Studies have shown that a person's visualizing an event is the same as doing it according to the brain activity, and using this ancient technique can decrease a mama's pain and allow her to open and allow her body to give birth.
After a Cesarean Birth is another great time to practice guided imagery with the new mama. A lot of times the new baby is away from her and surrounded by doctors and nurses. Guiding her to a safe place that is warm and inviting where her and her partner are holding their baby can ease her anxieties about what is happening.
You can make up visualizations on the spot or write a script that you're comfortable with. The following is a visualization you could use for a woman that I adapted to fit a waterbirth or laboring in water .
Ask the mama to close her eyes and place her hands on her belly (if that's comfortable to her). Lower the lights and try to reduce interruptions for the next 15 minutes. In a calm, soothing voice, walk her through the following visualization, using your intuition to add or eliminate things and always following her non-verbal cues.
You are gliding underwater, able to breathe like a dolphin. As you swim about in the warm, blue and quiet sea you can see waving seaweed, bright coral and glistening fish. Looking down you see rocks and seahorses and anything else you can imagine. Looking up you can see the sunshine beaming down on you and warming your back.
Gliding and gliding. You are a dolphin moving with grace and ease through a warm, friendly ocean. You can feel the sunshine and the support from the water. You glide with ease and happiness. You are weightless, without worries and cares, knowing that your body and environment are supporting you.
If you'd like more examples of guided imagery to using during pregnancy or labor, please let me know.
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