Why is Hypnobirthing SO Expensive?
With prices ranging from £250 to over £1000 Hypnobirthing classes are expensive. But why?
Hypnobirthing is expensive because:
- It’s the best
- Overheads
- Admin
- Low turnover
- Ongoing support through your pregnancy
- Your Hypnobirthing teacher’s other qualifications
- It’s is a niche area (snobbery can’t be ruled out)
Why does Hypnobirthing have to cost so much?
I hear you. It’s unfair. Because something so simple and practical should be affordable, right?
So stay with me. There is a way.
So I cover:
- How much does Hypnobirthing cost?
- Why does Hypnobirthing cost so much?
- What you get with Hypnobirthing
- How much it costs to be a Hypnobirthing Teacher
- Is Hypnobirthing worth it?
- How to find affordable hypnobirthing near you
- And how to sign up to free Hypnobirthing classes
(So feel free to skip straight to the bottom two!)
How much does Hypnobirthing cost?
Prices ranges from £0 to £1000s.
Why? Because Hypnobirthing is traditionally thought of as a 12 hour antenatal course. But you can also teach yourself.
Group courses range from £145-£280
Private Hypnobirthing courses range from £350 to as much as £2000 when you work 1:1 with the biggest names.
But you can teach yourself Hypnobirthing.
You can do Hypnobirthing for free. And Youtube is a really useful tool. Or you can find affordable online hypnobirthing packages which give you everything you need in one place for about £70 (so you can work with the biggest names)
Why does Hypnobirthing cost so much?
Because it’s a birth education course with a difference. You can do nct or any other antenatal course as well as hypnobirthing but you don’t need to. But do just an antenatal course? And you won’t get any hypnobirthing.
And Hypnobirthing is good!
It’s birth confidence, birth empowerment, birth knowledge, hypnobirthing relaxation, breathing techniques and so much more.
So because Hypnobirthing gives you more? Hypnobirthing costs more!
Most Hypnobirthing teachers are self employed. And unlike NHS teachers who are payed a salary. And NCT teachers who have waiting lists. Hypnobirthing teachers have to market their business which takes approx 50% of their time.
So only a small amount of their work is spent on teaching.
But is the Price coming down?
When I trained in Hypnobirthing. The pricing advice was to look at hypnobirthing classes near me. Then set my prices higher.
But the irony is?
The price of Hypnobirthing is coming down! Because years ago the only people teaching hypnobirthing were hypnotherapists. And Hypnotherapists charged a premium on top of their usual fee for this specialist birth trance work.
Since bespoke 1:1 hypnosis for birth has moved over taken by Hypnobirthing:
- Anyone can teach it
- You can learn it in groups
- And you can do an online course
- You can learn it from a book or youtube
So Hypnobirthing teachers are everywhere & the price of hypnobirthing is coming down. Which is brilliant!
As I said. Why can’t something so good be accessible?
Why is Hypnobirthing so expensive?
Let’s focus on the expensive in-person classes. You will pay about £250 for group hypnobirthing classes and upwards of £350 for private classes. But if you want to work with one of the big names in hypnobirthing? You can expect to pay well over £1000.
The leading hypnobirthing methods in the UK are all 10-12 hours. Taught over 2 days or 4 classes. These include:
The teacher training for most are accredited by the Royal College of Midwives.
Then there’s Mindful Mama which was specifically designed to be an affordable & short one day course.
Some schools tell their teachers what to charge, while others leave it to the teachers discretion.
What do you get with Hypnobirthing?
- 10-12 hours of classes
- A Hypnobirthing book
- Hypnobirthing course notes
- Hypnobirthing relaxation MP3s
- Hypnobirthing relaxation scripts & affirmations
- Ongoing support (often just with private hypnobirthing)
Hypnobirthing has to cover costs. And your teacher’s costs start with covering their Hypnobirthing training fees, but also their ongoing expenses and how much it costs to teach you.
Take a deep breath.
Here are the biggest costs:
- Up to £1000 to train as a Hypnobirthing Teacher
- £60-£100 a year for insurance
- £60-£95 a year for Hypnobirthing school registration
- £35-£40 a year for ICO registration
- £20-30 a month for Hypnobirthing supervision & CPDs.
- £9-10 per Hypnobirthing book sent to you
- £10 per set of Hypnobirthing notes (teachers usually print their own)
- £2-4 postage per Hypnobirthing book/notes
- £5-25 per Hypnobirthing course goody bag (given by some teachers)
- £200-£400 venue hire for each course
- Course drinks & nibbles
- Petrol costs
- Admin costs e.g. flip chart, name badges, forms, pens, folders, printer, ink, laminator, guillotine and secure data storage
Some less obvious costs:
- £500-£1500 Website template purchase & building
- £100 a year website hosting
- £10-40 per year domain rental
- £5-150 a month Facebook/Instagram/Google Ads
- £15 a month Zoom rental
- £25 a month for an online booking system
- £10-£30 a month per online directory listing
- Female pelvis model, newborn doll, dutch birthing pelvis, knitted uterus, velvet vagina and a mountain of birth books!
Then for Hypnobirthing teachers who are further trained and working as Hypnotherapists, Independent Midwives, Doulas, Yoga teachers (or any other modality):
- Further insurance costs
- Multiple association memberships approx £60-95 each per year
- Training days £65-£150 a day
- Supervision £15 to £30 a month per methodology
And I’ve never said it out load, but I spend about £1000 a year on further training.
Your Hypnobirthing teacher doesn’t have to shell out for all of this.
They don’t have to advertise on Facebook, Google Ads etc (in fact, I’d advise against it!).
Your hypnobirthing teacher doesn’t have to fork out for annual registration. Because Hypnobirthing is not regulated.
And some hypnobirthing teachers only teach. So buy your own hypnobirthing book & MP3s etc.
Some teach in their homes – saving a fortune on venue costs but cranking up the house cleaning stress.
Hopefully you’re now starting to see why Hypnobirthing is so expensive? It’s not just about Hypnobirthing being better or different to other antenatal courses. And it’s not simply about charging more than the competition. Hypnobirthing is expensive for the teachers too.
And your teachers expenses are just one part of it.
Because it’s about time as well.
Hopefully you’re starting to see why Hypnobirthing is so expensive? It’s not just about Hypnobirthing being better or different to other antenatal courses. And it’s not simply about charging more than the competition. Hypnobirthing is expensive for the teachers too.
And your teachers expenses are just one part of it.
Because it’s about time as well.
Because whilst your hypnobirthing course is just 10-12 hours (or less). The admin time behind that can be enormous.
Hypnobirthing is not like NCT. Because unlike NCT, Hypnobirthing is not yet seen as a right of passage in pregnancy. And Hypnobirthing is rarely the first thing you think about when you realise you are pregnant.
So while regular antenatal teachers have a continual stream of work? And NCT teachers have waiting lists? Hypnobirthing teachers have an uphill struggle to fill their courses.
Hypnobirthing teachers have an endless stream of email enquiries (no complaints here!). But of course, not everyone goes on to book and some enquiries take several days or weeks of too and fro.
And that’s not all. There is social media, bookings, admin, forms, updates (not just on the website) and it all takes time…
Because whilst your hypnobirthing course is just 10-12 hours (or less). The admin time behind that can be enormous.
Hypnobirthing is not like NCT. Because unlike NCT, Hypnobirthing is not yet seen as a right of passage in pregnancy. And Hypnobirthing is rarely the first thing you think about when you realise you are pregnant.
So while regular antenatal teachers have a continual stream of work? And NCT teachers have waiting lists? Hypnobirthing teachers have an uphill struggle to fill their courses.
Hypnobirthing teachers have an endless stream of email enquiries (no complaints here!). But of course, not everyone goes on to book and some enquiries take several days or weeks of too and fro.
And that’s not all. There is social media, bookings, admin, forms, updates (not just on the website) and it all takes time…
When you’re expected to fork out £250 or more – it’s a good question to ask!
And YES. If you ask me. Hypnobirthing is worth it.
Because everything feels better with confidence & knowledge.
Everything feels better with preparation & practice.
Going into the known, rather than the unknown always feels better.
And without wanting to sound like a L’Oreal advert – You’re Worth it!
I did Hypnobirthing classes in each of my pregnancies. For me, it meant I could relax & stay at home into established labour.
My clients have used hypnobirthing to relax through natural births. To calmly focus though long births. Make confident decisions through complex labours. Have positive inductions. Focus & breath through forceps deliveries. Calmly manage the stress of postponed cesarean sections and relax through few accidental home births!
There is no one specific way that Hypnobirthing works, but it always helps. So yes.
Hypnobirthing is definitely worth it!
Because when you positively prepare, you feel better & you get closer to the result you want.
And there are the widely reported benefits of Hypnobirthing as well:
- Reduced use of medical pain relief
- Reduced interventions
- Reduced tearing
- Reduced rates of postnatal depression
- Increased APGAR score in babies
If affordable Hypnobirthing sounds like the stuff of fairy tales? There is a happy ending!
The price of Hypnobirthing is coming down.
So group Hypnobirthing can often be found for around £200.
And with so many Hypnobirthing classes taught online now – we are passing our venue savings onto you!
My courses are now all on Zoom and prices have come down from £229 to £149.
They say nothing in life is free. Except Hypnobirthing!!
But there is one small down side because when it come to Hypnobirthing? Size does matter!
Most local NHS trusts provide Free Hypnobirthing or Free Mindful Birthing. But (due to money) it’s a short, cut down version of a real Hypnobirthing course.
So you’ll get less than half of the full course.
But it’s a good place to start if you want to try before you buy or want to learn hypnobirthing on your own.
And most private teachers offer free hypnobirthing classes. It’s usually just a free hypnobirthing taster class. But the downside? You can only go to one!
So I offer free online hypnobirthing classes. Yes, they are a taster but you are not limited to one class. The content varies. And it’s for pregnant people only. No partners. (Partners are free on my paid courses) My clients use them as a relaxing extra. And perfect for pregnant people wanting to find out how Hypnobirthing works.
Is Hypnobirthing Worth it?
When I did hypnobirthing with my first child, handing over the money hurt way more than giving birth. At £80 per hour, I didn’t understand how hypnosis would help with birth and to be honest? I wasn’t convinced it would.
But I was willing to do anything for a less painful birth experience.
My Hypnotherapist told me to practice the hypnobirthing techniques daily. And whilst I remained unconvinced on the day? It all fell into place. Hypnobirthing worked like a dream and my skepticism was unfounded.
When they come up with something as good as hypnobirthing? Why does it have to be so unrealis