Picture Your Cervix as a Turtleneck Sweater

When I did my pregnancy yoga teacher's training, one of the teachers told us, "sometimes, you only get one shot at them." Meaning, sometimes they only come to your class once and you never see them again. But you never know what you are going to say or do that might effect their birth. It was a lesson to listen to those intuitive hits we get.

Well here's my best one shot wonder story yet. I teach pregnancy yoga once a week at the YMCA. The boot camp teacher, who was pregnant, who has never been able to make it to my class, came up to me one day in mild alarm. Her first birth was a C-section and she really wanted a VBAC.

"I'm getting nervous about the birth," she said. "Can you hypnotize me right now to feel no pain?"

"Well, I teach class in 5 minutes...."

"Come on. Can't you just zap me."

"You'll be fine." (Reassuring tones) "Just picture your cervix as a turtleneck sweater. It looks like it will never fit over your child's head, but it does. It stretches easily and effortlessly."

"Ha. A turtleneck sweater. Hey that's a good one..."

A few months later, she shows up back at work with a little baby and tells me that the turtleneck sweater metaphor is what got her through pushing. I had totally forgotten by then.

She said, her husband, an anesthesiology resident, would like to thank me.

You are very welcome.