Best hypnobirthing courses, apps and books to reduce pain in labour – tested

While hypnobirthing has become hugely popular in recent years, birth hypnosis is a practice that's been used for centuries. Hypnobirthing helps you manage your pain and bring your body to a calm state before and during labour.

There are lots of products out there that can help you practise hypnobirthing. We've gathered tried and tested findings from parents in our MadeForMums Club, who have tested various hypnobirthing products throughout the course of their pregnancies.

Best hypnobirthing products at a glance:

• Best easy-to-follow hypnobirthing course: The Positive Birth Company Hypnobirthing Digital Pack, £39
• Best hypnobirthing app for early stages of labour: Freya App, £4.99
• Best hypnobirthing book for reducing birth fears: The Calm Birth Method Book, £12.99
• Best hypnobirthing book with a fun and upbeat approach: The Positive Birth Book, £14.99
• Best hypnobirthing book for natural birth: Mindful Hypnobirthing Book, £14.09
• Best hypnobirthing book for midwife insight: My Body My Baby: By Midwives For Women, £38.32
• Best value hypnobirthing course: Bump and Baby Club Hypnobirthing Course, £30
• Best hypnobirthing course for mindset preparation: Pop that Mumma Birth Box, £85

Here are our picks of the best hypnobirthing products for 2026

1. The Positive Birth Company Hypnobirthing Digital Pack, £39

– Best easy-to-follow hypnobirthing course

Type: Online course

Pros:

• Easy to follow
• High quality content
• Birth partner participation
• Lots of extra material
• Support group access

Cons:

• Quite pricey

I was petrified of childbirth – I'd had a genuine fear since I was around 14. I did the course and it actually cured my fear and helped me to stay calm for the rest of my pregnancy! The breathing exercises were such a huge help.

Founded by hypnobirthing expert Siobhan Miller, this easy-to-follow course explains what to expect during labour, especially if it's your first time giving birth. The course offers 6+ hours of quality video content, 8 audio guided meditations. a PDF course notes booklet, editable birth preferences template, positive affirmations, breathing practices, access to a private Facebook group and infant feeding guide for when your baby arrives.

"It offers high quality design, simple and stylish content delivered at a great pace that you neither feel rushed or that it has been dragged out unnecessarily," explains parent tester Sian.

At £39, the course is relatively affordable when you consider the amount of content you receive, and the fact you have access to it forever, so can use it for subsequent pregnancies.

Parent tester Sandy added, "I had a lovely labour and would love to experience it again! No pain relief, no tears or stitches needed! I'll be using it again!"

The course has designated videos for your birth partner to watch, either with or without you. "The biggest benefit for us was that the course helped enable my husband to feel a bit more confident in his role during labour and it helped me stay calm in those early phases," says parent tester Jodie.

Available from: The Positive Birth Company

2. Freya App, £4.99

– Best hypnobirthing app for early stages of labour

Type: Mobile app | Available on: iPhone, Android

Pros:

• Affordable
• Time recorder for contractions
• Helps with labouring at home

Cons:

• Only single use for labour, not a course

It does one thing and does it really well. It can be bought on its own or used alongside The Hypnobirthing Digital Pack. I think investing in this when you're about to give birth is a no-brainer.

If you feel like you've digested as much hypnobirthing content as possible but still worried you'll forget everything when push comes to shove, then this app is for you. Available in 6 languages and created by the makers of The Hypnobirthing Digital Pack, the Freya app is essentially your virtual birth partner and helps you through the early stages of labour.

The Freya app helps you to time and log your contractions whilst coaching you by reminding you to relax with breathing techniques, gentle music, positive affirmations and relaxing visualisations. It keeps a track of how frequently your contractions are occurring and for how long. This then eventually indicates when your labour looks like it's becoming established and that it's a good time to call your midwife for the next steps.

It's particularly helpful if you're labouring at home before going into the hospital or whilst your midwife makes her way for your home birth. The app enables you to also share the recorded contractions data with your midwife or doula as necessary.

Available from: Freya — The Positive Birth Company

3. The Calm Birth Method Book by Suzy Ashworth, £12.99

– Best hypnobirthing book for reducing birth fears

Type: Book

Pros:

• Good for making notes and highlighting key parts
• Birth partner info

Cons:

• Not as extensive or visual as a video course

When I suddenly felt panicked, I reached for this book a week before giving birth to my eldest child. It helped to reassure me and I've kept the copy for future use, I'm planning to re-read for baby number 3.

Author and pregnancy coach Suzy Ashworth came to learn about hypnobirthing through her own experience when having her first child. Her book walks you through the physiology and psychology of what your mind and body undergoes during pregnancy and birth, explains why women tend to be fearful of birth and how to deal with those fears, and how your birth partner can collaborate with the midwives to ensure you have almost everything on your wish list granted on the big day – including how your birthing environment looks and feels.

You can learn hypnobirthing breathing techniques and visualisations to keep calm and to hopefully achieve a positive birthing experience.

Available from: Amazon

4. The Positive Birth Book by Milli Hill, £14.99

– Best hypnobirthing book for a fun and upbeat approach

Type: Book

Pros:

• Positive approach
• Good for making notes and highlighting key parts
• Birth partner info

Cons:

• Not as extensive or visual as a video course

I read the Positive Birth Book and loved it. I laughed and cried all at once but most importantly it educated me and got me excited about the whole birthing experience.

Use this witty yet informative book to learn about what takes place in the labour room and how you can plan to achieve the birth you want. Milli Hill goes through the core essentials in terms of your options and rights when it comes to giving birth, especially for the first time. The book equips you with lots of information, enabling you to go to your midwife with an informed, detailed birth plan.

The lead up to bringing a baby in the world can mean your emotions are all over the place, or perhaps you may be in the nesting mode trying to get everything together. Either way, this book aims to help you get in the right mental space for what's to come.

Available from: Amazon

5. Mindful Hypnobirthing Book by Sophie Fletcher, £17.99

– Best hypnobirthing book for natural birth

Type: Book

Pros:

• Audio version available
• Real-life examples
• Good for making notes and highlighting key parts

Cons:

• Not as visual as a video course

I found it helped to reduce my anxiety around labour and the breathing techniques did help me to stay calm.

Mindful Hypnobirthing is a great book to help you feel calm and confident ahead of the big day. You might be someone who enjoys reading a physical book, but if you're having a challenging pregnancy or perhaps this pregnancy is a subsequent one for you, then listening to the audio version might be a good idea.

The Mindful Hypnobirthing book comprises real life stories of pregnant people who have successfully been able to use the hypnosis techniques and relaxing tracks to have a positive birth. Geared towards the goal of a natural birth, hypnotherapist and experienced doula Sophie Fletcher explains how the mind and body work together to birth your baby.

Available from: Amazon

6. My Body My Baby: By Midwives For Women, £38.32

– Best hypnobirthing book for midwife insight

Type: Book

Pros:

• Midwife insight and perspective
• Additional audio meditations

Cons:

• Expensive
• Not as visual as a video course

This book was a perfect balance of non-bias information on all birth options and coping tool. The book also came with free audio meditations which I listened to every night. I was very nervous about my first birth a year ago and the book and meditations made the birth almost enjoyable – even though it didn’t go as hoped (from home birth to emergency c-section). As I approach the birth of my second baby, I am completely at ease and reflect on the first birth positively. I highly recommend hypnobirthing.

Use this book to see what midwives have to say in the lead up to you giving birth. The My Body My Baby book brings you side by side with a midwife's perspective, providing you with their insight and what they wish you knew before coming in to give birth. The book covers pregnancy, labour, birth, and a few days after your baby arrives.

My Body My Baby aims to equip you with as much knowledge as possible on the core essentials of pregnancy and labour to help you know your options and rights. Together you can collaborate with your midwife and make informed decisions to have the birth you wish for.

The price is a bit steep but perhaps see this book as a rich, detailed piece of material that will be jam-packed with research, evidence and insightful knowledge – from those who witness birth every day.

Available from: Amazon

7. Bump and Baby Club Hypnobirthing Course, £30

– Best value online hypnobirthing course

Type: Online course

Pros:

• Free for existing Bump & Baby antenatal class members
• Less expensive than other courses
• Extra material

Cons:

• No live sessions or community access

I feel that I benefited hugely from the training.I can’t speak highly enough of hypnobirthing, it helped make my birthing one of the most lovely and fun experiences of my life.

Bump & Baby Club pride themselves on offering 'modern antenatal classes' and from what we can see, that looks like doing pilates, brunch and lots of other cool activities with your local club. For class members their hypnobirthing course is offered for free but if you don't join the classes, you can still purchase the online course.

For £30 you'll receive the pre-recorded course content, relaxation scripts, audio files, positive affirmations and The Hypno Handbook which is a written guide created to compliment the course. The Bump & Baby Hypnobirthing Club course outlines how the mind and body come together to work in your favour to manage pain and eliminate fear and anxiety. The aim is to combine Hypnotherapy with Ante-natal teaching, so that you don't cover the same topics over again.

It also advises how your birth partner can help you remain calm during labour, and how they can help you create a relaxing environment to give birth to your baby. Hypnobirthing techniques are also covered here such as massages, breathing, visualisation and relaxation exercises.

Available from: The Bump & Baby Club

8. Pop that Mumma Birth Box, £85

— Best hypnobirthing course for mindset preparation

Type: Online course

Pros:

• Lots of content including video, audio and guided meditations
• Includes partner preparation
• Birth plan templates

Cons:

• More expensive than other online hypnobirthing courses

This online hypnobirthing course is recommended by midwives and is designed to help you approach birth feeling calm, confident and prepared.

Created by hypnobirthing instructor and doula Poppy Child, the course combines over 10 hours of video and audio, 18+ guided meditations, breathing techniques and practical labour tools to help you stay relaxed during labour.

It also includes partner prep, birth plan templates and the 'Oxytocin Bubble' labour track to support relaxation during contractions. Plus, you have lifetime access anywhere in the world, so can use it again if you decide to have another baby.

Available from: Pop that Mumma

What is hypnobirthing and how does it work?

Adrenaline, tension and fear can directly hinder the progression and length of your labour. Think of a time when you've felt super relaxed either at the spa during a massage treatment, during a yoga session or just cuddled up on the sofa – this kind of calm state is what hypnobirthing techniques can achieve.

When your muscles are tense, your brain is picking up fight or flight signals and is doing everything it can to help you flee, and this will interrupt the natural process your body undergoes to birth your baby.

"Hypnobirthing techniques such as deep breathing, visualisation and audio relaxation tools help to keep your mind relaxed," explains Emiliana Hall, an Antenatal and Hypnobirthing Teacher & Doula and Founder of The Mindful Birth Group. "Your body then follows your mind's lead. In order to produce birth hormones such as oxytocin and endorphins, we need to feel calm and relaxed."

Can hypnobirthing shorten labour?

Some research suggests that hypnobirthing may help to reduce labour length.

One UK study showed how hypnobirthing can indeed shorten labour. With 262 subjects and 600 controls, researchers Jenkins and Pritchard discovered that hypnobirthing achieved a reduction of 3 hours labour time for 1st time mums, going from an average of 9.3 hours to 6.4 hours. Additionally, pushing time was shorter for 1st time mums, reducing from an average of 50 minutes to 37 minutes.

There was also a 1 hour reduction time in labour for 2nd time (or subsequent) mums, from 6.2 hours to 5.3 hours.

While results vary from person to person, some parents do say that hypnobirthing helps them feel more relaxed, informed and confident going into labour.

What to consider when buying hypnobirthing products

Emiliana Hall says it's important to choose resources that provide balanced, realistic information about birth: "Look for a course or resource that supports all types of births and educates you on all of your options. If your preference is vaginal birth, it's still important to learn about unplanned caesareans too.

"Birth cannot be planned, but you can learn about your options and prepare to navigate your birth on the day, however it unfolds. If a course or book tells you that you can have a certain type of birth by following these steps, this should ring alarm bells. It should also cover postnatal recovery, as the 4th trimester is a continuation of your pregnancy and birth experience."

How do you want to learn: There's a variety of ways you can learn and practise hypnobirthing. Hypnobirthing Teacher & Doula Emiliana says, "There are online courses, books, podcasts, private courses, group courses... There is something for every budget. However every pregnancy and birth is so different, so invest as much as you can in preparing for your birth and postnatal recovery period in the most personalised way that you can."

Purpose: Some materials don't just focus on pregnancy or labour but may also provide hypnobirthing techniques to use for postnatal recovery. Giving birth is one thing but recovering from labour, a c-section or even breastfeeding can be quite painful. If you'd like that extra advice, look out for our suggested products that offer that too.

Local hospital resources: Your local hospital may offer hypnobirthing classes or courses for free. When we asked our MadeForMums Club about their experiences with hypnobirthing, a number of mums shared that they received this service locally. Parent tester Sarah said, "Hypnobirthing was offered as a course through our local hospital trust and I really found the breathing techniques useful."

Birth partner participation: Most of us aim to give birth with someone we know there with us, giving support. Whether it's your partner, mother or friend, they may find it helpful to have an understanding of the hypnobirthing techniques themselves, so they can support you better. Some of the products listed below offer coaching specifically for them, or book chapters for them to read and learn how they can support you during labour.

Varied results: While hypnobirthing might sound fantastic and exciting for some, it's important to note that no hypnobirthing product can guarantee a 'successful' birth. Labour is still such an unpredictable event and anything can happen. The good thing is that even in the event of an unplanned c-section, induction or unplanned medicated birth, the techniques learnt can still be applied to help you in those situations too. Some of the products below go into extra detail on how hypnobirthing can be of aid in each of those unplanned or planned situations so there's something for everyone.

Price: It varies how you can and learn about and receive information on hypnobirthing, and this can impact the price you pay. Generally speaking, we think most people can access this information if they wanted to, for completely free from your local hospital or as little as £2.49 in the form of an app. We have different options to try that should suit your budget needs.

It's helpful to know that nothing can ultimately guarantee a vaginal birth or a successful home birth, so you can set expectations – basically, know that anything can happen, however well prepared you are. But, at the same time, hypnobirthing will help you to be informed about what your body is capable of (let's face it, our baby-bearing bodies are incredible) and what it's doing at every given stage of labour and birth.