Waves softly pound a rhythmic island beat against white sand dazzling under a cloudless sky. A warm and gentle breeze smells sweet, carries pleasant music and softly caresses Susanne Giller's skin. Stretched out in a chaise longue, the 33-year-old is serene and worlds away from all stress and tension.
"I have a drink in my hand," she adds.
The Hopewell Township woman was in paradise -- not as a result of frequent-flier miles or winning a contest. She reached the imaginary place through self-hypnosis -- and did so while in labor, opting for the self-induced state over pain medication to deliver a healthy baby boy, her first child, after four hours of labor.
Giller is the first to deliver her baby at University Medical Center at Princeton after completing the hospital's new HypnoBirthing course. The five-week course teaches expectant mothers self- hypnosis techniques such as visualization, guided imagery, special breathing techniques and positive affirmations. It can result in a faster, less painful and less stressful experience during a time traditionally distressing for the mom-to-be.
Says Linda Stout, certified HypnoBirthing instructor and class teacher at UMCP: "Often the discomfort and pain felt in labor is brought on by tension caused by a mother's fear of pain. A woman who learns how to decrease her anxiety through techniques of HypnoBirthing can also reduce the pain she feels."
For Giller, it couldn't have gone more smoothly. The pain of labor was manageable, she said, using hypnosis to work with her body instead of against it.
"The breathing technique helped me tremendously, and when I let go of the fear and pain, it was as if someone had just given me drugs," she says. "It totally re laxed me. I pictured a place where I was happy and a beach in the Caribbean is a happy place. In between the contractions, I pretended I was there."
Childbirth changes
The business of birthing has changed over the years from the traditional hospital setting to one that now includes involvement by a midwife and the use of hypnosis as a way to reduce or eliminate pain medication. Some clinical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of hypnosis in reducing pain following surgery, as well as provid ing relief from cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, headaches, arthritis and other conditions.The HypnoBirthing program taught at UMCP was developed 18 years ago by New Hampshire hypnotist Marie Mongan and has since grown in popularity. Today, it is taught internationally by more than 1,700 doctors, nurses and midwives, including Stout, a registered nurse, who were trained and certi fied by Mongan's institute.
For the excited parents-to-be, the big moment arrived at 5:35 p.m. Dec. 16 when Susanne and husband, Oliver, welcomed a baby boy, Alexander Heinz Giller, who weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
Four hours of labor.
No pain medication.
Susanne chose the hypnosis approach out of a desire to deliver her baby without pain medication if at all possible, and to reduce stress for her and her baby's well-being.
"I tried to be as healthy as I could while pregnant and wanted to see that through to the birth," she says. "It's crazy to eat so healthy and do all the right things, then reach the actual birth and say, 'All right, give me all the drugs you can.'"
Giller learned of the hypnosis course during a pre-natal exercise class.
"I thought it was worth trying," she says. "But when I told people about it, they said, 'That's crazy.' They all told me to get the drugs, just get the drugs."
Giller carefully weighed the options.
"My thought was, I have nothing to lose," she says. "But I knew, as I told my friends, medication would be there if I have to. It's not as if it's a home birth with no choice. It just made a lot of sense to me."
It's an option expectant women should consider, Giller says.
"My advice to women is to be in charge of your birth plan and have no regrets when it's over," she says.
Taming the stress
The five-week class began in October for Giller, a pediatric occupational therapist in the Flemington school district. Techniques she learned also helped her handle work stress during the final stretch of her pregnancy.
"Some days, I had a really stressful day at work," she recalls. "Being pregnant, you shouldn't have too much stress, so the techniques would help me to calm down and feel better. An emotional, hormonal woman needs something to calm her down, but you couldn't take anything while pregnant."
About 3 a.m. Dec. 16 of last year, Giller had the first indication it might be show time after her water broke.
"I didn't have any pain and the midwife in the class assured me I'd be fine until contractions began," she says. "I did my meditation and went back to sleep until about 9:30 a.m."
At 11 a.m., Giller and her husband went to UMCP to have the medical team examine her and determine how far along she was toward delivery.
"I had packed all my bags just in case and we cleaned up the house in case anyone had to come in," she says. "I wasn't having any labor or contractions, and once at UMCP, they said I was only three centimeters dilated."
Susanne and Oliver left the hospital.
"I could tell something was different, but the contractions weren't that bad," she says. "The staff suggested I go home, maybe take a bath, and relax."
It was nine days before Christmas and Oliver had a different idea.
"My husband said he still hadn't done my Christmas shopping and suggested we go to the jewelry store and I could pick out what ever I wanted. A woman will never say no to jewelry, so we went to a jewelry store and looked. An employee there said it looked like I was about to deliver and I thought, she has no idea."
Contractions were now about five minutes apart.
"But they weren't horrible," Giller says. "I was doing the hypno- breathing and it wasn't that bad."
The couple picked up deli sandwiches and went to the home of Oliver's parents for lunch
Contractions were arriving every four minutes.
"And then three minutes and I said I think it's time to go."
When the Gillers arrived at UMCP, Susanne was at eight centimeters and nearly ready to deliver. It was about 5:30 p.m.
"The midwife looked at me and told Oliver to give me some water because I looked low-energy. But it was because I had meditated my self to a place where I was happy. I was thinking to myself, I'm on the beach and very happy."
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