But I think you can see from this thread that there are many women in SW London who don't feel the NCT equip us properly for childbirth. We found they scared us about using any medical interventions at all. NCT seem to have it all out of proportion. I loved hypnosis & used it successfully twice but I think there needs to be much more emphasis on personal choice & recognising how lucky we are to be in a country that has as many drugs etc on hand as we might choose as long as the outcome is a healthy mother & baby!

I feel really sorry for Kate with all the attention she's getting. I just hope everything goes well for her and the baby is fine.

But I would take the drugs

Full disclosure:
a) I volunteer for the Wimbledon and Wandsworth branch on the NCT as the magazine editor
b) I had 2 c-sections - 1 emergency (NIGHTMARE) and 1 planned (after trying for a natural birth and preparing with a weekend of Natal Hypnotherapy but going 11 days overdue which was as far as the NHS would let me)

I get the whole Kirsty Allsopp thing...but I WISH she'd go after the lack of midwives and continuity of care in the NHS than bash a charity that does its best to equip people.

I know that around here we pay A LOT for our NCT courses, but I also know that the teachers in our branch are amazing and caring ladies who do tell the truth about all aspects of the birth process - I don't know about you but when I was in my NCT class, I wasn't expecting to have a c-section - I remember our teacher talking about the process with a playmobil set, mostly about how long it would take (not long) and how many people would be in the room (a lot) but that was about it.

The NCT does its best - our local branches - Wimbledon and Wandsworth and Clapham work hard (especially with Wimbledon and Wandsworth lacking volunteers - if you can help PM me) and are currently working hard to try to keep the 2 local NCT breastfeeding drop-ins open.

Sorry, will get off my soapbox now...

I did NCT, pregnancy yoga & pilates plus read all the books so I was more than prepared, but DS started breech, stayed breech, moved at 36 weeks & then back again so there was nothing more I could have done.

I don't think a lack of preparation means you have a difficult birth.

All of my friends prepared & almost all had horrific labours then emergency c sections.

These replies are really interesting and varied - those who have had very positive experiences of hypnobirthing and those who had difficult births requiring medical intervention and pain relief. We cannot control how our births are going to be, but we can prepare. The question that these replies leave with me is what is good antenatal preparation? As I work antenatally with couples preparing for birth I want to strike the right balance - I want to be open, honest, but also positive and optimistic. I want women to know what their options are and to be aware of informed choice. I have no right to say how a woman should give birth - that is her (and her partner's) decision, but I can signpost relevant scientific information. Because ultimately, as these answers show, birth stays with us - the memories do not fade, and we are affected by our experience for life. So, I would really welcome your thoughts as to what you think makes good antenatal preparation?

http://muckrack.com/link/Hh4W/dara-obri ... ct-classes

Hope this link works. If not just type into You Tube Dara Obriain NCT classes.

I cannot believe she handed round an epidural kit. Crazy. Why not bring out the episiotomy scissors too?

I wanted a natural water birth with no pain relief & ended up having an emergency c section as my DS was breech, my NCT teached barely touched on c sections despite the fact that someone in the group was having to have one.

If I ever manage to get pregnant again, I wouldn't rule out another c section & it really winds me up when others judge people's decisions. I really admire the way Kirsty Allsopp speaks out in favour of those who had c sections & couldn't breastfeed.

Couldn't agree more MungoMuffit!
I could have strangled my NCT teacher after the birth of my first.
I wish she'd just been honest. 'There is a good chance that it will hurt so much you'll think you are going to die....but you won't, so take the pain meds when you can no longer cope' rather than all that fluff about sniffing sodding Clary Sage oil as 'it'll cut right through the pain'...what??!!
The woman terrified me about epidurals and pethidene so I took nothing....until the emergency c-section of course! At which point the spinal block was most welcome!
Having said that I did do hypno-birthing prior to the birth of my twins and that saw me very nicely up until the point I chose to have an epidural

I used hypnobirthing for both my two and can't recommend it highly enough. I'm normally very squeamish and hate hospitals but I felt really calm at both births. It gives you something to focus on when you have a contraction, and unless you're going straight for a planned c-section you're going to be getting a few of those before they can administer drugs. Quite why anyone would want to have a syringe-load of anaesthetic shoved into their spine is beyond me - and it increases the risk of a c-section. If childbirth were that bad then the human race would surely have died out a long time ago. Having a baby is one of the most amazing experiences ever and hypnobirthing really does help to take away the fear. Don't knock it.

Drugs administered to the mother are absorbed by the baby so it's best to keep their use to an absolute minimum. A drugged- up baby is lovely and sleepy but will not want to feed and that will cause problems in establishing breast feeding in particular.

As a woman, as a Mum and especially as a Hypno birthing practitioner I am delighted to hear the great news the Duchess of Cambridge is considering using Hypnobirthing!
I used it in the birth of mine having done a fair amount of research into childbirth and what was available it was the only thing that made sense to me!
Pethadine - banned in most hospitals due to the effect on baby.
Epidural - so many requirements need to be in place in order for this to be achieved, to actually have it, anaethetist has to be available to administer it, it can't be too early else it will wear off. It is also proven to be the quickest route to an emergency C-section.
Gas & air - if you like that stoned feeling then great! But for many it just makes them feel giddy and disorientated and therefore distracts them from the pain
Hypnobirthing - nice calm environment for baby, no drugs pumped into baby just before they are born! The greatest cause of pain in childbirth is not the contractions or the birthing it is caused by fear and tension as we fight our bodies. Fear = Tension = Pain - Simples!

Love reading your replies. The aim of hypnobirthing is to help eliminate the tension-fear-pain cycle and enable women to go into birthing their babies in a positive frame of mind. The body is designed to give birth and amazingly, if undisturbed, produces natural painkillers that are 200x more powerful than morphine. The problem is we interfere and disturb the natural hormones, go in to birth in a state of adrenalin and fear, and therefore feel we need everything artificial under the sun, which has risks for Mum and baby, and most usually lengthens and affects the birth process. It has longer term impact too and can impact on bonding time and cause potential Post Natal Depression. Hypnobirthing is a way of reversing the trend, as is hiring a doula!

I too attended a hypnobirthing course about three months prior to giving birth and my labour was quick and I didn't use any pain relief!! It can work!!

I also used natal hypnotherapy for my labour and highly recommend looking into it and using it. I bought the CDs and Effective Birth Preparation Book and listened to the CDs from about 20 weeks. I found them really relaxing and they put me in the right frame of mind for labour. I had a very quick labour and had my son at home without any pain relief at all (first baby). I also had a good recovery.

I used it and it was amazing experience. Not at like dentist and not using drugs. Labours are shorter and recovery so much faster. Cannot rave about hypnobirthing enough.