Celebrity mums who used birth hypnotherapy in labour
Hypnobirthing has many famous fans – from Hollywood stars Jessica Alba and Angelina Jolie to British celebs like Fearne Cotton and Giovanna Fletcher. See what they’ve said about their hypnobirths here…
Loads of celebrity mums have given birth hypnotherapy – also known as ‘hypnobirthing’ – a go while delivering their own children.
Here, we take a look at some of the most world’s famous mamas and their experience with hypnosis techniques – plus how they describe their experience of hypnobirthing in their own words…
Fearne Cotton
Mum-of-2 Fearne said 2nd baby Honey Krissy's arrival was a 'positive experience' which was both 'intense and euphoric'.
"Love my YES MUM cards from @theyesmummum who brilliantly guided me through hypnobirthing before my big day,” she wrote in a social media post.
"Having a natural pain relief free birth was the most intense and euphoric experience ever.
“My first birth was very different to this and although all we want is our babies to be healthy, I think it’s important to remember how strong us women can be and what our bodies can do.
"Each birth story is miraculous and amazing however it turns out. I just feel grateful I had a positive experience.'
Kate Goodland and Harry Kane
England football star Harry revealed that fiancée Kate gave birth to their 2nd daughter, Vivienne Jane Kane, using hypnobirthing techniques.
25-year-old Harry gushed with pride in an announcement post: "Our beautiful addition to the family! Vivienne Jane Kane. ?
"So proud of @KateGoodlandx for having the most amazing water birth with no pain relief at all ??? #mygirls #hypnobirthing"
Harry later addressed some criticism of his post (over the idea of being 'proud' of a pain relief-free birth) with a bit more insight:
"Let’s get one thing straight, any woman can give birth however they would like. I’m very proud of my fiancée for doing it the way she wanted and we both learnt a lot from hypnobirthing."
Indeed, hypnobirthing techniques aren't suitable or appropriate for every birth, but we are glad Kate was fortunate enough to have the birth she wanted, and has a positive experience thanks to birth hypnotherapy.
And we have no doubt that Harry would be proud of Kate no matter how her birth turned out ?
Busy Phillips
Former Dawson's Creek and Freaks and Geeks star Busy decided to let nature take its course, with a little help from hypnotherapy and complementary birth therapies.
"I really believe that this is something our bodies are able to do naturally, and we should get out of our body’s way and let it do it,” Busy said before she gave birth to her daughter, Birdie.
Angelina Jolie
Superstar mum-of-6 Angelina Jolie allegedly used hypnobirthing techniques when she gave birth via caesarean to her twins Vivienne and Knox.
With now ex-husband Brad Pitt by her side, Angelina is rumoured to have chanted and was put under a trance while her twins arrived into the world.
Jessica Alba
A-list mum-of-3 Jessica has talked about her love of hypnobirthing in the past quite openly, revealing she was planning to use the techniques for the birth of her 2nd child.
"It’s not like the clock in front of your face and you go out and you wake up and you got a baby," Jessica explained on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
"Basically, my husband takes me through sort of a meditation. So he’s saying, 'You’re relaxed and you’re floating on clouds,' while you’re going through labour and your contractions."
Tiffani Thiessen
Saved By The Bell star Tiffani Thiessen decided to try hypnobirthing when she gave birth to her daughter, Harper Renn.
Talking before the birth, Tiffani said, "I’m going to give a Girl Scout effort to hypnobirthing."
Tiffani reportedly endured a 30-hour labour and eventually needed an emergency caesarean after her daughter's umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.
Ferne McCann
MFM fave Ferne also gave hypnobirthing a go – but admitted she didn’t have a magical, pain-free experience because of it.
She told CelebsNow: "I think that the hypnobirthing definitely was amazing practice for my labour. Some people have a pain free birth because of hypnobirthing, did I?
"No, I didn’t. I felt every ounce of pain. I went into labour naturally and I had a natural birth, and all went well, she’s here and we’re healthy.
"Absolutely, you need to be relaxed when you give birth because if you tense that can slow down your birth and stress out you and your baby.
"You just need to be as relaxed as you possibly can."
Billie Faiers
Bestie Ferne McCann revealed that Billie’s first birth was of the hypno variety in her former Star magazine column.
She said: “I think she's going for a hypnotherapy birth and has been trying out hypnotherapy classes.”
Sam Faiers
Sam says she loved hr hypnobirthing techniques - though they didn't exactly get rid of all the pain.
"My first labour was 26 hours and my second was about 4 hours, so that's two completely different labours.
"With my first (baby Paul), I had a late labour and my pain was in my back. I had hypobirthing with baby Paul, which wasn’t pain-free but it really helped me to be really calm - I didn’t scream, shout or swear!
"I would definitely recommend it. For some people, it really works and can help them breathe through the pain.
"Unfortunately, that didn't happen for me but I was really calm and it did help. Once you’ve pushed out the afterbirth, you feel fine."
Giovanna Fletcher
Giovanna used hypnobirthing techniques with her 1st child, Buzz, to help her relax. At the time, she recalled happily that her labour was nothing like the horror stories she’d heard.
Giovanna admits she relied on Michael McIntyre DVDs and singing along to Coldplay albums (not McFly?) to help her through labour. She also gives thanks to a constant stream of jelly babies.
Oh, and hubby Tom was of course on hand to support his wife. “Tom was as encouraging as I knew he would be - rubbing my back and reminding me to breathe anytime a frown appeared on my brow.
"He anchored me and made sure the day was as we’d hoped it would be.”
For the birth of baby no 3, Max, Giovanna found hypnobirthing's breathing and relaxation techniques were the only pain management she needed.
As Tom wrote on Insta: "I’ve witnessed her go through labour and give birth three times now and all three have been different but equally special experiences.
"She once again used hypnobirthing and had no drugs or pain relief, just breathing and relaxation techniques.
"It is truly incredible to watch! She is the most focussed, strong, determined woman I’ve ever met and our boys are the luckiest kids on the planet to be able to call her Mum."
Tom then went on to praise all births - and admit he spent Giovanna's labour munching on more jelly babies.
Corrie’s Catherine Tyldesley
6 weeks away from her 1st birth, soapstar Catherine shared how she planned to use birth hypnotherapy techniques to help things go smoothly, and how she was already practising her meditation techniques.
"Every day I sit down for half an hour and concentrate on my breathing techniques," she said. "Often the baby moves around loads because I’m taking in more oxygen, so it feels like a bonding session with the baby."
Catherine also admitted she was aware of the potential limitations of hypnobirthing - how it doesn't fully relieve the pain for everyone.
"As much as I’d like to go down the natural road," she added, "I can’t beat myself up if I need medical intervention."
Real Housewives star Tanya Bardsley
Real Housewives of Cheshire star Tanya has had 4 kids – but admitted she used hypnotherapy techniques during her delivery when she realized her baby was breech.
“This baby was breech,” she said. “So I had him hypnotised and he turned!”
We all know that hypnobirthing is designed to calm down the mum during labour - and minimise panic and contraction pain - but can you really hypnotise the baby while its still in the womb?
Hypnotherapy blogs suggest that - rather than swinging a pendulum in front of your bump and chanting you are getting verrrrry sleeeeepy - this practice actually involves getting the mum into a relaxed state, where she can ‘visualise’ the baby turning, which encourages the baby to do so.
Sounds like it worked for her. Initially, though, it took her Stoke City footballer hubby Phil a while to get on board with the idea…
“My husband Phil was laughing so much at our first hypnobirthing session. The nurse was like: ‘Right, we’re putting you in a different room!’
“Then he was like: ‘No I’ll be good.’ He’s like a kid himself, playing football and smashing windows.”
Images: Instagram
Read more:
Create the perfect wishlist for your baby with MyCrib
Are you expecting and don't know where to start? Discover how MyCrib can help you build your dream wishlist. You can add products from any site with just one click and even use MyCrib's buying assistant to help get you started.