Prepare For An Unmedicated and Intuitive Birth That Gives You Control + Comfort
I’m not sure if this post finds you in a place where you are planning to have an unmedicated birth or if you simply are just curious about it - either way, I hope you find it helpful.
As soon as you become pregnant, there seems to be this weird pressure from external sources that can really interfere with how you hope your pregnancy and birth experience will unfold. And so, planning an unmedicated birth can honestly feel rather isolating - regardless if you choose to tell others or keep it close to your heart.
And I believe there are ways to make planning an unmedicated labor and birth feel comforting, supportive and intuitive.
Here’s a list of things that helped me “plan” or at least feel more prepared for the birth of my second baby.
Hypnobirthing book
This book was truly amazing and I am so grateful for the author and for myself for purchasing it. After having my first, I knew there had to be a better way. And when I was in labor with my first, I really wanted to try it natural, but I was not prepared. And that’s okay. This book would have prepared me a little more if I had found it when I was pregnant with him, but it definitely prepared me for my second born. I highly recommend this book to anyone that just wants to learn bout physiological births.
Labor tensing unit
So one thing I was not expecting with my first was back labor. It was probably the worst part, for me. My husband had to push on my low back during every contraction or I just started to feel out of control and things began to feel super chaotic. So going into my second birth, I made sure I bought one of these things. I put it on as soon as I felt more consistent contractions and I was able to wear it until I got to the harder bits of labor, but it saved my husband from having to push on my back about 70% of the time and it just made me feel more “in control”.
Daily exercises on a yoga ball
Every night after I put my son to bed and either after I worked out or while my husband and I watched tv, I would do a bunch of little exercises on the ball to help open up my pelvis and keep things mobile. I started this at the start of my third trimester and I also used the ball to sit on both during pregnancy and labor!! I labored on this damn ball all the way up until 8 cm with my second baby. I sat on it and leaned against my bed during contractions. Again, another thing where I felt “in control” and calm.
Prioritizing exercise and rest
I took lots of naps with both my babies, but when I got pregnant with my second, I had a little toddler running around so I usually took a nap when he napped and then I’d go to bed early. Exercise is so so so hard to bring myself to do when I am pregnant especially in the first and third trimesters. But without a doubt, it always made me feel SO much better. My belly felt lighter and the minimal round ligament pain I did have, would completely go away after I worked out. Usually my workouts would consist of workouts that I personally made or from the Peloton.
Labor playlist
I found a labor playlist on Spotify for inspiration and then created my own. I definitely took lots of bubble baths and always played the playlist and then once I started having contractions, I turned on the playlist and it just brought me back to my place of zen, focus and calm. What I noticed is the value of preparing your mind for labor weeks to months in advance to be super powerful and helpful - music always helps. But then once the contractions became more intense, I switched to a meditation playlist I used when I was in labor with my first born. That also, was a total game changer (for me). I just plopped my headphones in, closed my eyes and just felt the waves.
Bedtime audios
The hypnobirthing book I mentioned above provides the readers with audios to listen to and I also found them super helpful. There were a few I listened to on repeat at bedtime and it actually put me to sleep quite a few times.
Investing in a doula
Having a doula by my side at birth was just the bare minimum of how supportive my doula’s were for me. They are without a doubt worth the money - and honestly - it’s really not that expensive when you look at it from the bigger picture. They provide support and valuable information throughout your pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum experiences. If you get lucky, your doula may even be a midwife as well (or studying to become one). The amount of money that people have spent on delivery interventions could potentially be avoided if they invested in a doula. Physiological births are not something my doctor talked to me about, so I’m not sure if he/she was familiar with it but most doula’s it midwives trained outside hospital settings are familiar with it and most likely have experienced it themselves.
Nutrition for pregnancy book
Nutrition is so important especially during the final months of pregnancy - not just for baby… but for you. I believe that’s where the miscommunication lies with nutrition and pregnancy. We think it’s all about the baby’s health (which is obviously super important), but I don’t think a lot of women understand how important it is for the pregnant woman. I strongly recommend this book because nutrition is important and extremely underrated during pregnancy. If you cannot afford or don’t want to have a doula, I highly recommend getting the book. There are key nutrients our bodies need to support (and embody) a healthy pregnancy and this book will give you all the information you need. Some common issues pregnant women in America experience are gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, swelling/inflammation, leg cramps, fatigue + nausea; all of which can be either improved or mitigated just by eating nourishing foods. I used to work at a WIC office as a nutritionist helping pregnant women with their nutrition and looking back, I wish I had learned more about how nutrition can be helpful for pregnancy beyond “macronutrients”. Because every body is so unique and pregnancy is also unique. You are different when you’re pregnant - but thankfully - it’s temporary ;)
Portable fan
I’m not quite sure why this helped with both labors, but it did. And I really didn’t know I needed it until I was in labor with my first. My twin sister was holding the fan for me and anytime she’d relax and the fan would move, I needed it back on my face immediately. And with my second baby, we bought a RYOBI fan specifically for labor and newborn life in the summer/fall and I used it up until I pushed her out. I also used it similar to a labor comb anytime a contraction was coming on, I’d squeeze the fan. It helped me, it may help you or it may not - just wanted to share.
Total body + mind attunement
Just becoming more in-tune with your mind and your body can help you improve body awareness and the communication between yourself and your body. Your body knows you best, but do we know our bodies best? Sometimes we aren’t listening or we avoid listening entirely (even when we feel so desperate to want to listen). Overtime, the more we avoid listening, the stronger the resentment builds and then we can really begin to have a poor relationship with ourselves and it can start to infiltrate into our relationships with everything and everyone else in our lives. But if we can practice listening now in a soft + gentle way - especially during pregnancy - things will feel lighter. Once you have your newborn and you start experiencing sleepless nights and selfless acts that motherhood will bring you, you’ll have a much stronger foundation to ground yourself during those hard times. A significant moment I felt when I was around 35 weeks pregnant with my first, I had mentioned it to one of the OB’s and she kind of poo-poo’ed because numbers didn’t say otherwise. But the following week, things took a turn and I started seeking outside sources - a doula - and the rest of my experience could have been worse, but I knew in my gut there had to be a better way. I felt in control rather than just a number and I finally felt like someone was able to listen to me.
If you would like access to the links in a simple PDF format, click here. I do not have any of the links attached to affiliate links. I just wanted to give them to you if you feel so called to have them <3 I don’t like to add links to my posts, as it can feel overwhelming for the reader. I want my posts to bring you a sense of calm and something you can come back to at your leisure.
XOXO,
Kelsey B