Natural Birth Is Not For The Faint of Heart
Are you wondering how to give birth naturally?
I can write you a list of Top 10 Tips or recommend a book with all sorts of details.
But first, I want you to know this:
{Listen up, mama.} If you want a natural birth, you have to go out there and grab it.
You can’t wait for a natural birth to come to you; it won’t just land in your lap.
Birth is completely unpredictable. And in the past, this made me leery of writing about how to have a natural birth because I know that I can’t guarantee that everyone I help is going to get one.
But I’ve been thinking about birth a lot more lately, and watching women plan, and I think we’re all just a little too afraid.
We think “I don’t know what might happen during birth so I can’t make real concrete plans” so we timidly make a few preparations and then just wait to see what will happen.
I’m calling bullshit on that.
Wondering how to give birth naturally? You make it happen.
You eat as well as you can and move as much as you are able during pregnancy.
You take a really good birth prep class, not the weenie one provided by the hospital.
You practice relaxing every day that you can.
You use affirmations to get your mind in the right place.
You determine that when you are in labor, you are going to do what it takes to follow best practices for labor, like moving around, using comfort measures, and changing positions even when it sounds uncomfortable.
Don’t Be Lazy About Your Upcoming Birth
Here’s your dose of tough love. If you want to have a natural birth, you can’t be lazy.
I’ve seen too many women approach birth with a positive attitude and desire to “go natural” who also act timidly and a little bit lazily about it.
Maybe that looks like reacting to labor by wanting to just curl up and lay down and not be active even when things aren’t moving along very fast.
Or maybe that looks like asking for an epidural when you haven’t even tried any of the myriad comfort measures available to you.
Determine now that you will learn about active birth and comfort measures and then actually use them!
It’s time to grab natural birth with both hands and just hold on tight. You want it, I challenge you to go out and work for it.
Don’t say you want a natural birth and take the hospital class and hire a doula, and then think that’s enough. It’s not.
Look, I’ve been there, too. An exhausted pregnant mama with barely the energy to do the bare minimum of daily tasks. But sometimes we need to be pushed to do what needs to be done. Here’s your push, mama.
You Might Also Like: Ali’s Positive Natural Hospital Birth Story
Give Natural Birth Everything You’ve Got
You need to go in with a plan.
Not just a “birth plan”.
I’m talking about an honest-to-goodness plan for all the things you can do to actually have that natural birth, regardless of the things you can’t control.
Go into your birth fearlessly.
You ARE going to have a baby.
Goal: Healthy baby, of course!
Also goal: Mom who kicks ass at birth because she wanted an amazing birth and made it happen.
I think we’ve been sold this lie that facing birth head-on is selfish and maybe even dangerous.
To be clear, I am not advocating for ignoring medical advice or best practices and ignorantly doing things that are truly dangerous for you or your baby.
But the flip side of that coin is that we are told birth is unpredictable and unsafe and that we are powerless against that. We take a hospital class that informs us how to be a good patient but doesn’t empower us to be a strong birthing woman.
You CAN Have An Amazing Birth!
You CAN walk into that hospital and face birth with no fear.
You CAN ALSO roll with the punches and make hard decisions if you need to.
AND you can walk out of that birth feeling amazing, whether you did with no medication or with an epidural or with forceps or with a c-section because you went for it like you meant it.
Too many moms sort of shrink into themselves early in labor. It’s like they just hand the keys to the doctor and ask them to drive. YOU need to drive this bus, mama. This is YOUR BIRTH!
So, do you want a natural birth? And do you also want a totally guilt free and amazing feeling after your baby is born?
Then do the work now. And determine to do the work during labor.
If you’ve been wondering how to give birth naturally, that’s how.
Grab your birth.
You will rock this thing, mama. You got this!
More From Me:
- Everything You Need to Plan a Home Birth
- A Printable Checklist for Your Hospital Bag with all the Essentials plus Extras You Didn’t Know You Needed
- Speed Up Your Postpartum Healing With These Powerful Sitz Bath Alternatives
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