1. KNOWLEDGE & ANTENATAL CARE:
Some amount of fear about giving birth is NORMAL. If you are giving birth for the first time you really don’t know what to expect. You may have heard your friends birth stories, well meaning (or not!) family members sharing their experiences of birth and they tend to like to share the drama of what happened…. and it concerns you right? Will it be the same for me?
If you have given birth before and it was a less than desirable experience - what are you bringing to your next birth experience? Fear, worry, anxiety? How will you cope this time? Will it be different, what if it was like last time? And so, you hold all of these emotions and either don’t talk about it or you take control over your situation e.g. induction or book a c-section so you don’t have to go through it all again.
If you are giving birth for the first time, know what you want and what you don’t want. Choose your care provider who best supports your birth plan. For example, if you wish to give birth in a free-standing birth centre, only an LMC midwife can support you here. If giving birth in hospital makes you feel safe - then great, you have a choose of and LMC midwife or an Obstetrician… or both! Giving birth in an environment that makes you feel safe is a key component in your plan. Are you hoping for an intervention free, physiological birth? Perhaps a home birth might be best for you. Whatever it may be, make sure your birth place is RIGHT for YOU.
Antenatal Education - You can choose from classes at your local hospital, birth centre, community centres such as Parents Centre or specific to achieving a normal, physiological birth, such as HypnoBirthing. You can partake in one that resonates with you, or participate in a combination both.
Read Magazines! Go online and educate yourself with good quality options e.g. Natural Parent Magazine or Oh Baby. Highly rate Dr Sara Wickham https://www.sarawickham.com/ and Lamaze International also has good articles https://www.lamaze.org/Giving-Birth-with-Confidence
Books! So many good ones to choose from, but here are a few of my favourtie:
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth - Ina May Gaskin
Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering - Sarah Buckley
Gentle Birth Method - Dr Gowri Motha
HypnoBirthing (The Mongan Method) - Marie F. Mongan
Dr Sara Wickham
Invest in a Birth Doula - A birth doula is a trained support companion who knows birth! They are able to educate you and support you in your decision making. They are a wealth of GOOD information and knowledge - there is a doula for everyone! They support you through your pregnancy and the duration of your labour and birth - promoting better outcomes. Find a doula here: https://www.nzdoulas.nz/
2. AN APPRECIATION FOR HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY:
Without FULLY understanding what happens during pregnancy, labour and birth - you cannot truly be free of fear. Take the time to learn about the hormones of labour and birth and how they work to bring you baby into this world. Learn how to facilitate the promotion of Oxytocin, support ways of allowing peak amounts of this very important and necessary hormone and find ways of keeping your stress hormones to a minimum. Appreciate the uterine muscles and all the layers - what they do, when and how they work to facilitate labour and birth. Understand TRANSITION. What your body is doing at this stage of labour, how you may feel and why. The pelvis and its role in labour and birth - what does baby need to do in order to be born vaginally?
3. A TRUSTED LMC & SUPPORT TEAM:
Feel safer with an Obstetrician. GOOD! Feel safer with an LMC midwife? GOOD! Feel safe with your mother at your birth? GOOD! Feel uncomfortable with your mother at your birth? NOT GOOD….
Your support team sets the environment for your birth. If you love your mother dearly, but you know she will worry and stress and likely cause you anxiety… perhaps having her at your birth is not the best approach. Who you have in your environment greatly determines how you labour and give birth . Think stressful environment, stressful process. Stress +Labour+Birth = stressed you and potentially stressed baby.
Please think very carefully about who you have as your care provider and your support team - do they match the outcome you are hoping for?
4. PHYSICAL HEALTH/MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING:
Not everyone enjoys yoga or going to the gym or meditation. However, your physical and mental wellbeing are of utmost priority during your pregnancy. How you go into your pregnancy will be how you go into your labour, birth and postpartum period. There is so much focus on pregnancy, labour and birth that we forget at the end of it we have the postpartum recovery period! Do REALLY take care of your nutrition, including supplementing where possible, with the guidance of a professional of course. You may need to take extra iron, so stay on top of this to avoid having an infusion or being depleted when you are postpartum - low iron/anaemia and postpartum combined is not ideal. Magnesium is great for the all systems of the body, but in particular, the nervous system, helping to support restorative sleep. Good quality multi vitamin/mineral supplements are good - but do check you aren’t doubling up on iodine, or iron with these. Check the label thoroughly, if in doubt, ask!
Pregnancy yoga is great - so is walking.
Take care of any anxieties or worries as best you can with the resources you have. Eliminating stress where possible only does you a world of good.
Listen to informative and uplifting podcasts… be careful of birth story podcasts - check that they aren’t related to birth trauma first!
Keep a journal - write down your thoughts and feelings - don’t try to analyse them
5. INCORPORATE ESSENTIAL OILS, LIGHTS, AFFIRMATIONS, IMAGES….
Include your favourite scents or incorporate new ones.. Lavender or any ‘woody’ scent to help you to feel grounded during your birth. Check with a qualified aromatherapist before you use oils during your pregnancy, labour or birth.
Lights - You can’t go wrong with fairy lights to set the scene. Depending on your environment, you can use candles or ‘fake’ candles to keep the light in the room ‘dim’ - helps to incorporate calm in the birth room!
Affirmations - Make them relevant, in the present tense, precise and personal to you e.g. I birth with ease or My body knows what to do OR I feel safe and supported…
Images - Pictures of the sea, forest, your loved ones, images with words around birth……. any image that helps you toward the birth you would like to have.
To conclude, there are many other ideas/thoughts and ways to set yourself up… these are just a few that are easy and straightforward and work!
Wishing you the best birth experience possible for you.
