11 Birth Tips, Tricks, and Affirmations

I love being a doula. I love knowing that I possess the ability to ease someone’s labor and ensure that she looks back on the birth of her child in as positive a light as possible. I love the energy and power of birth, which are so obvious both to the birthing woman and to everyone around her. I love that when people who love birth gather, we rejuvenate each other with talk of birth.

But I know that most women do not love birth. Most women fear birth, and I understand why. We don’t see birth, except in media. We only know what we are told, and we are only told about the fear. The pain. The horror stories of emergency C-sections and blood transfusions, and epidurals that didn’t work.

So today, I am going to share eleven tips, tricks, and positive affirmations about birth. Sorry if some of them seem a bit silly—in my opinion, silliness is even better than Pitocin for moving a labor along:

#1. When you birth your baby, you are the most powerful person you have ever been.

#2. There is no wrong way to birth a baby. However you choose (and whatever surprise plans your baby has in store), you are doing it right.

#3. Laughter makes labor wonderful, so reminisce about funny and sweet stories while you work to bring in a new life.

#4. Put on whatever music speaks to you and dance that baby out! Wouldn’t you want to come faster, if you knew there was a party? Movement speeds labor, so slow-dance or salsa…just keep moving!

#5. Birth is not a race, a performance, or a test. You do your thing at your own pace, because your uterus and your baby are in a very important meeting, and neither of them are keeping track of time.

#6. Don’t let anyone treat you like you are sick or delicate, or take away your power. You possess an energy that can move mountains.

#7. Let out your inner animal. Roar. Moo. Bellow. Get on all fours. Pull on ropes and dangle/squat (safely, meaning your feet stay on the ground but your weight is mainly supported in your arms) from squatting bars or headboards, because they make excellent stand-ins for vines and tree branches (Bonus points if you really get into the animal act, rather than just using these verbalization and positioning techniques). Birth is a primal event, so go primal.

#8. If your romantic partner is in the labor room with you: kick out everyone, turn down the lights, and have a nice little make-out session. This does a few things: passes the time enjoyably, speeds up your labor (yay, oxytocin!) and gives you a little romance to cling to if you can’t find the time or energy in the following weeks or months—newborns are not always accommodating of “grown-up time.”

#9. Aromatherapy can be very soothing during labor. Bring something that you love to smell (a few drops of an essential oil on a washcloth, your favorite scented candle, etc.) to your labor room so that you can sink into a cloud of lavender, vanilla, citrus, etc., to either calm or rejuvenate yourself.

#10. Labor is your time, so do what you want (within reason, of course…let’s not make skydiving labor a thing). My recommendation? Take the longest shower of your life. Believe me, you are only hours away from spit-up and rushed showers every few days. Hop on in, the water feels great!

#11. You are having a baby!!!!!!!!!! What could be more positive than that?!?

What did you do to make your labors enjoyable? Let me know in the comments!