childbirth was something she had always feared, particularly as she has a very low tolerance for pain. skinned my knee one time while out at a restaurant in Burleigh and I nearly “I fainted. They had to call an how much of a wimp I am. So ambulance. That’s when my husband saw this story about hypnotherapy in the newspaper he told me and I she says. thought I’d try anything,” was incredible. In the very first session with the hypnotherapist I just felt “It something ignite in me, the feeling that I can control my fear and my environment. I was a teacher at the time but later on I studied hypnotherapy.” Melissa says while the self-hypnosis techniques grab attention, about it’s more tuning out distraction than leaving yourself open to persuasion. Gold Coast Titans player David Mead with his wife Taneal with their newborn son Paxton. Picture: Scott Fletcher about learning to completely tune into your she says. I was “It’s body,” “When first learning my husband tried to help put me and suggested that after ‘under’ the baby I would have no issue with him going on long golfing weekends. to say, that out so well for totally “Needless didn’t work him. You’re still conscious when in that zone. like when daydreaming, you are you’re It’s you’re in the world, just focused on something in your mind. a very useful you’re It’s technique, especially at a hospital. That environment just naturally puts us into a fearful mode because we associate it with sickness. and our bodies go into fight or flight mode, which means blood “We shut down gets diverted away from non-essential organs like the uterus. So it can really — inhibit labour.” With three children and three drug-free deliveries, Melissa says a walking she’s endorsement of the also found numerous fans in sports stars, method. She’s including David and Taneal, Olympic cyclist Sara Carrigan and gold medal swimmer Libby Trickett. is like an just sign up for a marathon “Birth endurance event. You wouldn’t without training for it. It makes complete sense that parents are applying the same preparation to the birth of their child. Athletes especially are used to being
childbirth was something she had always feared, particularly as she has a very low tolerance for pain. “I skinned my knee one time while out at a restaurant in Burleigh and I nearly fainted. They had to call an ambulance. That’s how much of a wimp I am. So when my husband saw this story about hypnotherapy in the newspaper he told me and I thought I’d try anything,” she says. “It was incredible. In the very first session with the hypnotherapist I just felt something ignite in me, the feeling that I can control my fear and my environment. I was a teacher at the time but later on I studied hypnotherapy.” Melissa says while the self-hypnosis techniques grab attention, it’s more about tuning out distraction than leaving yourself open to persuasion. Gold Coast Titans player David Mead with his wife Taneal with their newborn son Paxton. Picture: Scott Fletcher “It’s about learning to completely tune into your body,” she says. “When I was first learning my husband tried to help put me ‘under’ and suggested that after the baby I would have no issue with him going on long golfing weekends. “Needless to say, that didn’t work out so well for him. You’re still totally conscious when you’re in that zone. It’s like when you’re daydreaming, you are in the world, you’re just focused on something in your mind. It’s a very useful technique, especially at a hospital. That environment just naturally puts us into a fearful mode because we associate it with sickness. “We shut down and our bodies go into fight or flight mode, which means blood gets diverted away from non-essential organs — like the uterus. So it can really inhibit labour.” With three children and three drug-free deliveries, Melissa says she’s a walking endorsement of the method. She’s also found numerous fans in sports stars, including David and Taneal, Olympic cyclist Sara Carrigan and gold medal swimmer Libby Trickett. “Birth is like an endurance event. You wouldn’t just sign up for a marathon without training for it. It makes complete sense that parents are applying the same preparation to the birth of their child. Athletes especially are used to being
Hypnobirthing-Taneal-and-David-Mead-Gold-Coast-Bulletin-5-October-2015.docx