Change your Mindset – Prepare for a confident birth

Mums Tips

Pregnancy & Birth

Published on Monday, 17 October 2022 10:30

Last Updated on 18 October 2022

EmmaArmstrong

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Here are some sure-fire ways of changing your mindset about pregnancy and preparing you for a powerful and confident birth experience. Before we start, let me tell you that pregnancy and birth should be celebrated, so get involved and start finding out about how bloody amazing your body and baby are!

A key point I want to mention is learning and re-learning. It is important to spend your time, learning about your body and birth, and what is actually happening when you’re having contractions! Online sources which are evidence-based are a great source of information and can be super helpful just like my Instagram page.

Your energy should be protected. How you feel about Birth during your pregnancy can have an impact on how your birth turns out. What do to? Mute, delete and remove any negativity on your social feeds whether that be friends or family accounts and things that don’t make you feel good and instead, start filling it up with really happy go-to and positive messages which are going to help you feel good and confident about your impending birth. Read all the best birth stories, watch the videos, and amerce yourself in the world of birth!   

Techniques.

A hypnobirthing course is great to learn all the techniques you need to know about.  There are so many techniques out there from breathing to using the comb on acupressure points in labour, however, you need to understand which ones work well for you. Once we understand what we can do and what we can utilise during our labour, we feel confident about what we’re doing and how to manage what it feels like there is.  

Knowledge is power.

This is very important, just like anything that we are preparing for in our lives. Whether it’s the most important interview for a dream job or jumping out of a plane, we need to prepare. As I say, knowledge is Power once we understand our options and choices, as we are then able to make informed decisions which are best for us and those will always be the right decisions. 

Oxytocin is the key to Birth.

Oxytocin is the hormone that drives your labour so if you know, understand and can work with your oxytocin levels you are onto a winner. When we understand it and we can understand how to influence it, then can we truly influence our birth experience and create a positive experience.

Gratitude.

It’s so easy to absolutely lose the first trimester as we are dealing with new symptoms changes in our body  and that changes to how we feel mentally! What I recommend is to try and take this time to get excited. A good way to do this is by taking care of yourself and start connecting with your baby! Start planning your activities to keep yourself moving, take some time out to daydream and imagine your little one. This all promotes feel-good hormones which will help us feel good and allow our bodies to feel better! Watch how it helps with your symptoms too!? 

Birth Moon.

What I love to suggest near the end of our pregnancy is to start taking part in what I call a birth moon, also known as a baby moon, or a honeymoon or celebration and we are celebrating Birth! Spend at least 2 weeks at the end of your pregnancy and maybe even longer celebrating your birth by doing a few things like listening to your music of choice and watching your favourite films.

Visit places that you love and that are really connected to your heart, see people that mean a lot to you. Start creating memories whether that’s a memory box or a vision board with things that really feel good to you. It is really important to boost our oxytocin levels during this period of time, as that is going to be key when our body and baby are ready to go into labour. Oxytocin is what’s going to drive this so this is why a birth moon is so important. 

 

You can hear more from Emma Armstrong, founder of The Naked Doula @thenakeddoula, Birth Influencer, Qualified Hypnobirthing Coach and Educator will be a speaker at The Baby Show, which is celebrating its 21st year and returning to Olympia London from 21-23 October 2022. The UK’s Leading Baby & Parenting Shows in London ExCel, London Olympia, and the Birmingham NEC. Everything for Bump, Baby & You Under One Roof. For a chance to win a ticket for The Baby Show, click the link The Baby Show Ticket Giveaway and #WIN a FREE ticket to @thebabyshow with @lidlgb 

 

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