The contribution of hypnobirthing to women's experience: a Scoping Review
Published 2025-06-19
Keywords
- Pain,
- Hypnosis,
- Woman,
- Childbirth
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2024 Helena Rodrigues, Maria João Freitas
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Introduction
Currently, there are various strategies offered to women for pain relief and comfort promotion, aiming to provide them with a positive childbirth experience.1 These strategies are equally recommended by the World Health Organization, always respecting the woman's preferences.2 Hypnobirthing is one of these strategies, however, it is still little known and used, making it especially important to understand its contributions to the parturient.
Objective
To map the scientific evidence on the contributions of hypnobirthing to the woman's experience.
Methods
A Scoping Review (SR) according to JBI3 was conducted, encompassing six databases: Medline Ultimate, CINAHL Ultimate, MedicLatina, Academic Search Complete, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews through the EBSCOhost platform, and PubMed, to answer the research question "What are the contributions of hypnobirthing to the woman's experience?" using the mnemonic PCC - Population (women), Concept (hypnobirthing), and Context (irrelevant). A total of 203 articles were identified, with 62 duplicates removed, 116 excluded after reading titles and abstracts, leaving 25 for full reading. At the end of the process, 11 articles were included.
Results
Eight subcategories of contributions from hypnobirthing emerged: pain and fear reduction, increased relaxation, reduced labor time, improved birth experience, greater emotional management capacity, well-being sensation in the postpartum period, and active participation of the partner. Pain reduction during labor is the most frequently mentioned contribution associated with the use of hypnobirthing. Of the 11 included studies, only one does not recognize hypnobirthing's contribution to improving the experience, making it a more positive one.
Conclusion
The SR identified various contributions associated with hypnobirthing. Notably, pain relief, although still controversial and requiring further studies with higher levels of evidence, can be a valuable resource for pain management, facilitating a positive childbirth experience.