It’s all over the papers and the internet right now. Yes, the preposterous ‘claim’ by Gisele Bundchen that the birth of her son, Benjamin, at her home in Boston, ‘didn’t hurt in the slightest.’

How could she say such a thing? I mean, how dare she? How utterly silly and irresponsible!

This article in the Mail Online even goes as far as warning Bundchen that:

‘If she’s hoping to endear herself to other new mothers, then [she] may find she’s going the wrong way about it.’

Well, what outrage.  A woman, a celebrity nonetheless, who has the nerve to tell a positive inspiring story about her birth experience rather than scaring everyone silly with horror stories. How could she?

You may have noticed my (very slightly) ironic tone here.

Because I think Gisele Bundchen is wonderful news for women everywhere. Here she is telling Brazilian TV channel Fantasticoshe (as reported by the Mail) about how she gave birth to Benjamin:

My delivery was in a bath tub, in water,’ said the 29-year-old ‘I wanted to have a home birth.

‘I wanted to be very aware and present during the birth… I didn’t want to be drugged up.

‘So I did a lot of preparation, I did yoga and meditation, so I managed to have a very tranquil birth at home.’

‘The whole time my mind was focused in each contraction on the thought ‘my baby is closer to coming out’.

‘It wasn’t like ‘this is so painful’. So I transformed that intense feeling into a hope of seeing him.’

Now, as a woman, I think I can choose whether to view this story as just another celeb fairy-tale, increasing the pressure on us all to do everything perfectly; or I can choose to believe that, yes, it is actually possible to have a positive and peaceful experience of birth.

And, as a hypnotherapist, I happen to know that it really is possible. I am impressed with what Bundchen says here about the amount of ‘preperation’ she did and also the way that she ‘transformed that intense feeling’ of birth into  joyful and pleasurable emotions.

These are two key elements of the work that a well-trained hypnotherapist can do in helping people to enjoy birth.

Good for you, Gisele Bundchen. (You know, just in case you happen to be reading my blog today.) I think it is wonderful that you are helping to counter some of the very unhelpful and negative ideas that we hear around us about giving birth  and illustrating so powerfully that there is a very happy and transformative alternative.

And, in fact, although Bundchen has been accused of ‘telling porkies,’ there is a strong basis of evidence now – yes, peer-reviewed research – that clearly demonstrates that the use of self-hypnosis during birth leads to shorter birth times, fewer complications and less need for drugs. One day, I hope that all this will be available to all women everywhere on the NHS. For now, if you want to learn more, why not find a well-trained hypnotherapist to guide you through the process.