The Duchess of Cambridge very recently joined Giovanna Fletcher on her already popular ‘Happy Mum Happy Baby’ podcast. The episode focused on the Duchess’ campaign under The Royal Foundation to join the UK in a conversation about children’s mental health and wellbeing.

During the podcast, Kate talks candidly about her childhood, pregnancies and uncertainties within motherhood. The conversation turns to the importance of the mother’s mental wellbeing during pregnancy, where Kate talks about her experience with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, excessive nausea and vomiting. This condition is thought to affect 1-3 in every 100 pregnant women and often requires medication and hospitalisation. This kind of constant nausea and vomiting can impact mental wellbeing as women find it hard to leave the house, and may start to feel isolated and apprehensive about the months ahead.

Kate then revealed that she used hypnobirthing to help her through her HG, where she ‘realised the power of the mind over the body’. She also used hypnobirthing techniques with all three births, and whilst William certainly wasn’t reading her positive affirmations, she found the use of hypnobirthing techniques very empowering, and even said that she felt she enjoyed her births! They move on to say that while hypnobirthing isn’t for everyone, there are varying ways of using it and it’s more about the ‘moments of calm’.

How fantastic that hypnobirthing would be brought up in this really important conversation as such a useful tool. As Giovanna says herself, it should be much further talked about, and I couldn’t agree more. And they don’t even touch on the benefits for mother and baby; like letting go of fears, building confidence in decision making, learning to communicate with caregivers, understanding and working with your body, and ultimately creating a calm and loving environment for baby to be born into.

And while hypnobirthing of course isn’t for everyone, it also isn’t for only natural, straightforward births. Hypnobirthing helps you to understand interventions and work with the midwives and obstetricians to make informed decisions. Then if a situation arises where you need an assisted birth, you can be calm and positive about the decisions made and feel ready to meet your baby.

It’s all about the safety of you and your baby, making confident and educated decisions, and staying calm throughout pregnancy and birth.

To listen to the podcast click here, and to find out more about the royal campaign, click here. The campaign is titled ‘5 Big Questions’, and consists of 5 easy and anonymous questions, which can be completed in less than 5 minutes.