Birth is no joke. Arguable the hardest thing I've ever done. As I approach my 3rd and potentially last Birth I've been really trying to mentally focus on ways to make it as positive as possible. I think one of the most important things you can do to support yourself in pregnancy/ Childbirth is to find a provider that you resonate with and that you feel safe with. It is such an intimate thing to go through and I can’t imagine not having a relationship of support and care from my providers. I have always looked for hospitals that are baby friendly or that are working towards baby friendly designation, just as a baseline of care for me and my baby. I also look into hospital/provider cesarean rates, to find providers that know how to work with women’s bodies and emotions to prevent unnecessary interventions. I personally choose midwives, perhaps because I was born at home with a midwife so it seems normal to me, but also because they are caring on so many levels. They take time in prenatal appointments to ask about other elements in my life (i.e how my other children are sleeping, what schools are on my mind for Jeff for next year) because they care and they know that pregnancy isn’t the only thing on my mind. When I leave my appointments I feel as if they care and want to help me have a successful, happy pregnancy and delivery too. No matter who you choose for a provider or what avenue you choose for birth , these are the 5 main things I have done with each or my pregnancies to set myself up for success:
Realistic Labor Expectations.
I have gone through 2 unmedicated labors so there is no denying the intensity and pain involved. I prefer fast & furious (albeit painful) to long and drawn out but pain free. For me, it's mostly a control thing: I want to be in control of my body. Having never utilized an epidural or anesthesia, I have no idea how my body would react and don’t want to try anything new while going through labor. I also belive in movement while in labor, using gravity to help the baby descend the birth canal. I have birthed all of my children on hands and knees with my upper body elevated on a raised hospital bed. This position has helped relieve pain but also works to open the pelvis to allow the baby space to descend and turn.
Chiropractic care/acupuncture
I have used both the chiropractor and acupuncture in pregnancy and believe they both have helped. I've used acupuncture after miscarriage to balance out hormones, I've used it leading up to birth as well. In fact the first time I ever went to acupuncture was for a pre-labor treatment with a specialist in San Francisco. I was 39 weeks pregnant and I distinctly remember her asking if I wanted “to be put into labor". I said no, as I just wanted to prepare my body but thought it was incredible she knew pressure points to do such a thing! For this pregnancy I've been getting chiropractic care and have really enjoyed it. It has relieved back and hip pain for me, helped turn my baby head down after we discovered it was breech at 33 weeks and also prepared my body and pelvis for labor and delivery.
Read birth information/ Birth stories
For this I highly recommend Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth book. She has a lot of information in there about the body and what it goes through during labor, examples of different positions and techniques, and quite a few birth stories as written by women who birthed with her. The first time I read these stories when pregnant with Jeff I was stunned at some of the hippie/crunchy stuff. But ultimately it was beneficial because it showed me what could be normal in a labor. Another resource I've used is an English site “The Calm Birth School". I followed them on Facebook to see positive affirmations of birth as well as positive birth stories (both on their website and podcast). The more I read about birth and spoke to women who had positive birth stories, the more confident I became in my own ability to have a positive birth.
Exercises
For all of my pregnancies I have tried to walk 2-3x a week leading up to my due date. I have also used a large exercise ball for each pregnancy to do hip circles daily, stretch my back, and lean on it on my elbows/forearms to strengthen them (especially since I have always buried birthed on hands and knees so I need the arm strength). For this pregnancy since I had experienced a 3rd trimester breech position I got into the habit of doing exercises from spinningbabies.com such as hip circles, lunges and side lying stretch.
Diet
Dates & Red Raspberry Leaf Tea. Towards the end of my 3rd trimester I start to consume both dates and red raspberry leaf tea daily.
