HypnoBirthing of Central Texas

Before my son was born in 2013, my husband and I were fortunate enough to take Jenny’s Hypnobirthing class. We found it to be nothing short of wonderful! The class was so much more than learning the Hypnobirthing Method. Jen thoughtfully prepared us for the birth as well as many other aspects of pregnancy and new parenthood that we did even foresee or expect.
We were preparing for a natural hospital birth which can seem like total opposites but after taking the class, I felt confident I could marry the two and have a beautiful, natural hospital birth.
I found the classes to be interesting, organized and fun. My husband and I got a long great with the other parents and enjoyed sharing our thoughts and trepidations about pregnancy and parenthood. I found all the information shared empowering as well as enlightening.
We were given numerous resources (book, reading materials, CD) to take home as well as the instructor’s contact information so we could ask any and every question that came to mind. I loved that Jenny was always available to help– even after the classes concluded. I used my birth affirmations and CD throughout most of my labor and found them extremely helpful.
The atmosphere at the birth center is very welcoming and comfortable. Yes, there were chairs. We were even offered complimentary refreshments and snacks (which was VERY much appreciated by this pregnant lady).
Over all, I would HIGHLY recommend taking this class. It definitely enriched my birthing experience and I will be using the techniques I learned during my next birth.

Liz and Heather are very nice and they know the course material very well. So if you are h*ll bent on using Hypnobirthing, they would be good people to learn it from. However, the room they use doesn’t have chairs. You and your partner will be sitting on the floor on cushions – a terrible set-​up for pregnant women. Also, our class started 15 min. late every time.
Mostly I feel I have to warn you off this birthing method. Here’s one of the affirmations, as an example, used in the Hypnobirthing method: «My baby’s birth will be EASY because I am so relaxed and confident.» (My caps.) Um, I can’t believe we bought into this. Childbirth is NOT EASY, people! Hypnobirthing seems too good to be true because it is.
Ask around. After I had my baby and started talking to other moms about it, I heard from three other moms I work with who had used and they all said they felt this method is garbage.
So what about all the people who had good experiences using it? My friend who is an L&D nurse tells me that some births are just easier than others, no matter what birthing method you use. So of course there are moms who used Hypnobirthing and had a good experience. I’d say that we should all consider that those moms may have had an easier birth anyway, without Hypnobirthing. Maybe it wasn’t the Hypnobirthing – maybe they just got lucky.

My husband and I took Heather and Liz’s HypnoBirthing class for our second pregnancy in 2009. Since our class was in October and I wasn’t due until February, I took a refresher class (for free) in January as labor was nearing and I was getting more nervous.
I am the first to admit that I didn’t practice nearly as much as I should have in preparing for our birth. However that didn’t stop me from having a beautiful, gentle birth in my own home with the assistance of midwives.
There are many labor/​birth preparation methodologies out there. I investigated several and decided to take this particular class. However I also did an extensive amount of reading and self study, encouraged by Heather and Liz who had a clear message of the importance of knowledge and self-​discovery in preparing for a birth.
My birth wasn’t what I would consider a textbook hypnobirth, but those who were there said I was extremely zen, confident and powerful. HypnoBirthing was as much a tool to ease my fears/​anxiety prior to the birth as it was a tool during my birth.
I would and have recommended this class to expecting parents. If you are going to have a hospital birth, you will learn a lot from Heather and Liz about how to have a natural birth in a hospital.