Birth doesn’t have to be scary. Sure, Sally down the road had a TERRIBLE experience, and Martha couldn’t WAIT to get the epidural to end her “agony”, but guess what? Just because this was their experience, doesn’t mean it will be yours! There are things you can do to help. Things you can do to prepare your mindset and to prepare your body to be the best birther you can possibly be.

1. Empower yourself with the knowledge on what the birth process entails

   You are your best advocate, and the more you understand what goes on during labor, the more you are likely to give in to the whole process and not allow fear to wash over you. Taking a childbirth education class is a wonderful place to start. Comment below and I can send you a free labor guide and information on my upcoming sessions!

2. Hire a provider that has a low intervention rate

   What does that mean? It means that they (the provider) are willing to trust that birth is a natural phenomenon and not a medical procedure that needs to be meddled with; someone who will help you to trust that your body knows what to do and can help you trust the process. Who you choose to be on your birth team will make a massive difference on your labor and delivery experience.

3. Hire a doula.

   A doula is a wonderful source of emotional, information and physical support during your birth journey. Choosing the right doula to be on your team will be a wonderful thing that you, for sure, will not regret.

4. Work on your fears

   Sit down with yourself, take pen to paper, and jot down what you are most worried about. Find a trusted birth professional (perhaps your doula, or your childbirth educator) that can help you walk through fear by fear so you can understand the roots of those fear, how you can work around them/accept them, heal any traumas associated with them and eventually unlock a new level of freedom in birth. If you are most worried about interventions, for example, it would be SO beneficial to understand the pros and cons of each intervention and understand that, perhaps, they are not always a bad thing to have to go through, and that, when they are medically necessary, it may be a great blessing to have access to them.

5. Listeni to powerful, affirmative and positive birth stories

   This is your time to lean into the strength of millions of women before you who have navigated birth with strength and perseverance. While everybody’s birth story is valid, whether it was a good experience or a bad experience, now is the time to be selfish and to guard your heart, soul and ears and to not listen to any traumatizing birth stories. There are many places where you can find wonderful and affirmative birth stories, here are some of my favorites

   • Birthful podcast

   • The Birth Hour

   • Taking Back Birth

About Salam Birth Services

Hey there, I'm Lana, the human behind Salam Birth Services! I'm a Chicago-based birth photographer, doula and childbirth educator covering mainly the Western, Northwestern and Southwestern suburbs, but feel free to reach out if you live outside those borders to enquire about my availability.

You can find me on Instagram , or you can get in touch here by sending a message!

We all know how uncomfortable birth can be, and for first time moms, it’s usually the pain that scares them the most. So I thought I would put together a little blog post to share 5 pain management skills that you can use without an epidural. Or maybe you’re considering getting an epidural but not until later in your labor so that you can give your body the chance to move around as much as possible. Either way, there are little tricks you can use to shave some sensation off the contractions to make them more manageable.

The brain receives and processes pain and pleasure sensations through nerve gates, but the brain can process only one emotion at a time (either pain or pleasure) so what we want to do is try and trick the brain into feeling pleasure instead of pain. We do that by flooding the brain with pleasurable sensations, and there are several ways to do that:

1. Breathing - specially when combined with smelling pleasurable things. Remind yourself to take deep purposeful breaths. Now imagine combining your favorite scents to your breathing exercises; your brain will be focused on processing these smells instead of the pain sensations. You can bring your favorite essential oils and either diffuse them in the room, or just keep the bottles near by. Some examples you can use are lavendar (calming) peppermint (good for nausea) clary sage (helps with uterine contractions) jasmine (lovely floral smell) or maybe even a citrus scent. Bring a bunch of options with you and see what feels best for you.

2. Visualization or Focal Points - you can take a point and just focus on it intently, either a spot on the wall or someone’s eyes or a meaningful picture, anything that will keep you distracted as you ride the waves of your labor. Visualization is more of an internal image you are creating in your mind where you can focus on all the aspects you want to recreate in your mind (think of all the five senses) and that way your brain is focused on recreating that image in your mind instead of processing any painful sensations.

3. Music - not only is this fun, it’s motivational and can encourage movement which is essential for encouraging baby to get into the most optimal position in order to pass through the birth canal.

4. Touch - relaxing, soft touch sensations, counter pressure, it may or may not work, specially a bit later in the process when the sensations intensify, but try it and see how you feel. The other option is to use hot and cold packs and use cool wash clothes to put on your head and shoulders, and warm packs on the back or any tense muscles.

5. Water - this one is my absolute favorite. You can jump into the bath or shower. The sensation of water trickling on your body will distract your brain from the pain. This helps you feel less overwhelmed and can be so soothing. Water is so powerful, and specially when your labor is established, it can help you progress quickly.

I hope you found these tricks useful! Let me know if you try any of them.

About Salam Birth Services

Hey there, I'm Lana, the human behind Salam Birth Services! I'm a Chicago-based birth photographer, doula and childbirth educator covering mainly the Western, Northwestern and Southwestern suburbs, but feel free to reach out if you live outside those borders to enquire about my availability.

You can find me on Instagram , or you can get in touch here by sending a message!