written in 2016 and transferred here in 2019
When I had my first baby I thought I was prepared for a natural childbirth. After all, I WANTED a natural childbirth, but it turns out that’s not enough. I hadn’t actually done much to prepare. I didn’t get my natural childbirth that time but I did for my second birth, after preparing a ton! I want to share the things I’ve learned to help educate other women and help them be unafraid of natural birth.
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My most basic tips to prepare for natural childbirth
#1 Prepare mentally
Labor is hard physically but maybe even more so, mentally. If we have fears about the pain of birth, it can hinder our body’s ability to relax and let our babies down. Labor can’t progress smoothly if we are afraid.
Start by letting go of your fears surrounding childbirth or motherhood. Meditate daily and remind yourself through positive affirmations that you are capable of doing this. Picture how you want your birth to go and then plan on it going smoothly. Our minds have so much power over our bodies, even during labor.
#2 Prepare physically
We all know that labor is like a marathon. We need to be physically active throughout our pregnancies in order to be ready for the marathon of birth. Yoga and squats are my 2 best recommendations. Yoga is good for our minds too and helps so much with endurance. Try holding challenging yoga poses for a full minute (the average length of contractions) and breathe through them. Work up to being able to endure the discomfort. Ina Mae Gaskin actually suggests doing 300 squats a day during pregnancy in order to strengthen our pelvic floor. I worked up to about 100 a day during my last pregnancy and I had a very smooth birth and felt very strong. All the exercise in the world doesn’t do any good if we aren’t properly nourished. We need to eat well for our bodies and our babies. Eat a plant based, natural diet and hydrate your body. Our diet plays a huge role in avoiding complications of pregnancy and labor. Eating well and staying active will help tremendously with our abilities to cope with pregnancy and labor.
#3 Prepare your environment
Give birth where you feel safest. This might be at home, a hospital, or a birth center. Choose supportive people to surround you during birth. Another suggestion is
wearing comfortable clothing. If you’re in a hospital, request to wear your own clothing instead of a gown. Something like this can have a huge impact on the progress of your labor. I chose to give birth at home the second time because my first experience in the hospital didn’t go smoothly. My labor slowed down a lot as I went into the hospital, changed into a gown, and answered a million questions. The fewer interruptions, the better. Remember this is your birth, so your comfort level is more important than hospital policies.
This is me during transition (the most intense part of labor) at my homebirth. I’m wearing a comfortable dress, listening to music, getting ready to get into a pool of warm water.
Decide now to have a natural childbirth. Prepare for it and fight for it.
Peace.
