Visualization and hypnosis

Published research on visualization and hypnosis for childbirth covers hypnosis training during pregnancy, self-hypnosis with audio guidance, and commercial programs such as HypnoBirthing. Systematic reviews look at hypnosis for pain management in labour, while a meta-analysis examines whether antenatal hypnosis training is linked to the use of pharmacological analgesia. Other reviews place hypnosis alongside wider mind-body approaches and compare it with many other labour pain methods.

Individual trials and cohort studies measure fear of childbirth, pain, labor experience, analgesia use and mode of birth, and some pair hypnosis education with other comfort techniques such as oxytocin massage. Parents often ask whether hypnosis is the same as being unaware, whether it replaces medical pain relief, and whether it needs a class or an instructor. The research continues to look at these questions, and study designs and populations vary.

When preparing slides, an educator may want to describe what these studies actually measured, such as fear, pain and analgesia use, and to present visualization and hypnosis as one of several comfort approaches. The papers listed below are the ones the Hub tracks on this topic.