Hi! I had quite a traumatic birth with ds1 first time round. when I fell pregnant again, I went to see a hypnotherapist. he didn't specialise in birth, in fact, I was the first one he'd seen! I had a few sessions with him, we discussed what I wanted out of it.
He promised me techniques that banished pain completely, but having been in labour once already, I was very sceptical, and I didn't want to set myself up for this, because when I went into labour, if it wasn't pain free, as he promised, then I would freak thinking I wasn't doing it right.
So we focussed upon rising above the sensations, switching mental buttons to turn down the level of pain, relaxation, visualising etc. he gave me a CD to take away to practice, which I did.
I found it really helpful! labour second time round was somewhat less shocking anyway, but when a contraction came, I turned inwards, visualised, and stayed a bit above the pain.
Yes it still hurt, but I felt much calmer, distanced from it and so much more in control. It wasn't overwhelming. When a contraction started, I was using gas and air, and I would visualise a roaring rising tide, with me gently lifting up above it in a hot air balloon - the sound of me toking on the gas and air actually helped, because it was the sound of the fire above hissing, to raise me up..
That labour wasn't without its problems either, as I got type 2 decelerations, and narrowly avoided a section, - they gave me an epidural fairly late on, as they thought I might need a section, and I was fine with that, but in the end, he came out!
But yeah - the hypnotherapy really helped - I was chatting to the midwife, then suddenly switched off, and went inside myself - after the contraction, she said jokingly 'are you sure you're in labour?' (I was 7cm).
I would say - do go to someone or use resources that specialise in pregnancy/ birth though. My hypnotherapist was fine, but he didn't really understand anything about birth and its mental challenges. And practise your new techniques at home- the delivery room can be a bit noisy with people popping in and out, although they are generally sensitive about it, so being able to suddenly feel the first surge, and drop into a state of relaxation and focus and tune people out for a bit really helps (though obv the second stage is a bit different, as you need to be more aware of the midwife!)
Hope this helps!