Hypnosis and Lamaze Method-An Exploratory Study: A Brief Communication

Abstract

Literature on obstetrical hypnosis includes the hypotheses (a) that the ideal form of childbirth preparation would combine hypnosis with didactic education and (b) that Lamaze and natural childbirth methods are essentially the same thing as hypnosis. In the present study, 122 parturient women self-selected into three groups: Lamaze-only, hypnosis-only, and Lamaze-plus-hypnosis. Amount of medication, duration of labor, self-ratings, and nurses' ratings were used as dependent measures of pain and satisfaction. Treatment groups were compared by analysis of variance, and correlation coefficients were obtained between the dependent variables and scores on the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale (SHCS). Neither hypnosis, Lamaze, nor a combination of the 2 emerged as a superior form of treatment. The SHCS scores were moderately correlated (r = .55) with self-ratings that Lamaze had lessened pain during delivery. This may suggest a functional similarity between hypnosis and Lamaze, but the present study suffered a number of methodological problems and alternative explanations are discussed.