HypnoBirthing’s philosophy is tied to the way birthing was practiced in ancient times - as a celebration of life. Its practical origin lies in the work of men of modern science, particularly in the theories of an early twentieth century English obstetrician named Dr Grantly Dick-Read.
Dr Grantly Dick-Read first became sensitive to the true nature of labour and birth in a humble, poverty-ridden setting in London in 1913. As a young intern in London’s Whitechapel District in the heart of the East End slums, he was called to attend a woman in labour. After traveling on his bicycle through mud and rain, he arrived about three in the morning at a low level hovel near some railroad arches. He found his way to a small apartment where he discovered his patient in a dim room, soaked from the rain pouring in from the leaky roof. She was covered only with sacks and an old black skirt. He asked permission to put the mask over her face to administer chloroform. Her emphatic refusal was a first for Dick-Read. He returned the chloroform and mask to his bag, stood back and watched as she, with little more than gentle breathing, birthed her baby. The baby was born with no fuss or noise from the mother. As he prepared to leave, Dick-Read asked why she had refused the relief from the pain. She gave him an answer he was never to forget. “It didn’t hurt. It wasn’t supposed to, was it Doctor?”. This honest answer, given in a deep cockney accent, has had a profound effect on birthing for many decades.
In the fifties Marie Mongan desperate to have her own babies in a relaxed calm manner researched articles on calm, drug free birthing and discovered the writings of Dick-Read. This was how she wanted to have her babies, but it wasn’t to be with the first two as the medical profession took over and she failed to get her wish. With her third and fourth deliveries she got what she wanted; a drug free natural birth. She wanted to enable her own daughter to have the perfect birth so developed a program using her hypnotherapy skills added to her own experiences to enable this to happen and so in 1990 the first HypnoBirthing baby was born.
