How do you prepare for birth?
The way you prepare for birth is about understanding what happens during childbirth. Birth being the moment your baby enters the world outside your womb. I have written about the labour process - the steps before birth - in this post here. Doing what is needed for birthing your baby requires a mental understanding of it prior. Why is that, you may wonder? Well, birthing your baby is nothing short of intense. Therefore, knowing that you have to embrace the intensity of birth, also known as the ring of fire, you're able to surrender to the process.
Let me explain. When you are faced with a situation that is physically and mentally challenging, you need to be able to reconcile the sensations to know, deep within, that this is safe, normal and essential to welcoming your baby. A common roadblock to birth is fear. Having fear will make you tense, and can make you feel overwhelmed and unsafe. All of which are risk factors to a delicate process such as birth. You will be stretched to the limit, literally, and this can feel abnormal or scary when there is a lack of knowing - lack of understanding that it is what your body is capable of and normal.
To solidify that a little more for you - you and your body were made for this exact moment. You were meant to be stretched both physically and mentally to welcome your baby into the world. And so, the difference between being prepared for birth vs unprepared can be the difference between intervention or natural birth and the difference between empowerment or trauma.
Key points to prepare for birth
- Understand what happens during childbirth
- Learn how to embrace the intensity of birth
- Know, deep within, that this is safe, normal and essential to welcoming your baby
- Learn how to eliminate risk factors, such as fear, to a delicate birth experience
- Discover the difference between being prepared for birth vs unprepared for birth
When should you start preparing for birth?
Preparing is a gradual process, so the earlier, the better. Some are known to have seen their mother, aunt, sibling or friend giving birth and those people are often much more comfortable with birth because they know it and have a deep understanding of it after seeing the birth process. Most are not so lucky to have seen a birth and so most will benefit from gradually learning about it throughout life or pregnancy.
Benefits of preparing for birth are significant. As mentioned earlier, being prepared can be the difference between a traumatic experience and a joyful experience. Being prepared on an intellectual level, physical and spiritual level is the antidote to fear and stress. It's like ensuring your toolbox is stocked with exactly what you need for any given situation that can unfold. Knowing something or having a tool to use (be it physical, mental-emotional or spiritual) you can lean into the process and allow for what is needed of your body to birth your baby. Feeling unprepared or unable to meet the demands that unfold can make you want to withdraw or escape the process. Something ultimately quite tricky given that birth is imminent.
How do you mentally prepare for birth?
You need to understand something to be prepared for it, in my opinion. So knowing what happens, when it happens and how it happens is the first step. From that, questions will arise, and those questions have to be answered. Such as risks of tearing during birth, whether it is is painful or not, how do I push a baby out, how can my baby possibly be born vaginally, is my baby too big etc. Having your questions answered will help you minimise fear. And having less fear allows for relaxation, surrender and trust - the perfect trio for birthing your baby.
Online birth preparation and education
Book an online personal birth preparation and education session with doula Anna-Maria here. You can book a virtual birth preparation support session from anywhere in the world. I will personally tailor the sessions to your stage on the pregnancy journey. These sessions are very similar to the work I do with my birth doula clients. Together, we will talk about the steps you can take to enhance your mindset, your health and your knowledge. There are no limits to the information you can get to improve your journey. If you want more physical tools, more mindset or emotional support, risk prevention or postpartum preparation - we will focus on exactly that. If you want a guide for the journey ahead, you can trust I will be helping you on the way. We all need different things on this ride to motherhood, and it is my mission and passion to ensure you realise your full potential and feel the significance of being informed. An informed, passionate and adaptable woman is immensely powerful - and that is exactly what we need to welcome our babies into the world.
Your birth preparation support session - what you get
- A tailored birth preparation and birth education experience
- Mindset & health focus
- Emotional support
- Risk prevention techniques
- Nutrition advice
- Pathology interpretation and recommendation - I can give you pathology referrals directly (not covered by medicare)
- Supplement and herbal prescriptions - I make and post your herbs and supplements tailored for you
- Postpartum preparation and planing
- Postpartum birth debriefing to ensure a mental and emotional sound recovery
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