Your Beautiful, Empowering Pregnancy – What Every Woman Needs to Know

 

This weekend I was incredibly blessed to attend a “Birthing From Within” 3 day retreat in the Adelaide Hills.

This retreat was all I had hoped for and more, with lots of practical tips to help mums and dads-to-be have the most loving, connected, empowering birth experience possible.

The course was run by the incredibly talented Doula and gorgeous soul Diana Kirke from Hundred Rivers.

I don’t want to give the whole course away as it was full of surprises but I will say this retreat was all about self-discovery…. we were told of ancient wisdom about birthing, we explored ways to bond as a family before during and after birth, we gleaned helpful practices to assist in managing surges (contractions) during the birthing time, we were able to use art therapy for self-healing, and enjoyed old-fashioned story-telling and delicious, nourishing organic food.

Today… wow, still in the after glow. Heart so incredibly wide open and overflowing with love, my spirit is just singing! What a weekend.

This retreat has inspired me to share some useful tips about pregnancy and natural birth, things that have helped me along the path to this point.

If you are planning to conceive a babe, currently with a babe in your belly, working with women who are pregnant / trying to conceive or reflecting on the birth of previous babes and wanting a richer experience for your next pregnancy and birth, here’s a few things you might enjoy discovering…

(Please remember that these are all my own personal and professional opinions as a naturopath, physiotherapist, spiritual seeker and mumma-to-be….)

 

(1) Conscious Conception

This is where the Journey towards a Natural Birth begins! Conscious conception is the art of being aligned and in tune at the very beginning of it all, in order to welcome in the little soul that you are intending to create! This means good nutrition, regular exercise, a healthy mindset and a sense of being ready to take this next step in your life.

Some tips for Conscious Conception:

Vision boards with baby / family images are a great visual tool to have up around the home so you can see them daily, and you can make these on paper or Pinterest.

If you’re into positive affirmations you might also like to begin affirming that you are enjoying a happy healthy pregnancy before you even get pregnant.

Sitting with your partner and writing together about the type of little soul you wish to welcome, along with his or her qualities can be a very powerful exercise, along with affirmations about the kind of parent you want to be ‘I am a kind, loving, warm, nurturing mama with lots of patience and a never-ending supply of cuddles’.

Understanding your cycle is a great way to increase your chances of conceiving and I recommend using an app such as Period Tracker so that you can be clear when you are ovulating. It helps to also manually chart your body temperature each morning (a spike can indicate ovulation) or check cervical mucous daily – while it’s an old-school way of tracking your ovulation, it is accurate! Here is an excellent free chart I have sourced from Australia (along with instructions) that you can download and print off.

Just remember that conceiving a baby is a miracle no matter how it occurs! If you have concerns about specific health conditions, your or your partner’s fertility and/or ability to conceive, seek support from your health practitioner sooner rather than later. Modalities that can be beneficial for encouraging natural conception include acupuncture, herbs and nutritional and lifestyle advice.

 

(2) Choosing Your Birthing Environment

Even before conception has occurred, you may find you and your partner discussing the proposed place of birth for baby. In Australia, this is because you must be with most private health insurers for at least 3 months before you conceive in order to claim on your private hospital cover.

Choosing your birth environment is an important decision to make as it can dictate the type of care providers you have and the type of birth you experience. There are pros and cons of both systems of care, so it’s great to be well-informed from the beginning so you know what to expect.

In a nutshell, Private hospital care is generally obstetrician led, and you will have a significant amount of your appointments with an obstetrician, and /or with midwives.

The positives are that you get to work with the same obstetrician, so will know them during your labour, and they can help your midwives if you have complications or require a surgical birth. On the downside, there may be hidden costs / fees that you need to pay for your obstetrician or for scans and there are usually higher rates of medical intervention with obstetrician-led care.

In contrast in the Public System, your care is predominantly midwifery-led care, and it is likely you will not meet an obstetrician until the day of labour (if you require one). Negatives include longer waiting times at appointments and busier schedules for midwives and hospital staff due to demands on the public hospital system. Positives include all costs of pregnancy and labour paid for by Medicare and access to free hospital classes and other special programs (some hospitals in Australia also provide the option to work with hospital midwives for a home birth).

Talk to other mums and find out your options before you sign yourself up! It helps to have tours of several hospitals and birthing centres before making your choice to ensure you select the kind of birthing environment that is right for you.

 

(3) Deepening Your Knowledge of All-Things-Birth-Related

Once you have chosen your care providers, you can start to get clear on what you do want and don’t want for your labour. Don’t be afraid to keep asking questions, not just of others but of yourself as well.

What are your deepest fears about birth?

What do you already know about the process (both physiological and emotional).

What do you need to know?

It can be easy to just go with the flow, turn up to your scheduled appointments and stick with the status quo but just remember that there are lots of options and you have the right to choose the care and environment that you truly desire. Some women don’t want to know too much and prefer to go into labour without being informed, simply trusting their intuition. This is completely fine too, as long as you feel empowered to have the birth experience that feels right for you.

 

(4) Seeking Extra Spiritual Guidance and Support

Have you considered getting a Doula? Doula is a Greek word meaning ‘to serve’. Doulas are a beautiful addition to your birth team as they help you as a spiritual guide and mentor throughout pregnancy, birth and beyond.

The role of the doula is to facilitate an empowering and satisfying birth both physically and emotionally. Doulas can also assist mum and dad to have a smooth transition into parenthood by providing support in the crucial early stages of adjusting to life with a newborn.

Doulas are not medically trained, but instead attend formal education courses (eg through the Australian Doula College) and are trained in the art of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting.

Your doula can advocate for you during your birth to encourage a more natural birth and reduce the risk of uneccesary medical interventions (and/or helping to delay intervention with breathing practices or other means of pain relief). They will be present for the entire birth, so that in the event of shift changes (midwives / obstetricians) there is still a familiar face and someone to guide you every step of the way.

 

(5) Connecting With Your Baby Early On

Understanding that parenting begins as soon as baby is in the womb is a wonderful approach as it helps you to connect with baby right from the beginning.

In the first trimester, practising meditation on your back with a pillow under your knees is a beautiful way to rest (and beat the tiredness that accompanies this stage of pregnancy) but also to feel your babies presence, send your baby some healing coloured light or love.

Once babies ears develop around 21-22 weeks, you and dad can begin talking to baby, singing lullabies and reading stories. Beginning parenting now will help you to create the time and space in your lives that baby will need once born!

 

(6) Attending Classes and Seeking Practitioner Support

Choosing where to get your information is a vital part of creating the pregnancy and birth experience you desire. Public hospitals may have exercise classes you can attend to keep fit and moving during your pregnancy (hydrotherapy, Pilates, yoga, meditation) or you can seek private community classes. Public hospitals also usually have some pre-natal education sessions about breast feeding, pain relief and other practicalities of birth and early parenting.

It is worth keeping in mind that there are private classes and sessions in the community you can research and attend, such as Hypnobirthing, Birthing Within classes and retreats and many others. Keep your eyes open and be inquisitive!

Having assistance from trusted practitioners during pregnancy, birth and beyond is a great way to look after yourself. Modalities like remedial massage, acupuncture, chiropractic and physiotherapy can help to reduce muscle tension, treat pelvic pain or discomfort, and address any other physical needs mum has during pregnancy.

 

(7) Finding Your Voice and Creating Your Unique Experience

It can be useful to learn about some of the common risks associated with pregnancy, as well as your options for pain relief and medical intervention (forceps, caesarian section).

However there may be times during your pregnancy and labour that you need to look after your own health and mental wellbeing by shifting your focus away from some of these things which can invoke fear. Similarly, stories from other women can on the one hand be empowering and interesting, helping you to understand labour better, but at other times these stories can be damaging to your own psyche, or can impact on your ability to confidently prepare yourself for labour.

If you find any particular stories or images sticking with you, or your have strong feelings of worry or anxiety about birth, it might be time to cut the ties and disconnect from the stories of others.

Confronting these fears with your doula, midwife or even in your own private journal can be a powerful way to shed some light on them and help you to feel better prepared, no matter what your birth experience brings you.

 

(8) Moving Towards a Natural Birthing 

This last one is both about being informed and having choices.

How realistic is a natural birth for you?

Do you think you may want drugs as an option, or would you prefer to use other techniques for pain relief during pregnancy and labour?

Would you like to keep your options open?

Or maybe you are set on having an epidural or casearian section?

It’s great to have a birth plan in place, no matter whether you would like a more natural birth, or are keen to use pain medications to manage pain or have a surgically assisted labour. A birth plan is something that you can develop with your partner and in consultation with your doula or midwife. It includes your preferences for birth and after-birth care and may change throughout your pregnancy as your understanding of the birth process deepens. Click here to find out more about birth plans and review a template you can use.

No matter what you hope for during your labour, it is wise to allow yourself time and space during your pregnancy for connecting with the rhythm of your body, bonding with your un-born baby and planning for a calm, serene, positive birth environment.

The time and effort that you put in will help to pave the way for a healing, spiritual, empowering birth experience and a loving and connected journey into parenthood.

Good luck and enjoy the journey! Please comment below if you wish to share your experiences or hopes for your pregnancy and birth.

 

Recommended Books

“Birthing From Within” Pam England and Rob Horowitz

“Hypnobirthing” Marie Mongan

“The Down To Earth Birth Book” Jenny Blyth

“Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering” Sarah Buckley

“Birth Skills” Juju Sundin

“Better Birth” Lareen Newman and Heather Hancock

“Doulas – Why Every Pregnant Woman Deserves One” Susan Ross