Preparing for birth
Being pregnant and giving birth is probably one of the most amazing, empowering experiences of your life. It’s a big event that most people look forward to for a very, very long time and it’s certainly worth preparing for.
No doubt you’ve spent quite a bit of time together as a couple up until now, and this may be the first time you’ve had to care for another person, another little being coming into the world. Not only do you need to work your way through the new territory of pregnancy but also the impending parenthood which comes with a whole lot of its own challenges. For some of you this may be your first, and for some it may be your second, third or fourth pregnancies, but each and every one of them is unique and different in its own way. Every child is different and so is every pregnancy and birth. If this is your second or third pregnancy, it’s good to revisit the same territory again. It is good to reflect on previous birth experiences at this point and see what was went well and what didn’t go so well. Could anything have been done differently? What can you do this time so that this birth is a positive empowering experience?
From the moment you become pregnant you begin having to make a lot of decisions that you have probably never had to make before. Right from the beginning with the first blood test that tells you you’re pregnant, you then have to choose what tests you will undergo, who will be your primary caregiver, where you’re going to go to have your baby, the type of birth you wish to experience. Which interventions (if any) you are willing to undergo, method of feeding you wish to offer your baby, to vaccinate your baby or not, etc, etc. The list goes on. Once you become a parent, your life is filled with decision making processes.
To begin with, you will need to decide where you wish to have your baby and who you want to be your caregiver. These could involve any of the following options, depending on what is available in your local area;
- Birth in a hospital - public or private
- Birth with a private obstetrician
- Shared care with a G.P.
- Public hospital with a combination of midwives and doctors as your primary caregiver
- Birth centers which have Midwifery led care
- Homebirth with a private Midwife or a Community Midwifery Program if available. Both of these options provide visits to you in your own home during your pregnancy for your antenatal visits, attendance at your birth as well as all your follow up post natal visits.
During pregnancy your body is changing so much. The new baby growing inside you needs nutrients and oxygen, which it absorbs from your system. Consequently, you need to be eating well and taking care of yourself.
As you approach the coming birth, you will be starting to look into different ways that you might want to birth your baby. Are you going to go for a natural active birth, where you remain upright and active throughout, or do you wish to try hypnobirthing or Natal Hypnotherapy, where you remain in a state of deep relaxation throughout? Do you wish to try using water for labour and birth, to experience the soothing qualities and pain relief offered with this option? Would you prefer to hand it over to someone else to ‘manage’ your labour and birth? These are some of the things that you need to decide on, now that you’re pregnant. It’s your body and your birth experience, so in order to have an empowering experience you need to be involved in the decision making all the way along.
You need to educate yourself about all the options available, in order to make informed choices and decide what you would like to do. Then you can find a care giver that will offer you support for the birth choices you are making. If they are not willing to support you, you need to keep looking until you find someone that is willing to support you with your choices. Continue to read and find out about all the different options available right throughout your pregnancy. There are so many options that you are often not told about. This is where you need to read as much as you can and make use of libraries and resource centers.
Why prepare for birth?
Why do we need to prepare for childbirth? Surely all this is natural or common sense? Preparing for birth can clarify your expectations, not only of yourself, but of your partner, your doctor, your midwife, and the birth, your past and present influences around family, health, sexuality etc. What were your birth experiences like, your coming into the world? What is your health like? Do you have any high risk factors?
It can also help if you educate yourself about caregivers, so you can choose them and the place of birth carefully, knowing that you’re going to have the best support possible for the birth that you want. This then allows you to discuss your needs, so that you can create a flexible and realistic birth plan. That way if anything doesn’t’t go as originally planned, you have something to fall back on, as a responsible plan, flexible enough to change as birthing process also changes. It allows you to identify stresses and act now to fix these. If you’re uncomfortable with anything, e.g. hospitals, you have the opportunity to address this and come to terms with where the best place is for you to give birth. Are you better off in a birth centre or at home if you really don’t like hospitals?
Coming up with effective ways of dealing with stress is very important, so that if you do end up with an unexpected outcome, you can relax more. That way you can avoid the ‘adrenaline response’. Do you have any stress around your support network or lack of one? Do you have a partner that will be coming with you to the birth? If not, do you have a friend or a mother that can be with you for support during the birth process? Do you have a support system for the post natal period? You can meet some new friends. Form a network of people that are having babies at the same time that you can connect with later in a mothers group or similar. This way you will have the support of someone going through the same experience at the same time.
Gather your family around so that you have their support. Identify your local GP, maternal and child health nurse, nursing mothers and other support groups in your area that you can use for support later on.
It also helps to develop strategies to cope with labour. What kinds of things can you do leading up to the birth to keep you fit and healthy? Birthing is like running a marathon, it is extremely tiring, and you need a good level of fitness to cope with the long and tiring period of labour. Do exercises to help with pelvic floor control. Get plenty of rest. Have sufficient activity to keep you fit and active. Learn relaxation techniques, which not only help you to relax during pregnancy but also come in useful during labour so you can relax and just go with the flow.
There are a number of reasons to prepare for birth. By educating yourself antenatally; reading as many books as you can and talking to as many people as possible; you will be learning as much as you can about pregnancy, birth and the post natal period. This will help you relax more and feel more in control of your own experience. Birth is after all, your own personal experience. You need to be actively involved in the decision making processes all the way along.
Birth is a process which unfolds in its own time. The aim is to not fight against it. Just go with the flow. If you fight against it you will be holding on to it and tightening up all the sphincters and muscles. This then blocks the birth process from happening, so ultimately it will create a longer more painful labour for you. If you can learn to relax and let go and visualize everything opening up and flowing, then birth tends to be far smoother, faster, and a more pleasant experience. Women who work with labour in this way often report feelings of empowerment and ecstasy at birth, and are left for years feeling fulfilled and happy with their experiences; an energy that you can tap into at any other stage in your life. This becomes your inner power. To know that you can do this and surrender is such an amazing experience. Birth is a process of total surrender!
So get busy preparing for your impending birth. Read lots of books, magazines and articles that are birth related. Talk to people, especially about positive birth experiences. Try to avoid the negative ones. You don’t want them influencing your thought processes! Watch videos and DVDs of positive births. Ask lots of questions. Shop around for your caregiver…and make sure you’re happy with your choice!! Above all…
ENJOY THE JOURNEY!!