In this blog i will give you my top tips on how to prepare for birth.
We so often prepare for other life events yet let's be honest when it comes to birth most of us do little or often zero prep!!
Why is this?!!
The main reason I often hear about is most people don't even realise there is prep to be done!! Now I'll admit I was one of those people in my first pregnancy!! Most of us just assume that our midwives will tell us what to do on the day.
ERM.... WRONG!!
And boy did I find out the hard way. My first birth I distinctly remember the midwife saying to me
"breathe, just breathe... no not like that, don't you. know this stuff...have you not attended a course or done any prep?"
In between contractions I tried to tell her that antenatal courses were full. So I thought baby was going to come out no matter what and I was just along for the ride.
Well that experience ended with a epidural, contuse, a baby in distress and a trip to theatre!! Not what I had in mind, but it did inspire me to help other women to educate themselves es around birth. Your choices in the maternity system, and how best to manage pain. My next births were much calmer, and I even managed a calm induction. Definitely a more positive birth experience!!
We can start preparing our mind & body for birth early in pregnancy. Honestly there is so much you can do to help stack the odds in your favour of having a positive birth experience.
BUT IT IS DOWN TO YOU!
YOU HAVE TO DO THE PREP, ALONG WITH YOUR BIRTH PARTNER!
YOU HAVE TO DECIDE YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE CONTROL!!
It blows my mind to think most women will do more preparation for thier wedding than bringing a child into the world. They deserve the same level of prep if not more!!
You only get to do this birth once, do it the right way for you.
Top Tips for preparing for birth
Attend a Pregnancy Yoga course - Birth is a physical event, you will need to prepare your body, build strength & stamina and train. your body for birth!!
Sign Up for a Hypnobirthing Antenatal course with me. Educate yourself around birth, yes the anatomy of birth, your choices in the maternity system, how to deal with the unexpected. I want the ladies on my course to leave feeling prepared and ready for a confident calm birth experience and birth partner ready & able to support them through this process.
Practised pelvic floor the right way!! I still see so many teachers teaching this wrong in pregnancy, it blows my mind how some they could get it so wrong.
Read positive birth stories, if you have attended one of my course you will know how important the positive mindset will have on your birth and your birth hormones.
Actively work on your mental state, you have to prepare yourself mentally for birth. Your mental state will have a BIG IMPACT on your birth!! You will need to address any fear of birth as this will have an impact on your birth hormones and we definitely NEED these to show up at your birth!! Even our mum's who don't fear birth, have you prepared mentally? Do you know how to relax in labour, for a quicker more calmer birth experience..?
Listen to your MP3 hypnosis tracks will also help you actively prepare mentally, and prepare your subconscious.
Making sure Birth partners KNOW how to support you through labour. I'm not talking just holding your hand and telling you "you can do it" I mean really supporting you, massage techniques to help reduce pain, acupressure to help deal with contractions, know the maternity system to help make decisions, understand the stages of labour so they can help you navigate it, know how to help your birth hormones flow for a quicker calmer birth experience...?
For a confident, calm birth experience join me in one of my Hypnobirthing Antenatal Course (only a few spaces left for September) October, November & December dates are all up on the website now!!!
Or why not try our Pregnancy Yoga classes we have our studio classes Wednesday 7:30 in Red Beach or our Online digital pregnancy yoga course where you can practise from the comfort of your own home anytime.
Try Pregnancy Relaxaition course for those mums who want to log in for our live zoom pregnancy hypnosis sessions!!
Book on the website today www.soulsistersstudios.co.nz
Alternatively if you have any questions around birth or birth education please message me I'm always happy to help where I can.
Donna x
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