4 Secrets To Achieve The Ultimate Birth Mindset
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Birth is an intense, emotional and intimidating experience, especially for a first time expecting momma.
Trust me, I’ve been there.
I was in your shoes about a year ago. Now I have a beautiful, funny, and (growing way too quickly) 7 month old girlie.
Through proper mindset strategies, I was able to overcome the fears tied to birth and embrace the excitement and confidence that my body was built to birth my baby.
Let me preface this post with the fact that my birth was not unmedicated and I am so proud of my experience and the challenges I conquered. My main goal was to feel contractions, experience them fully and be open minded to the epidural if I needed pain relief (which I did!)
Sadly, I feel as though there is a stigma attached to birth stories that only a natural, unmedicated birth is worthy of praise or attention. Yet, on the flip side, too often I hear the negative chatter of other people judging someone else’s birth choices.
“You don’t need to be the hero.”
“Just get the epidural.”
“The epidural will just slow things down … natural is best.”
“Why would you even consider a natural birth?”
“You should schedule an induction, don’t wait.”
Mommas… I am here to say no matter how you decide to birth your baby, that choice is YOURS and no one else’s. My medicated birth was beautiful and through proper physical preparation, I was able to push my baby out in 30 minutes without tearing! So, I am insanely proud of myself and what I accomplished.
People love to project their opinions onto you, but stay strong in what you believe in and how you feel comfortable welcoming your baby into the world. All births are incredible! Think about how amazing it is that we can create new life within our own bodies and then physically birth them into this world! I mean - WOW!
Ok, now back to the purpose of this post - mindset strategies!
No matter how you plan to deliver your baby, you not only need to be prepared physically for what your body is about to experience, but you also need to be mentally prepared. Birth is both a mental and physical challenge and I’m here to share how I was able to establish a peaceful, confident mindset that guided me through my birth with ease.
These are my 4 secrets to unlocking the ultimate birth mindset - allowing you to feel excited and most importantly, READY, to birth your baby and achieve a positive birth experience!
#1 Positive Self Talk
Repeat after me…
“As a woman, my body was built to birth babies.“
“I AM capable no matter how many fears I may have.”
“I can do this.”
“My body grew my baby, so my body can birth my baby.”
“I am strong.”
I reminded myself daily that I was strong, I was capable, and that I would trust myself through the process.
It’s normal to have fears of complications, tearing, or maybe things not going exactly how you imagined it. But, if you can trust in yourself and tell yourself that you are capable, it really does make a difference in your overall experience. Feeling secure in yourself will allow your mind to be at ease and focus on working through the challenge of birth.
Everyone is different in how they practice self talk. Whether you have an inner voice that speaks to you directly, or you practice journaling or leave some inspirational sticky notes on your bathroom mirror - find a method that works well for you and get into the habit of talking positively to yourself. For me, it was super empowering to be able to state out loud that I was excited to birth my baby and felt ready to do it whenever someone asked me how I was feeling.
Along with self talk, begin to visualize your perfect birth. It sounds cheesy, but it works! The act of manifestation and visualization strengthens your mindset, deepening your desire to achieve the vision or goals you set for birth. This will fuel your positive mindset and provide you the extra energy to put towards the physical preparation.
#2 Knowledge Is Power
Harnessing the power of knowledge directly impacts step #1.
By educating yourself on labor and delivery, you’ll feel even more confident in trusting your abilities to birth your baby. Rather than going into one of life’s greatest challenges blind, go into it with the knowledge to make educated decisions and confidently advocate for you and your baby. Feel empowered to birth your baby rather than scared by taking the time to invest in proper education.
I took multiple online courses to learn:
how to recognize signs of labor
how to properly push the baby out
which positions were optimal for labor
my options for medical intervention
the different stages of labor
post birth expectations
By investing in online educational tools, I felt confident and 100% BELIEVED in myself. My self talk was coming from a place of confidence and excitement rather than fear and uncertainty. As a first time expecting mom, I felt truly ready to birth my baby which was a direct result of all the prep I completed.
I’ve teamed up with fellow mom blogger and labor and delivery nurse, Heather, to give you a discounted rate on her amazing birth prep course - the Empowered Birth Academy.
Heather’s course covers everything you need to know about labor and delivery, as well as bonus mini courses for partner support and postpartum recovery - a perk for purchasing through my link!
Speaking of my link, by using code “MOTHERTOMOTHER” you can receive 10% off your purchase.
The great thing about online courses is you have the information for life. Which means, if you plan to have another baby in the future, you will have access to the course to refresh your memory on all things birth prep.
You will never regret investing in yourself to take on one of life’s biggest challenges.
#3 Physical Prep Supports Mental Prep
If you are confident in your physical prep, your mindset will follow.
I put a lot of energy and focus into physically preparing my body, which ultimately boosted my positive birth mindset. I highly encourage you to find a physical activity that you enjoy and consistently stick with it! Whether it’s walking outside, completing a home workout, going to the gym, or taking group exercise classes - find an activity you genuinely enjoy because it will be much easier to commit when you are enjoying what you’re doing!
For me, I found reformer pilates was an amazing form of exercise during pregnancy since it combines strength training, body alignment and stretching. Pilates helps to strengthen your core and back, which can even alleviate pregnancy related pains (this was 100% true for me!) I also went on walks through my neighborhood when the weather was nice. It’s easy to pop your ear buds in, turn on a podcast or your fav playlist and take a walk. Getting outside is also great for your mental health, so I highly recommend starting with a simple walk if you’re not in an existing exercise routine.
The final thing I incorporated in my physical prep routine was pelvic floor therapy. During my sessions, I was tasked with perfecting my kegel strength and endurance so that I could fully control my pelvic floor and have a much simpler time birthing my baby. Not only did the exercises prepare my pelvic floor for birth, but I also had full control over my bladder so I never leaked, nor did I EVER have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. I also did not tear and birthed my baby in 30 minutes with ease since I knew exactly which muscles to activate to push baby out.
Seriously… I could scream from the rooftops how much pelvic floor therapy assisted me in physically preparing for birth and speeding up my postpartum recovery!
The moral of the story here is physical prep directly supports mental prep for birth. If you have fears about tearing or pushing your baby out, then don’t skip out on the physical prep. Putting in the work to prepare your body physically will contribute to a positive mindset in multiple ways. You’ll feel proud, confident and empowered to birth your baby knowing you devoted energy towards getting your body in a place that will enable you to birth your baby with ease.
#4 Create A Birth Plan
By utilizing the customizable birth plan I am sharing with you today, I was able to create and share a physical, paper plan containing all of my birth and postpartum preferences with my medical team at the hospital and feel confident that my needs would be met.
A birth preparation plan covers everything from your specific birth preferences such as medical interventions you approve of, birth positions or props you want to use, your desired labor environment, to your specific preferences for your baby once he/she is born like vaccinations/injections, who is cutting the umbilical cord, delayed bathing and more.
It’s so easy to forget to mention important preferences with your birth team, because let’s be real, there’s a lot going on and your brain is only focused on those glimmers of comfort between each contraction. Creating a birth plan ahead of time ensures you don’t leave out any important details with your birth team.
Just like I mentioned above, using my code “MOTHERTOMOTHER” will grant you a 10% discount on this must have, Customizable Birth Plan.
Momma, I am so glad you are here!
Hopefully you gained some helpful tips on ways you can confidently crush motherhood! I’d love for you to stick around and allow me to continue to help guide you during this wild journey. I have a ton of goodies to share so enter your name and email below to connect!
Can’t wait to meet you in your inbox :)
