Hypnosis helps alleviate pain
during childbirth, an Australian study suggests.
South Australian researchers
found women having their first child who learnt self hypnosis in the
lead-up to labour were less likely to need an epidural than other
first-time mothers.
They compared 77 women who
were taught hypnosis in preparation for childbirth with a control group
of more than 3,000 mothers who received normal ante-natal care.
The differences were most
marked in women having their first babies.
Marion Andrew, senior
consultant anaesthetist at the Women and Children's Hospital, Adelaide,
said that of the hypnosis group, 36 per cent of first-time mothers had
epidurals compared with 55 per cent of the controls.
"I think when they're having
their first baby, they're very highly motivated and a lot of women these
days would prefer to avoid analgesia in labour if they can," she
explained.
Dr Andrew presented the
findings of the case-controlled comparison study to the annual
scientific meeting of the Australian and New Zealand College of
Anaesthetists in Auckland.
She said the limited number
of randomised-controlled trials that had been done internationally on
the issue showed women taught hypnosis tended to need less pain relief
and were more likely to have a normal birth.
Recent research involving
brain imaging of people undergoing hypnosis while receiving a painful
stimulus found reduced activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, the
region responsible for the emotional component of pain.
Dr Andrew, one of two
anaesthetists with training in hypnotherapy at the Women's and
Children's Hospital, said hypnosis had become very much in demand among
pregnant women in Adelaide.
"Patients ask for it and the
obstetricians are referring them," she said outside the conference.
"Our experience has been that
when the women hear about hypnosis they tend to be very open to using
it.
"It allows women to have more
control in labour."
The hospital planned a
randomised controlled trial of 300 mothers early next year to further
test the effectiveness of hypnosis in childbirth.
