And Sleep...
Hypnotherapy is often thought of as a drunken stage game where participants are made to perform silly pranks. Flying Start talks to celebrity hypnotherapist Ursula James on how it can also be used to help women with fertility problems or pregnancy associated stress.
With 13 years of hypnotherapy experience behind her, Ursula James has helped many women before and during pregnancy, including GMTV presenter Kate Garraway who gave birth to her daughter earlier this year. Ursula says: “The hypnosis helps you get on with your life, focus on what you’re doing and feel that pregnancy is not the be all and end all.
“The main thing that hypnotherapy does is reduce the stress and that alone helps the woman communicate better with her body.” It is used by women who are having difficulty getting pregnant by reducing the worry of not being able to produce a baby, and it is used by mothers who are already expecting by helping prepare them for the birthing process and for the arrival of a new baby into their lives.
Another of Ursula’s patients was Jane Williams. She had endured five miscarriages, tried fertility drugs and asked the advice of numerous doctors before seeking help from Ursula almost three years ago. Within three months of her first hypnotherapy session, she fell pregnant with daughter Hannah. Hoping to complete her family, Jane returned to Ursula earlier this year, and again, three months later, she found herself pregnant again.
Jane says that she started trying for a family straight after she got married, and although her and her husband were working, they both wanted a large family. She says: “In 1999 I was rushed to hospital bleeding and in pain, and that was my first miscarriage. I quickly fell pregnant again, and again, early on, miscarried. The devastating pattern of getting pregnant only to miscarry continued, with no medical advisor able to give me a straight answer as to why it was happening. Finally, they discovered that there were problems with her white blood cells. By this time I had started to feel really down about the whole experience. My husband was certain we would have a healthy happy baby, but I was less sure.”
Like many people, Jane was initially unsure about using hypnotherapy. She says: “I was recommended Ursula through a friend, and although I felt I was clutching at straws, I felt I needed to explore this route. The session lasted an hour, and Ursula asked me about my state of mind and tried to encourage me to relax. I couldn’t let go initially but then managed to find a space in my mind where I could relax. Ursula then concentrated on making me believe I could have a baby.”
Ursula helps women to get on with the rest of their life while still getting pregnant, as she understands that they can become almost fixated with the idea of having a baby. Jane says: “After the session I felt fantastic and for the first time in months, didn’t mind if I saw a pregnant person in the street.”
Ursula also encourages women to get some balance back in their life while both trying to conceive and during pregnancy, by eating properly and taking time out to rest. Jane continues: “I made some lifestyle changes – I took up yoga, swam, cut out alcohol and ate as healthily as I could. Then shortly after seeing Ursula, I found I was pregnant.”
“After Hannah was born, we tried for a second child. This time we resorted to the IVF route, and again quickly ran into problems. I don’t know why I didn’t go to see Ursula straight away. I recognised that I was not in the right mindset for getting pregnant and I also wanted to improve my overall health. I started a health-kick programme and booked an appointment with Ursula. Once again, having encouraged me to think positively, I found myself pregnant about a month after seeing Ursula.”
Hypnotherapy is often used in IVF programmes as using any artificial assistance can make the process somewhat mechanical, and when it doesn’t work many people get depressed. Most people usually become pregnant within just three months of visiting Ursula. She says: “There have been studies on hypnotherapy and IVF and it is very well researched, but it’s more empirical evidence where people can say: “Yes it’s really helped me.” If you don’t get a handle on it by then, basically you’re saying that there is something-else wrong.”
When hypnosis is used by women who are already expecting, the aim is to encourage the mother to look after herself properly, as sometimes in the early stages many women forget they are pregnant and carry on as normal. Ursula also encourages the mother to talk to her baby before the birth. It gets the mother used to the idea of having a child that is separate from her, and the child starts to take on a personality of its own.
Ursula believes that pregnancy related problems are all stress related. She says: “There’s an interesting quote from Mark Twain, which is: “I’ve known many troubles in my life and most of them never happen.” This is really for women who set themselves up for a bad experience of childbirth.” By using hypnosis, these women can overcome any worries about giving birth or conceiving simply by reducing the stress in their lives. However, Ursula feels that people put too much pressure on themselves to have everything as they want and when they don’t they feel like they have failed. She says: “If you have a baby along the way, fantastic, but it’s not the only thing in life to focus on.”
- Ursula James is a Visiting Teaching Fellow at Oxford University Medical School and honorary lecturer at St George's Medical School. She is also the resident expert on This Morning and has her own series, Hypnoconfessional, on Channel 5.
- Ursula has hypnotherapy CDs on a range of issues including fertility, pregnancy and childbirth.
- Hypnotherapy sessions cost £180.
- For further details visit www.ursulajames.com or call 020 7262 1659.
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