Hypnosis ‘shortens labour’

Press, 19 November 1982, Page 30

Hypnosis ‘shortens labour’

By listening to hypnotic cassette tape-recordings most women could give birth less painfully, a visiting expert in psychological medicine has said. “The least an average woman could expect would be a helpful relaxation; the most she could expect would be complete anaesthetic,” said Dr Paul Davidson. Dr Davidson, a senior lecturer in psychological medicine at the Wellington Clincial School, was in Christchurch to address the New Zealand branch of the Australian Society for Hypnosis. He had the idea of making hypnotic cassette recordings after becoming convinced of the benefits of hypnosis in obstetrics. “Hypnosis is very effective in lessening pain and shortening labour," he said.

specialist hypnotist attend the labour and birth. He decided to try making cassette tapes that pregnant women could listen to and accept hypnosis. A controlled experiment using Wellington women proved the tapes partly successful. They did not shorten labour, but ' most women found childbirth much less painful. “The women who used them also found labour much more pleasant than the control group without them,” he said. The women who , used hypnosis also felt better about having more children. Doctors believed that they would therefore have better bonding with their babies. Each 60-minute tape consisted of a 30-minute introduction to hypnosis and 30 minutes of hypnotic sugges-

Its only disadvantage was tion. the high cost of having a Women listened to them

daily during the last six weeks of their pregnancies during which they “learned to control the depth of their trance." Dr Davidson said that hypnosis was not for everyone — 10 per cent of people cannot be hypnotised — but most women found it helpful. About 10 per cent of people were highly hypnotisable, and the technique worked spectacularly for them. Although hypnosis was an ancient medical technique, it had been neglected in modern medicine because of its associations with show business and “quackery”. Ever since the 19605, when it was returned to medical schools’ curriculi, hypnosis had grown in acceptance. Dr Davidson said that it was now commonly used to treat pain caused by conditions ranging from migraine to cancer. It was an ideal technique

for women seeking easier childbirth without using drugs. "It puts. the ball back in the women’s court," he said. Women could vary the depth of their trances during labour and childbirth. They could suppress pain while remaining totally aware of what was going on. He compared a hypnotised person to a submerged submarine with its periscope above water.

■ Although submerged in a state of deep relaxation akin to reverie, the hypnotised person was not unconscious or asleep. “if the telephone rings or the house starts burning down you are able to respond normally immediately." Dr Davidson said he was not a crusader for hypnotism, but he believed that it should be available to women along with other obstetric techniques.