Birth is such an amazing experience and we are only just now beginning to reclaim ownership over the process. For too long, women have been experiencing birth as something that is done to them thanks to the medicalization of birth that started as early as the 1920’s.  It’s been wonderful to work with women on their first or subsequent pregnancy where they start out nervous or anxious about their upcoming birth and finish working with us feeling confident, empowered and excited for their birth.

When it comes to helping expecting mothers prepare for their birth, there are so many things I hope to teach them.  Hopefully over several interactions or office visits so that we can get on the same page, they can digest the information, and together we can work on getting them physically and mentally ready for their birth.

But occasionally, I will see a client who is 38 weeks or so pregnant and we have this ONE hour visit together before their due date.  No pressure on me right?!  I go into hyper focus mode and use every single minute as efficiently as I can to assess and teach as much as I can.  But with all that we go through in each visit, I sometimes wish I had a Do’s and Don’t bullet pointed list to give them to be sure that we cover all the bases outside of the orthopedic to dos that we cover in the session.

So here it is for you!  An ever growing list of do’s and don’ts that I have compiled (and I’m sure I will think of more after this blog is published).  If you are anything like me, lists are a great tool to organize our thoughts and plans.

Do’s:

• Check in with a pelvic floor therapist in the second trimester.  If you want to feel empowered during your birth, you NEED to be assessed by a pelvic PT to see if there are any physical things that may make birthing more of a challenge for you.  Then you will have time to resolve those issues.

• Learn how to breathe in a way that you can connect your deep core muscles with your breathing.  This is a game changer in labor.

• Learn what positions YOU can relax your body and pelvic floor muscles best.

• Bring your partner along on your journey of preparing for your birth.  They can be a huge help to you before and during labor.

• Work on making sure you have happy/healthy bowel movements NOW.  It only gets worse at the end of pregnancy and constipation is the LAST thing you want to be dealing with immediately postpartum.

• Plan to move your body regularly.  Walking is great if you haven’t been exercising regularly, and prenatal yoga and stretches make for wonderful low impact exercise.

• Check out emotionally supportive resources for your birth such as Hypnobirthing.  Hypnobirthing methods are very positive.  Even if you don’t buy into everything they say, their affirmations and positive reinforcement are well worth your time. Focusing on your mindset for your birth is crucial.

• Learn about birth postures that promote the optimal pelvic position for the first stage of labor vs second (pushing) stage.  They are different!

Don’ts:

• Don’t focus solely on minimizing weight gain when it comes to fitness.  Things like mobility in your hips and pelvis are quite crucial and should not be ignored.

• Don’t put ALL of your faith in your birth provider.  They will be there with you to monitor your baby and you, but this is YOUR body and YOUR birth.  They cannot deliver the baby for you unless you are planning on a c-section.  Have faith in yourself and strengthen your faith by educating yourself.

• Don’t CrossFit your baby out.  This is not a contest of how hard you can push.  This is actually about how well you can connect to your body and EASE your baby earthside. Your pelvic floor will THANK you!

• Don’t plan to hold your breath while pushing in labor.  It will actually cause your pelvic floor to tense up which defeats the purpose.  And don’t we want to keep giving oxygen to the baby?

• Don’t stay with a birth provider if you are hearing them use fear based language or do not seem to listen to you with compassion and make you feel respected and heard.  If they make you feel this way in an office visit, it won’t be better in delivery.

• Don’t plan on squatting your baby out if you cannot squat comfortably for 30 minutes at a time.

Hopefully this list gives you the direction and guidance that helps you or a loved one on your journey in pregnancy and birth preparedness and does not overwhelm you!  As a birth coach, my goal is to help you feel empowered by improved knowledge of your body, the process, and feel PHYSICALLY prepared through better body connection and ability to push effectively.  And we would always love to help you on your prenatal and postpartum journey!