the class an offer was made to attend the full class at discounted price. I was hesitating at first, because to be honest with you the full class isn't cheap. But somehow H easily made the call that we were going for the full class because he said 'It's gonna be good for you', and 'There's money back guarantee' if I didn't succeed in getting a gentle and easy birthing experience. We registered for the intensive 2-full day class since we couldn't commit to come to a 2.5 hrs class for 5 consecutive weekends.

We almost couldn't make it for the class because I just reported for duty at the beginning of the week and the classes were held on Thursday and Friday. I only managed to get my boss's approval on Wednesday morning. We decided to take the midnight bus from Penang to KL, and 5.5 hrs later we arrived in KL with my ever-so-swollen feet. Note to self -  don't take bus while pregnant!

It was a 9am to 6pm classes for both days with 1-1.5 hrs of break in between. There were just two couples other than us, one from Sabah, and another couple from Seremban (she's due in 2 weeks). So the intensive class was meant for couples outside of KL and mommies who are >35 weeks pregnant. Kak Ayuni is oneof  the Certified Hypnobirthing Practitioners in Malaysia and has been an advocate since 6 years ago. She started Womb2Room 3 years ago and has helped hundreds of hypnobirthing parents all over the world (yes not just locally) to go through a gentle and easy birthing experience.

We learned in depth about the history and the concept of Hypnobirthing, got hypnotized by Kak Ayuni's soothing voice (I enjoyed this part A LOT!), watched many hypnobirthing videos (never seen so many vjjs and boobs all my life haha), discussed about birthing plan (the dos and donts), learned breathing and massaging techniques, and so many other things in between. H was the sole note taker during the class because as Kak Ayuni said, this class is more crucial for the birthing companions (the husbands) to focus and listen to than the mommies because when the time comes, the mommies won't probably remember what she has learned in class. It'll be the husbands who'll be in charge calming and reminding the mommies of what to do (and not to do) during the labor and birthing process.

All I can say is, the class is really worth the money spent. Thank you H for not hesitating to register at the beginning and for being so involved during the class. Even now he keeps reminding me to do the 'calm breathing' every time I am anxious or in pain for whatever reasons. At night he would turn on the CD we got from the class so that we both could practice the relaxation/hypnosis technique.



May the hypnobirthing force be with us!


p/s: There will be a seminar on 16 April. Check it out on Womb2Room Facebook.

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