By Dr. Kathy Foulser, Naturopathic Physician
Congratulations! You're having a baby. Or perhaps you're thinking about becoming pregnant. It's never too early to start planning for a peaceful, safe, healthy pregnancy and birth. All around the world, women are awakening the memory that giving birth is a natural, normal physiological process. Women are empowering themselves to allow pregnancy and birth to unfold in a peaceful, comfortable, loving, even sacred way.
This article will suggest eight ways to increase your comfort and health while you are pregnant and as you bring your precious child into the world. Take a few moments to read each suggestion. After all, what can be more important than ensuring your baby's optimal development and safe arrival?
1: Educate yourself.
Read. Formulate opinions about how childbirth is viewed by the medical profession and how you view it yourself. Talk to women who have given birth naturally. Spend a few minutes imagining what a "perfect" birth would be like for you and your baby, and what it would take to have that experience. Develop a list of questions and ask your doctor, nurse, or midwife to answer them. Copy this article and take it to your next prenatal appointment.
Remember that health care providers are just people: they have the expertise of their medical training, but in this information age it's difficult to keep up with the new developments in any profession. You have the time and motivation to read up on new, non-medical and alternative choices available to birthing mothers.
2: Choose your health care providers carefully.
After reading, talking to new mothers in your area, and developing an idea of the kind of pregnancy and birth care you want, interview prospective health care providers. Don't choose a provider simply because they're nearby or assisted a family member’s birth.
Choose a doctor, nurse, or midwife who will support your wishes. Talk to many providers to get a sense of the differences in personality and approach to birthing. Write a birth plan and discuss it with prospective providers. Remember that health care providers are human, just like you. You will get along well with some and not with others. Some will enjoy empowering you to have the birth you want, while others will want to do it their way.
Consider having a home birth. Home birth doctors and nurses have just as much expertise as those who work in hospitals. They carry emergency equipment and have admitting privileges at local hospitals, so if necessary you and your baby can be transported to the hospital. Some of the most amazing, sacred births I've seen have been in the comfort and privacy of the family home.
Hire a midwife and/or a doula. Doulas aren't medical providers: they are present solely to be your advocate and support person. Check with the hospital or home birth agency to make sure your doula will be allowed to stay with you at all times. If you choose a midwife, don't forget to interview her (or him): midwifery care varies by the practice and individual midwife.
Consider laboring and even delivering the baby in water. Water is a wonderfully soothing environment for labor and delivery. The Swiss study indicates that the concern about babies aspirating water is unfounded. Be sure to ask your health care provider if they will support you in this and whether they have a birthing tub on the premises and are willing to use it.
3. Eat a healthy diet.
Pregnant women are eating for two, but your baby doesn't need as many calories as an adult does. Don't use your pregnancy as an excuse to pig out on junk food. If you find you're craving lots of unhealthy food, consider learning EFT to help.
4. Address your emotions.
Acknowledge and release any anxiety, fear, or other emotions that could be triggered during labor and interfere with the natural progression of birth. EFT is a simple, effective way to release any emotions or issues that are troubling you.
I teach EFT to all my pregnant clients and have seen amazing things happen. One client went into labor the day after her due date, 15 minutes after she did EFT to release her previously unconscious ambivalence about having another baby. Another client's baby moved from breech (head-up and a common cause of C-sections) to vertex (head-down, ready for birth) after she did a guided imagery session and used EFT to release emotional issues that were causing tension in her abdomen. Yet another client used EFT to release body memories of pain during her first baby's birth, and went on to have a peaceful, comfortable labor with her second baby.
5. Learn to relax.
Dr. Grantley Dick-Read, an English doctor during the 1930s, coined the term "fear-tension-pain syndrome." What this means is that women in labor can become afraid: of pain, hospitals, that something will be wrong with the baby, etc. Fear triggers the fight-or-flight stress response, which makes the body think it is under attack. This slows down labor so the woman can fight off or run away from the threat. After she gets safe again, the relaxation response takes over and labor resumes.
However, fear during birthing is not usually stimulated by an actual physical danger, but by internal anxiety such as the sight of needles or the thought of a painful labor. The fight-or-flight response creates tension in the body, which creates pain as the woman tries to continue with labor despite the tension. The pain creates more fear, which creates more tension, more pain ... and on and on.
I have coined my own term for what can happen when a laboring mother is completely relaxed: I call it the "joy-peace-relaxation syndrome." I have seen women give birth with joy and peace. I have heard from clients that they are on cloud nine after delivering their babies in this beautiful way. Not only is this possible, it is the way birth is supposed to be. Women routinely ask, "But will I be able to do it?" as if natural, comfortable birthing requires some special skill or talent that they lack. My answer is always, "If you believe you can do it, you can do it."
What's the best way to learn how to relax? My favorite is HypnoBirthing®, a class that is designed to teach a woman to relax so deeply that her body is completely limp and calm during labor. I have seen mothers in labor who are so peaceful while birthing, they look like they’re asleep.
Yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and other relaxation methods are wonderful for teaching the body to remain calm. But I recommend HypnoBirthing® even for women who have experience with these methods, because the class deals specifically with relaxation during labor, which requires practice and focus that is not taught in general relaxation classes.
According to the HypnoBirthing® Institute, the following are some benefits of relaxed birthing:
For more information and to find a qualified teacher, go to www.hypnobirthing.com. The following are HypnoBirthing® and birth hypnosis most of who I know personally and recommend:
6. Watch Your Language
Language is a tricky thing. On the one hand, society assigns clear meanings to words so people can communicate with each other. Words appear to be well defined and unambiguous. On the other hand, many words have a subtle emotional connotation that escapes the conscious awareness.
Think about the word "contraction." Everybody understands that this is the action performed by uterine muscles during labor. But what about the underlying emotional meaning? Say the word out loud several times. As you say it, contract your shoulders and chest. Feel the effect in your body. Contraction holds the energy of fear and withdrawal. This is the subtle emotional content of the word. It affects you and your baby every time you hear it or say it, whether or not you are aware of the effect. Is this the kind of energy you want your baby to feel during birth?
All words have the potential to affect people on a subconscious level. Words that are harsh or disrespectful convey an unloving approach to birth. Rather than contractions, pain, mucous plug, and catching the baby, why not speak of uterine surges, comfort level, uterine seal, and receiving the baby? Instead of Braxton-Hicks (how did two guys get their names in women's bodies, anyway?) why not speak of "prelabor warm-ups"?
Be aware that the more you repeat words or thoughts, the greater the effect on your body and subconscious mind. If you think or speak constantly of your fear that you might need a C-section, you may be setting up a subconscious expectation that you WILL need a C-section. Do not judge yourself if you have been creating this type of negative affirmation: simply reread #4 above: acknowledge your emotions, release them, and repeat positive affirmations that create an expectation of a beautiful, peaceful birth.
Practice using gentle words and positive affirmations. Notice the difference in your mind and body. You'll like the change!
7. Exercise
Moderate exercise is healthy for pregnant women and their babies. According to this article, pregnant women who exercised three or four times a week seemed to have the best chance of having a healthy weight baby. The investigators found that doing strenuous exercise such as aerobics more than four times a week increased the risk of having a low-birth-weight baby. Low birth weight increases the chance of future health problems for babies. So don't overdo it. If you are a long-distance runner or like hard workouts at the gym, slow down during pregnancy and consider walking, swimming, and light weights.
Interestingly, staying sedentary also seems to increase the risk of delivering a low birth weight baby. So don't be a couch potato. If you haven't exercised before your pregnancy, get a good pair of shoes and start walking. Start with 15 to 20 minutes and work up to 30 to 45 minutes. Walk at least three to four times weekly. Your baby will love you for it.
If you're interested in learning a form of exercise that may directly benefit you during labor, take belly dancing lessons. According to the doulas I know, belly dancing originated as a way for women to strengthen their abdominal muscles for birth. I heard a story recently about a woman who went to the hospital, belly danced her way through labor, then squatted down and had her baby. Just like that.
8. Trust!
During one birth I attended, the mother reported that she felt a wave of anxiety at the beginning of each surge. As she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, I quietly reminded her of the millions of strong women who have gone before her, having their babies naturally and peacefully. Later she brought her baby to a class to talk about her experience, and she said, "When I started feeling nervous I simply rested in the strength of all the women who have gone before me."
My suggestion merely reminded her of what she already knew deep in her heart: childbirth is meant to be a beautiful, sacred experience. The miracle of bringing new life into the world is just that--a miracle.
Women have been giving birth since the dawn of time. We could never have survived as a species unless women's bodies were designed for birthing. Spend time in meditation and prayer during pregnancy, contemplating this awareness. Cultivate a peaceful and gentle attitude about your body, your baby, and the mysterious unfolding of life within you. Open your heart to the sacred nature of birthing. Take time to notice and appreciate the order inherent in the natural world. You are blessed with the opportunity to create new life. Open your heart and Be Blessed.
Dr. Foulser is an EFT therapist at the Optimal Wellness Center and a HypnoBirthing teacher. Contact her at drk@healbodymindspirit.com
Education resources:
Home birth resources:
How to find a midwife, doula, or birth attendant:
Waterbirth resources:
Emotional resources:
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