Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, revealed that she tried a method called hypnobirthing when she gave birth to all her three children and that it helped her enjoy labor.
The Duchess of Cambridge also revealed during an interview on Saturday with author Giovanna Fletcher on the podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby, that she suffered a form of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum during each of her three pregnancies.
“I got very bad morning sickness, so I’m not the happiest of pregnant people,” she said.
The discomfort caused by the condition inspired her to learn about hypnobirthing, which helped her appreciate the power of her mind to take control of pain sensations during labor.
What is hypnobirthing?
Hypnobirthing is a mind-body technique that helps women naturally go through the birthing experience without medication, artificial aids, or surgery.
According to experts, fear, anxiety, and tension make women experience greater pain during labor.
The heightened awareness of pain is due to the physiologic fight-or-flight mechanism that leads to the release of stress hormones, such as catecholamines.
However, hypnobirthing uses methods such as meditation, deep breathing, and self-hypnosis, to induce mental and physical relaxation during childbirth.
Relaxation leads to the release of hormones, such as oxytocin, which help to reduce pain reception.
Practitioners of hypnobirthing use techniques, such as mental visualization, positive thinking, and soothing music, to induce relaxation and a calm and controlled state of the mind and body.
Spouses can help their partners to induce relaxation, but Kate said she wanted to do it on her own, so Prince William wasn’t “standing there sort of, chanting sweet nothings at me.”
“He definitely wasn’t! I didn’t even ask him about it, but it was just something I wanted to do for myself.”
The Duchess of Cambridge has three children, Prince George (born on July 22, 2013), Princess Charlotte (born on May 2, 2015,) and Prince Louis (born on April 23, 2018).
Kate was promoting a survey called “5 Big Questions on the Under Fives”
Kate appeared on Happy Mum, Happy Baby, with Giovanna Fletcher to promote her survey about early childhood development called 5 Big Questions on the Under Fives.
She partnered with multiple charities and organizations to conduct an online survey that has been taken by more than 200,000 people.
She said her personal experience of motherhood inspired the survey. She also said she hoped the survey would shed light on new facts about early childhood development that will positively impact parenting.
The Duchess of Cambridge also said she would have done things differently during pregnancy and the early years of nursing and raising her children if she had the knowledge she now has.
Finally, Kate Middleton added that the mother’s physical and emotional well-being impact the baby’s development.