Hello all! I think I must have read about a 100 posts like this when I was pregnant with my little girl and I was prepping for a natural birth, but the truth is I never got tired of them, so here is my contribution to the 100s of articles like this one!

1) Pick a midwife/doctor you like and who is onboard with all your decisions. I was at first planning for a natural hospital birth, but felt like the doctors and nurses were pushing for medicines and tests I didn’t want. I didn’t want to feel pressured to do things in a way that I wasn’t comfortable while planning and experiencing birth. Remember the doctors work for you. You can switch providers at anytime and it truly is okay. I switched to a home birth midwife when I couldn’t find one at my local hospital I felt was onboard with what my husband and I had prayed about and decided to do.

2) Be active! I completely understand that if you are very sick or high risk this is not doable for all women, but birth is a MARATHON! Your body is going to be exhausted so it is good to train for endurance in any way you can. Obviously you are not supposed to try new types of exercise while pregnant, but do what you can. I was a walker before pregnancy, so I just built my walking durability/speed/distance to prep for birth. I had also done some squats before getting pregnant, so I decided I was going to be the squatting queen while pregnant! I think both did help me endure the long marathon of birth! Do what you can!

3) Practice breathing. I know everyone says that, but I started practicing the 4 seconds in and 6 seconds out at month 3 and continued all the way to 9 months, so it was not something I had to focus on quite as much during birth. I still had to remind myself to count, but the long controlled breaths were rehearsed and more natural while I was in the middle of a contraction.

4) Moan on the breath out and keep your hands open instead of clenched. While I was doing my 6 second exhale I would let out a low moan and keep my hands open the whole time during a contraction. These two tips are supposed to keep your pelvic floor loose. I believed it helped keep my contractions less painful and more productive.

5) Hire a doula! Please!! My doula was totally amazing! She helped with counter pressure for 17 hours and came in with spinning babies to help speed things up multiple times. Also please make sure your partner likes them. With the first doula I had lined up, I had my husband meet her before we signed all the papers and hired her, and he thought she was knowledgeable, but their personalities clashed. I knew after the meeting if I were to hire her, I would be worried the whole time that they weren’t getting along, or Austin wasn’t enjoying the birth, etc. Be sure to work as a team to find someone you both like to feel supported as a couple. The doula’s job is to support the couple, (emotionally and physically [are you eating, sleeping, needing counter pressure, etc.]) while the midwife is working on medically assisting in the birth of your baby (heartbeats and blood pressure for both mom and baby, baby not getting stuck, stitches if you tear, when and if to transfer to the hospital, etc.). The midwife and the doula are two different jobs and I feel like if it is your first time and you are doing it naturally, you need both!!

6). Educate yourself, but don’t over educate yourself! I watched many videos by the Doula Bridget Teyler on YouTube. She is a wonderful source of birth information. If you over-educate yourself though, and read every article on birth possible, and every medical complication that could possibly happen, you’re going to have a spirit of fear, and not a spirit of confidence. So educate yourself, so you know what’s going on, but don’t go down any rabbit holes or horror stories that are not applicable to your situation. Pray and give the rest to God.

7) Read/Listen to Positive Natural Birth stories! Our culture is one that is centered around hospital birth. While natural birthing is making a come back, it is still not the norm of our culture. Surround yourself with stories of positive births of other moms, who have done it naturally! In other cultures, and in times past, you would hear it from your sisters, your friends, your parents, your grandparents, etc. Since we lack that as an American society, try to make up for it, and listen to many birth stories. Learn that birth is a natural thing, it can be done, and your body knows how to do it!

8) Don’t get into the pool to early! I believe I got into the pool too early and although the warm water felt amazzzzing, I believe it slowed labor down. Wait until you are sure you are in transition, then you can get in and enjoy the warm water and “aquadural” effects. I was not in transition, but I got in the pool and although it felt good, it then took forever to get into transition and transition also took a while.

9) Have labor snacks ready! I had done a bunch of freezer meals for postpartum, but I hadn’t gotten any snacks prepared for labor. So while I was in the middle of labor, I was getting hungry and I didn’t have time in between contractions to eat anything like a meal, so I ate peanut butter crackers, and a peanut butter only sandwich! Haha! I was not prepared for the fueling piece of labor. I did have honey sticks and liked those, but beef-sticks, cheese-sticks, or protein bars would have been so nice too! So I know next time I will have those on hand.

10) Mentally prepare for a very long labor, especially if it’s your first. For some reason I thought, since I had been so active with squats and ridiculously long walks, eating healthy, and practicing breathing that it was going to speed up labor. It might help a little, and I am sure it makes it easier, but it’s not going to shave a ton of time off your labor, at least in my experience. Because I wasn’t mentally prepared for it to be so long, when I hit 12 hours I felt like mentally I was exhausted and done, but then had to push through another 13 to 14 hours of labor, which was very difficult. If this is your first time, I suggest preparing for 35 to 40 hours of labor mentally. And if it does go long, you’re ready, and if it goes shorter, you luck out!

Finally not a labor tip but a piece of advice for after: write down your birth story after it is over and things you want to do different next time! God designed our memories to fade. Only the extremes, both good and bad stay with us forever. Write down the little details you want to remember for you and for your next birth (if you want another, I know I do eventually!).

That is it mamas!! Enjoy the ride and good luck with your birth! You have got this!