Investigating the effect of HypnoBirthing on epidural use during labour and birth

Attendance at a private or hospital provided HypnoBirthing course during the antenatal period. Enrollment in a HypnoBirthing course is a per-requisite for participation in the study. The HypnoBirthing courses are not provided as part of the study, Birthing women, persons or couples can attend a HypnoBirthing course with a provider of their choice without participating in the study. The HypnoBirthing courses are delivered by trained HypnoBirthing Educators accredited by the Australian HypnoBirthing Steering Committee. These courses typically run over five sessions, usually commencing after 20 weeks gestation, with practice continued until labour and birth. The courses typically cover topics such as physiology of labour and birth, HypnoBirthing language relaxation and breathing techniques, hypnosis and visualisation techniques, massage and role of the birth partner. Participation involves the birthing woman, person and their partners completing a series of demographic and validated psychometric surveys over the course of the HypnoBirthing program, up until and following the birth. Specifically Study demographic survey (designed for study) (5 minutes to complete) State - Trait Anxiety Index (10 minutes to complete) Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (A - pre birth & B post birth) (15 minutes to complete) Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory (Birthing women / persons) (20 minutes to complete) Two-weekly HypnoBirthing practise questionnaire (designed for study) (5 minutes to complete) Birth Satisfaction Scale – Revised (5 minutes to complete) Post birth Questionnaire (designed for study) (10 minutes to complete). A selection of participants will be invited to participate in qualitative interviews prior to attending the HypnoBirthing course and following birth. Pregnancy, labour and birth data also will also be collected on each participant from the Perinatal Dataset Collection in the state in which they gave birth.