Fear of Childbirth and Elective Cesarean

Cesarean birth is major abdominal surgery with or without a medical condition. Elective cesarean is the choice of the mother/couple to have their baby at specific date and time of delivery. This question has disturbed me for quite some times. I realised that people choose delivery through cesarean have lots of Fear. These fears are due to fear of childbirth pain, fear of not being able to give birth due to carrying a “big size baby”, fear of the unknown-uncertainly of how birth will turn out to be, the fear of jeopardising the safety of the baby and that of the mother puts woman to think of a definitely outcome. i.e. elective cesarean birth.  There are other fears that are not mentioned here which not everyone can accept.

Milli Hill, the Founder of The Positive Birth Movement, in her post Should We Be So Very Scared of Giving Birth? is based on research finding that as many as one in 10 women suffered from tocophobia, leading to more women elect for cesarean birth due to extreme anxiety and fear of giving birth regardless of how joyful her pregnancy had been. Such fears can turn their birth upside down. Normal birth can turn out to be much with medical intervention such as birth augmentation, taking pain relief medication, forceps, vacuum extraction and cesarean birth when the woman in labour is too anxious, fearful of their birth and not willing to take charge of their birth due to lack of knowledge in childbirth. Much of the fear is developed due to myths of childbirth. 

Women’s natural birthing inhibited by fear. These fear are mainly due to the following factors:

  • Media portraits childbirth as traumatic and dramatic
  • Birth stories of other women’s experience with much medical intervention
  • Women approach birth with negative expectations
  • Women do not believe they can do it
  • Childbirth becomes a medical event in many developed countries

Below is the Cycle of Fear becomes Fact leads to Negative Birth

Fear is the enemy of the birthing room. If pain is the main reason you choose cesarean birth, then understand that Pain is due to Fear. During labour, when fear kicks in, it creates tension and thus, the tension in the body creates pain. Childbirth pain is no longer an issue as fear can be eliminated with a deep level of relaxation using techniques such as breathing, relaxation, visualisation and self-hypnosis. A woman can give birth in a calm and relax manner. HypnoBirthing’s relaxation methods increase the body’s natural relaxant, endorphins which inhibit the stress hormone catecholamine that causes pain, reduces much discomfort. Hence, a woman is capable of birthing in a calm and comfortable way to bring the little baby into this world.  

Marie Mongan the Founder of HypnoBirthing®-The Mongan Method has been teaching HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education since 1989 to women who seek drug-free birth. She believes that birth is natural, normal and healthy.  When the mind is relaxed, body is relaxed. Mind and body are free to function in harmony in the absence of fear. The HypnoBirthing® philosophy is that a healthy woman carrying a healthy baby, experiencing a healthy labor, trusting birth and is free of fear, is appropriately relaxed, her body will function normally without pain or incident. Therefore, women who are not in the high risk group does not need medical assistance but rather the patience of the birthing attendance and proper emotional support. 

You can break this Cycle of Birthing Negativity by attending a proper Natural Childbirth Education. Knowledge is power, the power to be in control. Replacing these old negative beliefs with positive beliefs and releasing the fear of giving birth with the help of Hypnosis.  What woman needs is to prepare their mind and body for birth. With the right kind of support, she can achieve the birth she desires and become stronger.

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