Contents
Sophrology, what is it?
Created in 1960 by a Colombian neuropsychiatrist, Alfonso Caycedo, the goal of sophrology is to help us visualize our childbirth in a positive way, imagining it in advance. For this, the midwife (or the sophrologist) will explain to us how to become aware of our body mentally and physically. By concentrating, we will be able to better control our emotions, in order to not to undergo childbirth, but to live it fully. Through relaxation exercises, we gain self-confidence, we succeed in overcoming our fears and accept the pain better. More serene, we thus manage to relax at the time of childbirth, because in a certain way, we will have the impression of having already lived this moment.
When to start sophrology in preparation for childbirth?
We can start our preparation for childbirth from fourth or fifth month of pregnancy, when our belly begins to round. During group lessons, given by a sophrologist midwife, you breathe while controlling your breath, to relax and release all tensions to reach a state of semi-sleep.
Sitting or lying down, we listen to the midwife’s voice while closing our eyes. We enter a state of semi-sleep during which we learn to breathe, relax and release all our tensions.
Exercises that help us visualize our childbirth and play down this event by making it positive. To do well, we record the lessons and go back to the recording at home to train!
As part of a classic preparation for childbirth, we benefit from eight sessions reimbursed by Social Security. We check with our maternity to find out if it offers sophrology as a type of preparation.
Sophrology during pregnancy: what are the benefits?
La sophrologie initially helps to accept physical changes (weight gain, fatigue, back pain, etc.) and to better experience our pregnancy psychologically. In addition, the fact of having imagined childbirth, positively anticipated this unique moment, will make us more zen on D-day. We will also know better. let yourself go through pain thanks to breathing. This can be helpful, especially if you decide not to have an epidural. By dispelling our apprehensions and keeping in mind the happiness of the arrival in the world of our child, our childbirth will be more peaceful.
Sophrology: easier childbirth?
Instead of tensing up at the moment of expulsion, the sophrologie will have taught us to relax. We will know better how to recover calmly between each contraction. Awareness of our body will also allow us to oxygenate it to the maximum and thus push more efficiently (or wait for the phenomenon of “natural push”), while being relaxed. Thus released, the work and expulsion phases will be facilitateds. When you are more relaxed, the fabrics stretch, with less risk of tearing.