What is Natural Pregnancy and Childbirth?

Giving birth is a powerful life-changing event… one that brings a woman to her very animal roots (I made so much noise during our home-water birth that the neighbourhood dogs howled – but the intonations kept the pain down in my abdomen and not in my head). The process will call on every ounce of fortitude and will bring a woman face-to-face with her base fears. That is why preparation before labour and delivery is crucial.

Preparation includes getting in touch with both the body and the mind. Fear during labour increases pain (and the need for medication). To start, a woman could try and assess her fears about her body, her preconceptions about birth and parenting, and her own insecurities related to pregnancy, the baby, etc. Writing these things down really helps to draw out the fears and replace them with confidence.

What is needed is to shift paradigms. Women need to recognize the wonders of their own body and hold tight the conviction that their body knows what to do. The rewards are many – a quicker less painful labour, lower chances of interventions such as forceps or cesarean, a gentler transition for the baby, and a more rapid healing time for the new mom.

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