As soon as people get pregnant it seems that there is always the dreaded fear of ‘How am i going to get this baby out?’. This blog post aims to help you prepare for labour throughout pregnancy so by the time it actually occurs you are more than ready.

Labour is a process much like pregnancy there are various stages to go through.

Here are some of my midwifery top tips on how to be prepared.

1. Education- “Knowledge is power!”

Every woman is different. Our bodies are different, our babies are different and no 2 births are the same even for the same mother, hence why some women have 2 vaginal deliveries and then a caesarean with the third.

That’s why it’s useful to find out more about labour and birth. Understanding your options, the pros and cons of each, can help you feel more confident and informed when making important decisions. Your midwife is usually the best place to go for information as he/she will know the policies and guidelines surrounding your decisions and will be able to talk you through different scenarios. Antenatal classes are also helpful here you can make friends while gaining excellent insight into birth, some units also provide a tour of the unit during these classes which can be helpful in terms of deciding where to birth your baby (At the time of writing this article COVID-19 has changed the way antenatal classes are delivered – these are now being done virtually in most trust). The Birthplace study was a big research study done in 2011 on the safest places for different types of mothers to deliver, this may also be helpful in helping you make your decision. Precious Delivery provide 1:1 consultations if you would like a more personal feel. 

2. Mindfulness 

Try not to listen to horror stories about labour as these are really unhelpful if you’re feeling nervous. Try to remember that for every bad experience, there is a mum out there with a positive story to tell. This can be hard, especially if you’ve had a bad experience yourself. But try to think positively as much as possible. I have had lots of mums that tell me listening to positive birth stories has helped them feel calmer. This is where i would usually recommend a good hypnobirthing practitioner as practicing hypnobirthing can help with mindfulness. With my second pregnancy, I actually brought the Katherine Greaves hypnobirthing book and opted for the downloadable music and added this to my spotify playlist. I truly believe this helped me.

3. Prep your body

Labour can often be a long process which requires lots of strength and stamina hence why preparation of the body is important. This is where pregnancy exercise comes into play. The fitter you are- the more you are able to cope with labour and also the recovery during the postnatal period too.

I recommend activities such as Yoga and Swimming. Neither of these are high intensity exercise so are easy on your pregnant body.

A pregnant lady should aim for 15-30 mins of exercise 3 times a week. Research shows that exercise reduces the chances of developing some common pregnancy conditions such as high blood pressure/gestational diabetes but it also impact positively on birth too.

You can also try Raspberry Leaf tea at 32 weeks onwards. Please read this leaflet from Bolton NHS Trust on raspberry leaf tea.  Also perineal massage is perfect to attempt. If you have any fears about tearing this is a great way to reduce the chance. A study by Beckmann & Stock (2013) showed that doing perineal massage reduce the incidence of perineal trauma. Head over to my instagram page for an in-detail look at how to do this correctly. 

4. Practise relaxation techniques

Using breathing techniques can help calm your nerves (before and after labour) and control the pain. You can practise all the way through pregnancy to ensure you’re comfortable using them when labour starts. My previous blog post called ‘Breathing Technniques For Labour’ talks in a lot of detail about breathing techniques and gives a few of my favourite breathing exercises. 

5. Take time to create your birth plan

A birth plan can be a useful way of communicating all your wishes, concerns and choices quickly and effectively, particularly when you move to active labour and may not want to (or be able to) have long conversations with your midwife, or if there’s a staff change- it saves you from repeating yourself. Just remember that labour doesn’t always go to plan so please be very open minded when creating your birth plan. I have seen many women very disheartened when their birth plan hasn’t worked. So if you’re open minded and prepared for all eventualities this helps with positively birthing your baby. If you would like to know

These are a few of my top tips:

⭐️ Complete your birth plan by 32 weeks- so when you see your Midwife at 34-36 weeks you can discuss anything you’re not sure about.
⭐️ Be open minded!! Things don’t always go to plan- the same is true for labour.
⭐️ Involve your birthing partner.
⭐️ Ask family/friends their experiences. This can sometimes help.
⭐️ Write down list of questions that you want to ask your Midwife. I’ve had many women say they had a load of questions but when they get to the appointment they’ve forgotten.
⭐️ When in labour please discuss your birth preferences with the Midwife caring for you, even if very briefly.
⭐️ Don’t be hard on yourself if your plan ends up changing. This is ok!!!!! As health professionals are aim is to deliver both mum and baby safely.   

If you’ve had a previous bad experience…

If you’re concerned about giving birth again, it might help to talk about what happened first time round. I am more than happy to do a consultation to discuss your first labour and discuss ways to avoid a similar scenario. 

Debriefing service/Birth reflections

Most hospitals have a service for mums who would like to talk about their experience giving birth. It might be known as a birth reflections or birth afterthoughts service. Going over your birth experience with a midwife – however long after you gave birth – can help you make sense of what happened and perhaps help you cope with any anxieties about doing it again. If choosing a debriefing session at the hospital they will have access to your notes so will be able to talk you through your labour in detail. This will help you fill in any gaps in your memory, ask questions about why things happened the way they did and give you a chance to think about what you’d like to do differently. You are also more than welcome to request your notes from the hospital and send them to me for analysis and debriefing. Click this link to find out how to access your notes.