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This article describes a project that was set up to offer user participation in the development of a group for pregnant women and new mothers in an area of the UK where attendance at NHS antenatal classes and other groups was low. Responsibility for the implementation of the project was shared between a midwife, a health visitor and a children's centre manager who successfully applied for an NHS Patients First programme bursary from the Foundation of Nursing Studies. In the first 6 months of the project, women sampled crafts, music, ‘pampering’ and hypnobirthing, and worked with facilitators to design a rolling programme of activities of their choice. The aims of the project included building confidence for labour and motherhood, and making connections with a supportive local network of fellow mothers and children's centre staff.

Background and aim: HypnoBirthing, which is steadily increasing in popularity both in Australia and overseas, is a set programme consisting of 10–12 hours of instruction for couples approaching the later stages of pregnancy and birth. A survey was carried out to investigate how Australian participants attending the HypnoBirthing programme between 2007 and 2010 compared to other studies where hypnosis was used for childbirth. Results: The average length for both stages of labour was shorter in the HypnoBirthing group compared to general population figures. Caesarean section rates were lower, as was the use of gas and epidurals. Of the 81 participants, 46 (51 %) did not use any pain medication at all and the overall discomfort level for labour and birth was 5.8 out of 10 with 32 % of the participants scoring under 5.8, including two participants who recorded zero discomfort. Conclusion: Women attending the HypnoBirthing programme demonstrated similar results to those found in other research in hypnosis for childbirth. However, the findings also demonstrated some added benefits of HypnoBirthing. The majority of women reported feeling more confident, relaxed, less fearful, focused, and more in control. They also commented on the ease and comfort of labour and birth and the satisfaction of having their partners involved and supportive.

This book is easy to read; it is written for parents-to-be and those supporting the woman; therefore, it is not in academic or professional language. Although it is the third edition in the USA, suggesting popularity within a niche market, it is its first publication in the UK. The author has been a certified hypnotherapist in the field of counselling since 1987 and, having applied her knowledge to childbirth for her daughter in the preparation and birth of her first grandchild, she became the ‘mother’ of hypnobirthing, which she describes as a ‘philosophy of birth’, in 1989.

I am interested in the ways midwives talk to women in pregnancy and labour to encourage a drug free birth. I am concerned that if midwives do not start to articulate such an important aspect of our work then it will be another lost part of who we are, what we do and will become something ‘other’ such as hypnobirthing or ‘hypnosis in pregnancy’.