HypnoBirthing philosophy is rooted in the way that birthing was practised in ancient times – as a celebration of life. The inspiration for HypnoBirthing came from the work of English obstetrician Dr. Grantly Dick-Read in the early twentieth century. His principles and the work that he did to forward natural childbirth are also the foundation of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).

Dr. Dick-Read noticed that women who were calm and had positive expectations of birth, tended to experience less pain than women who were frightened. Dr. Dick-Read hypothesized that the fear felt by a woman during childbirth caused blood to be diverted away from her uterus, so it could be used by the muscles for defence. As a result, the uterus was left without oxygen and could not perform its functions efficiently or without pain. This belief led to Dr. Dick-Read's theory that fear and tension actually cause the labour pains in approximately 95 percent of birthing women. He termed this phenomenon "the fear-tension-pain syndrome of childbirth." He believed that by eliminating the fear, women could return the uterus to its normal function and thereby eliminate pain. Dick-Read was also one of the first physicians to encourage bringing fathers into the birthing room

Marie Mongan combined Dick-Read's theories, her own experiences of childbirth, and her knowledge as a Master Hypnotherapist to create HypnoBirthing. Since then, over 30,000 women worldwide have experienced easier births with HypnoBirthing.

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