How To Rock Your Next Labor & Delivery – Part 1 –

How To Rock Your Next Labor & Delivery – Part 1 –

After giving birth to my second born, the Midwife told me and other new moms in the hospital that I absolutely rocked my labor and delivery. I’ll be honest, her compliment definitely made me feel good and empowered about my labor and delivery experience. I wrote down everything I did before labor and during active labor so I wouldn’t forget. Now I’m going to share all my tips so that you or someone you know can rock their labor and delivery!

In this post, I’ll be talking about things to do before you go into labor. In Part 2 (coming soon!), I’ll talk about things you can do during active labor.

Labor & Delivery Class

The look of horror was on my face as I watched my first ever labor and delivery video in my labor and delivery class. It was even more terrifying because I was only a few weeks away from my due date… I had never seen a labor and delivery video until that day. My husband on the other hand had seen a few before, and happened to look over at me during this and almost busted out laughing. (Thanks Honey…)

Even if you do go to a labor and delivery class, it’s just not the same as actually experiencing labor itself. However, it is good to be prepared and know what to expect when those contraction start and baby is ready to come!

We learned different laboring positions and breathing techniques that definitely came in handy. We also got a booklet from the class that came in handy for my first and second labor.

Read Books & Articles

My goal was to have a natural birth, so I read books and articles about natural birth. You can easily find natural birth blog posts on Pinterest, and I found “Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way” the most helpful book for me. It’s a bit old and there are a ton of images, but it can be very helpful.

Watch Videos

Videos can be found on YouTube or just look them up on Google. The Midwife I saw during pregnancy recommended the Spinning Babies website.  Another good website is What To Expect When Expecting

Ask Others Who Had A Natural Birth

My MIL (Mother In-Law) had 7 children, so if anyone was experienced in labor and delivery she was the person to ask all my questions. Plus, her youngest at the time was only 3 years old! 

She wrote down notes for my husband and I and actually taught us breathing techniques that worked for her and what to expect. 

Yoga & Exercises 

The doula that came as a guest to one of the labor and delivery classes highly recommended that we do some exercises. Which you can also get from the Spinning Babies website or look them up on YouTube. The doula said that the moms who did the exercises had faster and easier deliveries. 

I didn’t do any Yoga personally with either pregnancy, but I will definitely be doing it next time!

What do you think of this list? Comment below if you have any tips for preparing before labor! 

Hannah



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *