Hypnosis has various applications to help people achieve their goals. If you follow our content, you already know that hypnosis can help with issues like anxiety, addictions, and nausea relief during pregnancy. Regarding depression, hypnosis can also be a necessary aid to solve this problem, but what about postpartum depression?

According to the Federal University of Amazonas, 26.3% of women in Brazil already suffer from this disorder. Are there scientific evidences on how hypnosis can assist in solving PPD? Read on to find out more!

Evidence that hypnosis can reduce anxiety

According to the National Library of Medicine, there is a study known as “The Effectiveness of Hypnosis Intervention in Alleviating Postpartum Psychological Symptoms”, where a number of 28 pregnant women participated in a controlled group, routinely receiving prenatal care. Of these 28 women, 16 received hypnosis in these care routines and the rest did not.

After two weeks, the women took tests known as The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) used to find psychological diagnoses, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), which was used to find postpartum depression symptoms. The results show that the women who received care through hypnosis had lower levels of anxiety.

Even though the difference between the tests for postpartum depression symptoms was not significant, the chance of women who received hypnosis treatment developing PPD was reduced. The study’s conclusion shows that hypnosis can promote psychological strengthening to deal with the postpartum experience.

Evidence that hypnosis can be used as treatment

According to a case published by the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, hypnosis as a clinical means for treating postpartum depression was successful. A 27-year-old woman was five months pregnant with twins and was resistant to psychopharmacological treatments for depression.

Despite having support from her partner, she had been trying for almost five years to get pregnant and have their first children. When discussing the possibility of losing the babies, she began showing symptoms of postpartum depression. Five days after the babies were born, the symptoms appeared more intensely. She felt sadness, uncontrollable crying, guilt, hopelessness, and solutionlessness, even refusing to hug or stay close to her children.

After agreeing to participate in hypnosis treatment, she was induced into a mental state where she could feel safe and confident with herself, explore past memories related to stress caused by the children, and more easily receive suggestions to be open to creating alternative responses to problems.

Because of this, the mother began to understand the stresses caused by the child’s crying and wanted to spend more time with her, hug her, and bond. After other therapeutic sessions with hypnosis, the patient managed to deal with her thoughts of guilt and hopelessness.

Evidence that hypnosis causes a positive experience in labor and postpartum

The study “The Effectiveness of Hypnosis Intervention for Labor: An Experimental Study”, published in the National Library of Medicine, shows that hypnosis is useful in helping improve the experience within labor and postpartum periods. In this study, a group of women participated in hypnosis treatment, totaling 23 women, while the other group not receiving hypnosis treatment totaled 22.

The study data shows that women who received help through hypnosis during labor had a lower dosage of anesthetics, but even experiencing greater pain, all deliveries were normal and without symptomatic complications for generating postpartum depression.

Therefore, according to these studies, we can see that hypnosis has scientific viability to be used as a treatment for postpartum depression and its symptoms. The results can be immediate with routine application by a trained and prepared professional with more modern and scientifically updated methods. 

For more evidence on the effects of hypnosis during pregnancy, access our free e-book on HypnoPregnancy & ChildBirth.

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