I recently interviewed Crystal Di Domizio about Hypnobabies. She is a local Vancouver Hypnobabies childbirth educator, doula, and holistic nutritionist. She writes about her own journey at Prenatalcoach.com. Crystal is also a mother and therefore a student of Hypnobabies as well. She welcomed her sweet daughter sixteen months ago, which you can read about here. Before we even started the interview, Crystal clarified the difference between Hypnobabies and HypnoBirthing. She discusses the key differences between the two, in the second part of our interview. Before I post that interview, Crystal shares a bit about her own philosophy in regards to Hypnobabies.
The Hypnobabies philosophy resonates deeply with me because they teach that birth is a normal, natural, physiological process just like our heart beating and our digestive organs functioning. In the vast majority of cases all of these physiological processes function optimally all on their own without any intervention. This takes away a lot of the fear and anxiety that women have about birthing. It helps to put the power back into women’s hands. It makes them realize that they are the expert when it comes to birthing their baby and that they are in charge of the process. [This includes] the choices they have about where, when and how to birth their babies.
This is in alignment with my philosophy about health and about life. I am also a huge advocate for informed consent and I love how detailed and thorough this part of the course is. I’ve found that the women who have the most empowering birth experiences (regardless of how their baby decides to come into the world) come[s] from those that were educated about their choices and played an active role in the decision making process.
I also love that the goal of Hypnobabies is an easier, more comfortable birth. I have met women who have birthed pain-free even without any form of childbirth hypnosis. Yet, so many of the books you read and courses you take about childbirth say that pain is an inevitable part of the process. I don’t believe that birth has to be pain-free, but I also don’t believe that it has to involve pain.
I love the idea that we can give the subconscious mind new information and programming. We can open our minds to birth being easier and more comfortable to counter[act] all the negative information we’ve absorbed over the years. This allows for woman have their own experience instead of assuming or telling women that they will most definitely experience pain.
I’ve had many students experience pain-free births because of this hypnotic subconscious programming [found in Hypnobabies]. Even though this isn’t the goal of Hypnobabies, it is a very real possibility!
In my [own] life I’ve overcome an “incurable” disease and part of my journey involved hypnosis. So, I know the seemingly impossible is definitely possible and want every woman to experience their own truth versus what society and media tell us birth should be like.
*Photo of Crystal and her daughter Madison courtesy of Megan Taylor Photography. You can find more of Megan’s beautiful photography here.