One woman found a surprise solution after enduring physically and emotionally exhausting fertility treatment. HILARIE STELFOX reports.

PAIN-FREE labour without drugs sounds like every mother-to-be’s idea of perfect childbirth.

The reality is often quite different.

But, says hypnotherapist Karen Riley, there really is a way to give birth painlessly.

One of her clients, Jill Wilson from Brighouse, used hypnotherapy techniques during labour and to achieve a successful pregnancy. She was so inspired by her experiences that she is now training to be a hypnotherapist herself in order to help other women.

Karen, an applied biology graduate and member of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis, specialises in working with women who are having difficulty conceiving and couples who want to learn techniques to assist a natural birth.

She is the UK director of the HypnoFertility Foundation, which originated in the US, and leads workshops for other therapists.

Karen, who lives in Outlane, said: “HypnoFertility works on a physical level. If you get very stressed about something and fertility treatment is very stressful then the body’s fight or flight reaction kicks in and the blood supply to the uterus is diverted to the legs and other parts of the body.

“So, at the very time you need a good hormonal balance and a rich blood supply to the uterus, all these resources are going somewhere else.

“It’s just common sense really.’’

She added: “Hypnotherapy also works with the limbic system of the body which turns our emotions into physical responses. A lot of people are surprised by this and don’t understand that feelings can impact on their fertility and their bodies.’’

Karen’s interest in hypnotherapy began as a teenager when she sought help from a therapist for confidence issues.

The self-hypnosis techniques she learned also helped, she says, when she had fertility problems of her own. She is married to Dean and the couple have two sons, five-year-old Laurence, and two-year-old Matthew.

Jill, 42, a former professional indemnity claims adjustor, was in her 30s when she began to suffer from gynaecological problems.

“I was referred to a specialist who assumed that I was wanting to start a family,’’ she said. “I was told that I would have serious problems conceiving and that IVF would be my only hope.

“By the time I found out I was 37 and we had a stark choice to make. But we decided that we did want to have children and started with IVF at the assisted conception unit in Halifax.

“You go into it very naively and full of confidence. Some people do get lucky first time, but the success rate is actually quite low.’’

The rollercoaster of fertility treatment can be physically and emotionally exhausting. It’s also expensive and can put couples under a huge financial strain. Jill estimates that the two cycles she and her Dean paid for cost them £12,000 – an added stress.

She said: “The first cycle was awful and I felt so under the weather that it was six months before I considered doing it again.

“I saw a nutritionist who gave me advice on my diet and I did feel better, but the second one still failed.’’

Before embarking on a third cycle Jill and Dean, a website designer, went on holiday.

What happened next was to be a turning point.

“When we returned the consultant made a comment about how he liked to treat happy women, but I was finding it so stressful that I burst out crying,’’ said Jill. “It was then that one of the nurses gave me Karen’s details and suggested that she might help me.’’

Jill says her first conversation with Karen, who works from an office in Heritage Exchange, Lindley, resulted in an outpouring of grief and anger.

“I was feeling a very high level of frustration and I felt angry and betrayed by my body,’’ she said. “Getting pregnant should be the easiest thing in the world, everyone can do it.’’

Karen has discovered that this is a typical reaction.

She said: “The women feel angry about their treatment and angry at themselves. They don’t believe in their bodies.

“I help them to manage their stress levels and teach them self hypnosis. We see if there are any psychological blocks – maybe something that has happened to them in childhood – or phobias and fears. Everybody is different.’’

Jill is in no doubt that the HypnoFertility sessions, techniques and self-help relaxation CDs were responsible for the success of her third cycle of IVF.

She said: “We had decided to have five cycles, if necessary, but no more because it’s important that you set yourself a limit.

“But we didn’t need any more. It was so wonderful, I felt so calm.’’

Karen says that while hypnotherapy has been shown to increase the success rates of IVF by up to 50%, it’s also a way for couples to learn to be accepting no matter what the outcome.

Encouraged by her own success, Jill and Dean also learned the HypnoBirthing techniques and when Adam was delivered hospital staff were astonished by Jill’s pain-free labour.

“I breathed him out rather than pushed him out,’’ she said. “I didn’t have any pain, it was a beautiful birth. The midwife said she’d never seen anything like it.

“Hypnotherapy made me feel empowered and inspired me so that now I’m training in it myself.’’

For further details check out www.hypnobirthingyorkshire.com or www.karenriley-hypnotherapy.com