Prepping for Birth

Rubyayn

Anyone doing anything inparticular to prepare for birthing? I am always looking for new things to read or research for labor coping techniques and such. We are doing Hypnobabies and prepping for a unmedicated VBAC. I am just adding a LOT of squatting into my routine as an additional way to assist with labor and delivery. I also recommend spinning babies and the Miles Circuit.

The only book I have read is Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and it was AMAZING. Any other book recommendations would be appreciated as I love to read and actually have time to do it before baby #2 makes his way into the world!

If there was anything else that helped you in labor and delivery I am all ears!! I am getting my arsenal together.

kcasey155

Aromatherapy can help relax you and keep you calm in labour. Lavender, bergamot, etc. Makes for a very 'peaceful' birth. My second delivery midwife used it and it was lovely.

Also, there are many homeopathic remedies that can help before and after labour - arnica, hypericum and caulophyllum - for reducing damage to the soft tissue during birth and for preparing the uterus.

Then herbal remedies such as raspberry leaf tea to help prepare for labour and camomile/mother's milk for feeding.

All worth investigating for the best labour and delivery

queenmolly68

I did a ton of prepping for my first baby. Wanted to have a natural birth using the Bradley Method. Spend countless hours prepping and stressing about every detail of how I wanted the birth to go. In the end, I ended up needing to be induced and couldn't handle the Pitocin and ended up having about 8 machines hooked up to me at once (including having an epidural). It totally sucked. This time around I am going to go with the flow. My only real insistence is that I not be induced so I don't require constant fetal monitoring. It's freeing to not have a strict birth plan because I can't be disappointed if things don't go the way I want. Even if things don't go exactly the way you plan, don't feel bad. As long as you have a healthy baby in your arms in the end, that's all that really matters.

dandelyon

Birthing From Within was a good read.

I also wished I had packed gatorade or juice. I am a big water drinker but could not stomach it during labor and got a bit dehydrated.

My doula had essential oils that were amazing, peppermint especially for nausea. It is so much easier to relax between contractions when your digestive system isn't spasming!! She also had aromatherapy going but I couldn't tell you what she used.

While I was a total lump during my last pregnancy, I did practice squatting really low (while hanging onto something) butt to the floor, I also sat on a birthing ball a lot and practiced good posture (if there is a laser beam coming out of your bellybutton, it always hits the floor, whether sitting or lying down, or whatever), which I think also helped with breastfeeding later on, and last I read spinningbabies and a blog called natural birth in kitsap.

I think it would also be good to go over your birth plan with your providers, make sure they are experienced at helping women birth in positions other than on your back with legs in the air. I was so much more comfortable in a squatting position and nobody seemed to know how to deal with that.

Rubyayn

Thank you for all of the tips, ladies!!

My doula has a lot of essential oils and a handy bags of tricks, thankfully. I will be gathering some of the homeopathic remedies to have on hand and have already started my RRL tea. I think anything I can do to prepare mentally and physically will help me attain the birth that I want.

I had a C-section last time and am not traumatized or anything by it and I do realize unexpected things often come up in labor and delivery. I have done a lot of research though and there are multiple reasons the US has such a high C-section rate. I think being aware of this and knowledgable on the necessity of any interventions will be vital in helping to manage my own care. I just transferred to the hospital in town with the lowest C-section and episiotomy rates and it is with a practice that is very low intervention and hands off. I take my birth plan with me to every appointment and even have a birth plan for how I expect a C-section to go if I need one (skin to skin with my husband right away for example).

I am confident about the birth though and I know my body was designed to do this. I am thankful the medical intervention is there if I need it, but I do wish more docs had the confidence in women's ability to birth, too.

I am off to check the natural birth blog! I hope to start on my doula training when this one is about 18 months, so the more I know the better!

lisapr123

Did you watch The Business of Being Born, by chance? It was recommended to me by a friend who was studying Fetal Development at Northwestern University (her teacher suggested it). Being a first timer here, it was sort of scary but I felt like it gave me a little more insight and a much bigger voice while talking with my OB about our delivery plans. I wasn't at all scared of the birthing process, but it definitely gave me more confidence.

The best thing my friends have said is to talk to as many people as possible that have given birth at the hospital you plan on using. It seems each hospital has their own "personality". Every single friend said they couldn't tell you much about their OB during delivery, but the positivity, accommodations, and encouragement (or complete lack thereof) of the nurses meant everything. A few delivered without their OB present since things progressed so quickly. (I, for one, was born in the car on the way to the hospital so I know first hand we don't NEED medical support to give birth!)

Music has always been important to me so I am definitely bringing my ipod and playlist (yay for docking stations at the hospital). I've always had an extremely high pain tolerance, so I'm definitely not concerned about that. Just hoping to stay fit to the end so I can get it over with and heal quickly!

Rubyayn

Did you watch The Business of Being Born, by chance? It was recommended to me by a friend who was studying Fetal Development at Northwestern University (her teacher suggested it). Being a first timer here, it was sort of scary but I felt like it gave me a little more insight and a much bigger voice while talking with my OB about our delivery plans. I wasn't at all scared of the birthing process, but it definitely gave me more confidence.

The best thing my friends have said is to talk to as many people as possible that have given birth at the hospital you plan on using. It seems each hospital has their own "personality". Every single friend said they couldn't tell you much about their OB during delivery, but the positivity, accommodations, and encouragement (or complete lack thereof) of the nurses meant everything. A few delivered without their OB present since things progressed so quickly. (I, for one, was born in the car on the way to the hospital so I know first hand we don't NEED medical support to give birth!)

Music has always been important to me so I am definitely bringing my ipod and playlist (yay for docking stations at the hospital). I've always had an extremely high pain tolerance, so I'm definitely not concerned about that. Just hoping to stay fit to the end so I can get it over with and heal quickly!

The Business of being Born is AMAZING!! I watched it last time I was pregnant and again this time. I also had my husband watch it. It is very telling of the maternity care in our country right now and super informative. Netflix also has More Business of Being Born, which is four new mini-documentaries. They have one each on VBAC, doulas, celebrity births and one other I cannot remember. All very good and elaborate on good points made in the first movie. I am also working on getting my hands on the new Ina May documentary.

Sadly, I do not know many people who gave birth where I will be having this baby. I chose them for the midwife care and the very low intervention rates. I do know one mom that is due any day that is also VBACing there, so I hope to get lots of feedback from her. It is a teaching and public hospital, so it has what some people would consider to be less than stellar clientele and accomodations that are not very glamorous, so most people choose to birth at the fancier places in town since it is a big city. I have a feeling some would choose otherwise if they were provided with the C-section and episiotomy rates of some of the "nice" hospitals though.

I also have an extremely high pain tolerance that I hope comes in handy for the birth! I will surely have my ipod with me for the hypnobabies scripts, but some music would be nice, too. I will make sure I load some. I am starting to get very excited for the birth!! Now that I am in the third trimester and feeling all of the discomforts I am sure I will be even more ready 10 weeks from now.

Rubyayn

All good tips above, so the only thing I will add (because it greatly helped me cope with the contractions) was to just go with them. Don't tense up, it makes them seem soooo much worse. I realized that I was doing this and had to consciously force myself to relax and not fight them. They were instantly much more tolerable.

I noticed this tip was a trend in the natural birth stories I have read. It makes sense that surrendering to them is the way to go, especially if you want to progress faster. I will be sure to keep that mantra in my mind because I do tend to clench my jaw. That kind of response can even keep you from dialating. I am glad you said that because I will be sure to have my husband and doula watch out for that during my labor just in case I don't notice!

moondust7

Just curious if you will be eating dates? (based on the study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21280989

Also, just curious if you'll be taking evening primrose oil? I've heard that helps to soften the cervix.

I'm very early (just 7w4d today) but still can't help doing some research into what I'll plan on doing at the end of the pregnancy!

Rubyayn

Just curious if you will be eating dates? (based on the study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21280989

Also, just curious if you'll be taking evening primrose oil? I've heard that helps to soften the cervix.

I'm very early (just 7w4d today) but still can't help doing some research into what I'll plan on doing at the end of the pregnancy!

I plan on eating dates and doing EPO orally around 37 weeks. Anything that helps get things prepped and ready to go!! I am also doing red rasberry leaf tea already. I drink it with honey just before i do my hypnosis at night... so relaxing.

moondust7

I have some RRL tea as well - I used it during TTC, but will wait until 37 weeks to start it again. I'd love to hear what you think of everything (and if you think any of it helped you) once you have your little one!! Good luck!!!

Also - just watched The Business of Being Born yesterday - GREAT documentary!!! Netflix also has the More Business of Being Born episodes on their instatnt queue so I watched a couple of those last night as well.