Having only read the OP I have an experience to relate.

We had both our kids naturally, no meds, the second one at home in a tub, no screams, no blood, no pain. We used hypno-therapy for pain. It worked amazingly. I am not the mother but I was there holding her hand, listening to Nick Drake and having a beautiful experience. The first birth took 17 hours. I watched her go from screaming for medication to looking fast asleep 10 minutes after we put her tape on. We had a prerecorded tape of our therapist guiding a meditation with some sort of introduction to a control panel in the mind sort of mumbo jumbo. I rolled my eyes through three weeks of sessions and then had my mind blown. The doctor came in to the room and asked who authorized the epidural. The staff were all completely humbled.

I will testify to the strength of hypnosis when done seriously. I could never pull it off, give me medication.