In short, Yes. I think so. And by this I don’t mean writing a birth plan, because trust me, your birth won’t go to ‘plan’. But that’s not to say it can’t be a positive experience.

Some women will have a relatively straightforward labour and birth – the textbook type – if there even is one. Maybe straightforward isn’t the right word, and I definitely don’t mean easy by any means, but you know, things will happen in an order you would expect them to. But for others, this won’t be the case. It certainly wasn’t for me. Hence a birth plan is not something I think is necessary, but preparing yourself for possible outcomes and having coping mechanisms is important.

It took me a while to come to the realisation that at some point I was actually going to have to give birth to this baby growing inside me. Sounds ridiculous I know, but I was in a kind of pregnancy bubble, carrying on with my life as normal. And even though I was planning things for once the baby was here, I never gave much thought to how it was going to get here. It wasn’t until I attended my first antenatal birthing class that it occurred to me. To be precise, it was when the teacher held up a cookie cutter measuring 10cm in diameter to demonstrate the hole we would be pushing our babies out of. Yes – an effing cookie cutter. WTF?? All I could now picture was that cookie cutter between my legs and a small human trying to push their way out of it. That blissful bubble I was in of just being pregnant was finally burst and I was suddenly sh*t scared.

But after reading a couple of books (see below) and doing two rounds of Daisy Birthing Classes (which I highly recommend – link also below), I felt so much more confident and was actually looking forward to giving birth. Crazy, I know, but I now felt like an empowered woman who was going to ‘breathe’ my way through labour without the need for any pain relief. Yes, I hear you laughing at me. But I became a firm believer of mind over matter, and an element of hypnobirthing, and had I not done this prep before having the baby, I know I would have gone into a massive panic, felt the pain so much more, and not enjoyed the experience at all.

Well actually I didn’t enjoy it. Not least because it didn’t go how I had imagined, or how it was ‘supposed’ to. But even with all the complications (more on my birth story another time), every step was bearable, I remained calm throughout, and still believe I had a positive birth.

So all the role-playing I did in my antenatal classes, getting down on all fours, rocking back and forth, and taking deep breaths, in a church hall on a Thursday night with women I’ve never met before, although it was TOTALLY cringe and awkward, it paid off.

Some tips for any mama-to-be’s out there:

• Hypnobirthing – look into it! You don’t need to get all the DVDs and CDs or anything else, just read up on it
• There’s so many books out there – I read The Good Birth Companion that was recommended to me by a friend – it’s a good read with lots of practical advice click here to find it on Amazon
• Do some form of antenatal class. I did Daisy Birthing which was brilliant and I can’t recommend it enough click here for more info
• Don’t bother writing a birth plan but know your options and have an idea of what you would like
• Find out about the different types of pain relief – their pros, cons and side effects
• Most importantly – keep an open mind – you just don’t know how things will pan out on the day

Finally – Doulas. Do people really use them? That shit is just a bit too wierd for me but if it’s worked for you, I’d love to hear about your experience.

Until next time,

Love S xx