If you can place a check by each of these 5 steps, then you should feel extremely confident about walking into the hospital and delivering you baby naturally.
How to rock your natural birth in the hospital
1. I feel confident using my voice and making my intentions clear.
When you make your intentions clear, people will get behind you and support you. Your energy is magnetic and your clear intention to birth naturally will pull the best support out of your team. Be clear and concise with your words. Do away with phrases that lack conviction such as “I’ll see what I can do….” or “if it works out…” or words that ask permission to birth your way. Use language that shows your intent such as “I’m planning a natural birth” “I’d prefer to labor alone…” state your boundaries clearly and most people will respect them and help you achieve your goals.
2. I am prepared to move around, loosen my hips and my lips and do what I need to to get baby in position to birth.
Do what you need to do to be able to move around. This may mean getting a hep lock so you’re not immediately hooked up to an IV and ask for intermittent monitoring instead of continuous. This will allow you to walk, dance, rest, get on all fours and use whatever birthing position feels the BEST to you. You may not know exactly what will feel best to you during labor, but make sure you have a toolbox of laboring positions and birthing positions to draw on well before labor begins. Week 6 of Pregnancy withing the Lotus arms you with everything you need to know as far as labor positions and birthing positions.
3. I know my pain management techniques and my birth team is prepared to help me with them.
You may like being on a yoga ball doing figure 8’s with your hips. You may want counter pressure or hip squeezes all day long. You may be surprised that your least favorite pain management technique that you practiced ends up being the one you want the most during labor. Has your partner practiced pain management techniques with you? Do you have someone knowledgeable about you and birth that will be by your side? If not, weeks 4 and 5 of pregnancy within the lotus teach you exactly how to prepare your birth team to support you during labor.
4. I feel powerful and beautiful and recognize the joy that comes in the sweaty crazy journey.
Sometimes putting on a hospital gown tricks you into thinking you are sick and need to be taken care of or that you are a victim and that the only way through is to give your power to someone else. The opposite is true during birth. Yes, you need support, it is critical. But most important is that you are the heroine of your own journey. You are the one birthing the baby, no one else. And because of that your needs are the priority, not a doctors convenience or a nurses schedule. Remember that and advocate for yourself. Many women find that choosing their own clothes to labor in helps them remember that they are the center of this experience, not someone else. Ditch the hospital gown. Grab a sports bra, leggings and undies you can wear when you walk around (these can come off in a heartbeat when needed) and a cute robe. You will love relaxing in this same outfit as your recovering and nursing over the next few weeks as well. You are not a medical problem. You are a Queen having a baby. Act like a queen and expect those around you to treat you as one. PS if you have a hard time stepping into your power, week 3 in our class is all about finding your strength and birthing in your power.
5. My heart and mind are at peace. I feel connected to baby and we will do this together.
Perhaps the most important thing about birthing naturally is having a sound mind. Your brain on birth is completely fantastic and what happens in your mind will affect your body. If you get lost in fear, your labor can stall. Here’s the good news. You have 9 months to work through your fears and find that unshakable core within you that knows that birth is written in your DNA and that you’ve got this. If you are in a place of doubt and fear, weeks 1 and 2 of Pregnancy within the Lotus will give you TONS of resources to help uncover and polish up that place of confidence until it radiates from you so brightly no one will doubt your capability. And if you lose your way during birth, if you have prepared your team well, they will know exactly how to nudge you back into that place of peace and acceptance.
If you can say yes to these 5 things, you are prepared for your natural birth in the hospital. You got this mama!
If you had anywhere where you felt like… uuuhh… maybe….or your are not quite prepare or you feel totally overwhelmed by birth, please join us for Pregnancy within the Lotus. This class will help you totally transform your birth experience from an event loaded with fear and uncertainty to one of those moments that will stay with you the rest of your life as one of the most fulfilling and memorable experiences of your life.
