How to Prepare for Natural Birth: 5 Things to Consider Before Labor
Feeling positive about your natural birth plan is essential to achieving an ideal birth experience.
An unmedicated birth can be an incredibly empowering experience. If you’ve never given birth naturally before, though, you might have questions like, “What is a natural birth?” or “What does natural birth feel like?”
At Magnolia Birth House, a natural birth means not only delivering vaginally, but also without pain medication. We do not offer access to IV pain relief, epidurals, or nitrous oxide. Therefore, if you choose to have your baby at our natural birthing center, you will need education and support.
Our goal is to create a safe, low-intervention environment for healthy women who desire an undisturbed physiological birth. Magnolia is a calm, low-stress setting. We love to see our clients giving birth naturally, but it takes knowledge and preparation to achieve an unmedicated birth.
Here are our five suggestions for how to prepare for natural birth.
1. Natural Birthing Classes
One of the most important steps in preparing yourself for an unmedicated birth is to take a childbirth education class. Thanks to our partnership with our sister company, The Gathering Place, we offer prenatal classes on topics like preparing for out-of-hospital birth, giving birth with confidence, and coping with fear and pain in labor.
Many expectant parents in our current culture don’t understand the process of birth and the sensations of labor. Even fewer have witnessed childbirth in person. This lack of knowledge can leave some people feeling confused when labor begins, uncertain whether things are normal or abnormal.
You will have to learn how to best manage discomfort during labor. Childbirth education equips you with the skills and knowledge to approach labor and birth confidently. Parents who have participated in this education tend to experience less fear and tension, which can help reduce the perception of pain.
2. Bodily Awareness and Physical Activity
By the time you have reached a full-term pregnancy, your body has gone through many changes. A new life has taken over much of your frame, so your body may feel foreign to you in some ways.
To stay in connection with this new version of your body, make sure to do some type of physical activity. If you exercised before you got pregnant, you can continue that same routine, perhaps with slight modifications as your baby grows. If exercise is new to you, walking is a great option for promoting physical awareness as your body changes during pregnancy. In addition, yoga has the benefit of being physical and meditative.
The more physical things you can do to be in connection with this new version of your body, the better. To have an optimal birth experience, it’s important to know how your body works in its new form.
To have an optimal birth experience, it’s important to know how your body works in its new form.
3. Chiropractic Care
When you hear the word “chiropractic,” you may think of it as a treatment for back pain after a car accident. While it certainly can help in that situation, chiropractic care is important for general health and wellness, especially during pregnancy.
Pregnancy causes many changes in the body that can result in misaligned joints. The benefits of chiropractic care for an expectant mom include an aligned pelvis that provides optimal room for the baby to grow and allows for proper positioning for birth.
In addition to helping you maintain a healthier, more comfortable pregnancy, chiropractic care can relieve pain in the back, neck, hips, and joints. It also helps some women to control symptoms of nausea during pregnancy. We have a great partnership with Dr. Miguel Toro of Power Chiropractic in Miami Shores. Dr. Toro sees many of our clients and even sometimes comes to do chiropractic adjustments during labor. If his location is not a good fit for you definitely ask our staff for recommended chiropractors in your area.
4. Knowledge of Natural Birth Positions and Movement
At Magnolia, we believe strongly in freedom of movement during labor and birth. Learning about various positions will help you successfully achieve the natural birth you desire.
During spontaneous, unmedicated labor, it’s common for the birthing parent to be upright and active. You can try standing, walking, dancing, squatting, getting on hands and knees, and sitting on the toilet. Another example of movement is sitting on a birthing ball. By rocking your pelvis back and forth, you can help the baby get into an optimal position and ease discomfort from contractions.
If we notice that clients need support in helping labor progress, we might suggest periodic position changes that move the process along in a more efficient way. When it’s time to push your baby out, you might prefer a supported-squat or hands-and-knees position. If you’ve hired a doula for your labor, your doula can also help you to select positions that will be helpful in aiding the progress and pace of labor.
5. Confidence in Your Natural Birth Plan
Feeling positive about your natural birth plan is essential to achieving an ideal birth experience. This means that you have confidence in your natural birthing center — the place you have chosen to deliver your baby. You also need to believe in your birth team, which includes the midwife, birth center staff, and doula. The Gathering Place provides doula support to any Magnolia clients who choose it.
All of these elements should match your philosophy as the birthing person. If there is conflict, that could bring negativity into your experience and affect the end result. And that is what we do not want!
Mindset is absolutely critical to that optimal outcome we’re all working toward — an empowered parent giving birth to a healthy baby in a safe environment.