An assessment of the value of hypnosis in pregnancy and labour

Abstract

The labours of 70 patients trained in autohypnosis are compared with 70 patients given physiotherapy training for labour and 70 control patients. A statistically significant reduction in the duration of the first stage of labour occurred in the autohypnosis-trained group as compared with the other two groups (P<0.001). Autohypnosis was found to be an effective analgesic in labour 59% of this group of patients required no chemical analgesia in any stage of labour, whereas in the control group only 1.4% required no analgesic drug, and in the physiotherapy group all patients required some chemical analgesia. Statistically this difference was very significant (P<0.001). No significant difference in the third-stage blood loss was found in the three groups. The episiotomy or tear rate was less in the hypnotically relaxed patients-51% as compared with 73% in the physiotherapy group and 64% in the control group—but this difference is not statistically significant (P=0.10-0.20). The subjective impression of labour was much more pleasant in the autohypnosis group. The time spent antenatally (11/2 hours for six patients) and the personal attention involved are well worth while to produce such objective and subjective benefits to the pregnant woman, and hypnosis should be used in obstetrics more widely than it is at present. © 1962, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.