For generations we have been socially conditioned to understand birth as painful, traumatic & an emergency. But after Birthing 4 babies 10000% naturally, I am on a mission to re-write this narrative & offer birthing women hope! 

Is birth intense? Yes, and so is sex.

When we go into uncomplicated labour we have the opportunity during every contraction to titter between pain or pleasure . How you prepare for birth majorly influences how you experience its intensity. 

Here is the cycle:

Fear: we fear pain so we produce adrenaline that puts us into a tense fight or flight mode.

Tension: that adrenaline (fight or flight hormone) directs blood and oxygen AWAY from the uterus which causes muscles to tense beyond the natural muscle contraction that is necessary for birthing a baby (does it hurt when you contract the muscle in our arm for 60 seconds? Probably not. Neither does a birthing contraction need to hurt).

Pain: tense muscles cause uterus pain which confirms “birth is painful” and we cycle through fear, pain and adrenaline which prevents our body from producing the hormones we need to birth well, oxytocin and serotonin. 

 
Of course there are circumstances in which intervention is necessary, but so long as fear is present you can pretty much guarantee some kind of intervention &/or complication will occur during or post birth. SO…. What do we need to do to rid ourselves of fear? 

 
Here are my 3 gems of wisdom I pray serve you well:

#1 GET EDUCATED: I’m not saying you need a degree in the subject, but I am saying, don’t be naive about your body or the physiological process of birth. Hospital birth classes scratch the surface & in my opinion are not necessarily bad, but not enough. A course I would recommend is @Calm Birth (We did ours with @ibirth & walked out changed forever). I also recommend reading or listening to audio books written by balanced & level headed experts who will give you great insight when it comes to natural approaches & western medicine. This will help guide & inform you as you choose how & why you want to birth whatever way you desire too. It will also help you set your own personal boundaries & exceptions around receiving intervention instead of being TOLD in a moment of potential crisis. This will also protect you from postpartum depression & any birthing regrets.

My fav books on this topic have been “The Gentle Birthing Method” by Dr. Gowri Motha and Karen Swan MacLeod, "Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth" by Ina May Gaskin, and "Orgasmic Birth" by Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Elizabeth Davis (you should be able to find these books in my Shop )

#2. BREATH: Sounds simple enough but there is a real skill in breathing. Practice the Calm Birth Breath :

•  Breath in & out naturally without pressure. Notice where your breath is going. Your chest or your belly? Place your hands on your belly & focus on breathing into you belly, blowing it up like a ballon.
• Are you breathing through your nose or your mouth? Try breathing through your nose only & slowing everything down.
• Breath in to the count of four, breath out to the count of four.
• Extend each breath as you are ready until you can breath in & out to the count of 10.
• When you exhale try to imagine the breath gently pushing down & out of your body. This is most easily practiced on the toilet while doing a poo. You don’t want to push the poo out, you want to breath it out with an expanding breath to the tummy & slow exhale down & out. 
                          

Contractions don't last longer then 60 seconds. Imagining a bell curve while you breath & count through contractions can be incredibly encouraging! this way, you know by the time you get to 30, the intensity can only go down.

•  If you can master the calm breath, it will be the breath you use instinctually during birth through every contraction & if you loose control, your birthing partner can coach you on coming back to it. It will help blood & oxygen flow to the uterus & vagina making each contraction more effective & dare I say… easy.

#3. BRAIN RE-WASH: I can not stress enough the importance of preparing mentally. This involves:

• Removing language from your vocabulary that doesn’t support the kind of birth you want.
• Protecting your mind from negative narratives, and flooding your mind with positive ones. This may involve stripping back from relationships with anyone who insists on imposing their fears & negative birth stories on you. Or simply holds a posture of disbelief in what you are believing for.
• Turn off, or at least fast forward past the scenes in TV shows & movies where women are birthing.
• Instead seek out examples of positive birth stories. Some of my fav influencers in this space are Ellen Fisher, A Heavenly Welcome, Sharah Lukmas. 
• Read or listen to the books I mentioned in golden gem #1 + "Birth without fear" by January Harshe & "Supernatural Childbirth" by Jackie Mize. (you can find those in my Shop too.)
• Create personalised affirmations by writing down the things that trigger you or stand out to you while you soak in these new narratives. Identify what your main fears are & construct new sentences that speak against that specific fear that grips you.  Write these words out & place them around your home (I created some pretty ones using Canva you can buy as printable's for just $5 HERE). Read them often, declare them out loud until you snuff out those fear. 
  
  

Adrenaline is a hormone we can control with our mind! We can literally undo generations of conditioning by re-washing our minds & practicing breathing techniques. If you can do this, you are far more likely to experience a truly calm, natural, non invasive, uncomplicated & potentially even pleasurable birth. How good does that sound!

For every birth, the affirmations I have gravitated towards have all been a little different. During my most recent birth these are the main ones I clung too

“baby is coming GENTLY & WITH EASE” 

“I am strong in body. Robust. In sound health. And have power to do all things through Christ who endues me with strength!”

“Before she goes into labour she gives birth - Isiah 66” 

I can confidently say that birthing Zia was EASY! I mean truly! leading up to her birth be had come through SO much struggle & overall I felt unprepared until the final days before she was born & I kept claiming these words! I was undoubtedly filled with a supernatural strength & power I do not bestow on my own. I breathed with power & birthed her before I ever officially entered what "they" consider "established labour. my contractions where far apart but when the right one came, I KNEW! 
And I did it without fear, doubt or hesitation. In all my other births I reached an acute moment when the baby was crowing where I didn't believe I could do it. but with Zia, It was different, and I know these affirmations had something to do with it.