Supporting your labour and birth

I firmly believe ALL women can have a positive and empowered birth experience with the correct education, preparation, and support. This does not mean all women will have a non-medicated vaginal birth. Still, it means that planned or unplanned caesarean births, hypnobirthing, waterbirths, epidural births, assisted births … every single type of birth … and crucially, YOUR birth can be positive.

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Your mind and body are so connected, which is critical to understanding when preparing for labour and birth. This means you must prepare and condition your mind and body. If you believe birth will be painful and fearful, that likely is what your body will experience. But if you challenge this, use tools and techniques to prepare and support your mind and body. We can change this, and birth can be calm and empowering. It is the most incredible time in your life as you embark on the precious journey to motherhood.

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It is not about teaching your body how to give birth; it knows how to do that, and women have been doing it for many years and generations. Convincing your mind is the hardest part. The more that you can understand precisely what happens during labour, the more you learn to realise just how incredible your female body is.

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It is helpful to understand that there are four stages of labour - the latent, first, second, and third stages. In the first stage of labour, the main change happening to your body is that your cervix is pulled upwards into the body of the uterus. So, to support this physical change, you can use breathwork, an essential tool in every woman's labour toolbox. Think about taking long, deep breaths inwards and upwards. Long, slow breaths help suppress adrenaline and tell your body that you are safe and calm- exactly how you want to feel during labour. Then, in the second stage, the main action is your baby moving down the birth canal, so you want to switch the breath to be a more purposeful, active breath in a downwards motion, taking a quick inbreathe followed by a sharp downward focused out-breath. Practising these breathwork and visualisation techniques daily will help you slot into them like second nature when your labour begins.

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I think we must also address the word pain in relation to labour. I like to think we have two different types of pain- pathological pain and physiological pain. Pathological pain occurs when we stub our toe or break a limb. In other words, something goes wrong in your body. We are naturally fearful of this, which makes us tense, causes adrenaline levels to spike, and the pain becomes worse as you continue to cycle through feelings of pain, fear, and tension. Spikes in adrenaline are essential for survival; imagine being in a jungle chased by a lion- it is super helpful in such times that our blood is directed to our arms and legs so we can run away and make an escape. This response, however, is very unhelpful when it comes to labour because it means blood is directed away from your uterus, suppressing any contractions. So, instead, we need to recognise labour as physiological pain; it isn't because of illness or injury. It is a normal process that you do not need to fear. The more you can embrace a cycle whereby you feel relaxed and even begin to enjoy the process, the lower your adrenaline levels, the higher your oxytocin levels, and the more you produce a set of hormones called endorphins. Oxytocin is the hormone responsible for generating contractions, and endorphins are your body's natural painkillers, so they are one for your labour toolbox, and the more relaxed you are, the more you produce.

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Remember- proper preparation can transform your birth experience, and you deserve a positive and empowering birth.

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