Having a baby is a major life event, so feeling overwhelmed is completely normal. There is a lot to learn and decide, but preparing ahead will make your labor and delivery experience easier. You might be wondering how to get ready for labor.
Your body naturally prepares for labor on its own, but you can do a few things to help lower your stress.
Ways to Prepare for Labor
1. Create your birth plan.
In your birth plan, you’ll give a general overview of what you want for your delivery. This plan communicates your wishes and goals before, during, and after labor and delivery. In it, you’re able to tell your best-case birthing scenario: how you’d like your labor and delivery to happen if all goes to “plan.” As you consider how to get ready for labor, your birth plan will help your medical and support teams understand your wishes.
Plan on discussing your birth plan with your doctor and your support team because it helps them understand you. By sharing it with your doctor, you’ll also discover if what you have in mind is possible and safe for you and your baby. Most births don’t go exactly as expected, so it’s important to be flexible and open to change with your birth plan.
If you’re planning to place your baby for adoption at birth, know that you have rights as a birth mother and many choices too. You can decide who is allowed to see and hold your baby and also who can be in the delivery room. Learn more from Lifetime Adoption.
2. Select your labor support person
Having support and constant encouragement during labor affects the outcome. Women with good support report a better memory of their labor. The best support person for you in labor knows you well, is calm, confident, quiet, and positive, and knows some medical procedures and terms. It is also a plus if they know labor through direct experience, attending to others through labor, or studying.
The term “labor coach” often refers to a casual friend or family member supporting you. Usually, a partner fills that role.
The job of a professional doula is to provide support and information throughout your labor. If you’re interested in hiring a doula to assist you, check out Doulas of North America (DONA) online for their handy doula locator and hiring tips.
3. Take birthing classes.
Childbirth classes not only help you understand the labor and birth process, but they also give you helpful techniques to use during your labor. This knowledge will make you more informed and better able to decide what type of labor and delivery you want.
These classes can answer many of your questions about what will happen during labor and delivery. Your instructor will teach you how to work through contractions and stay in control. So that you’re ready for delivery, you’ll also practice these strategies in class.
It’s common to be stressed out or afraid about labor and delivery. Many women are scared of the pain of childbirth. Attending birthing classes will help you address this fear. There, a medical professional will guide you through each step of labor, what to expect, and methods for relaxation during labor. Lots of the relaxation techniques involve breathing methods of some sort. It’s important to breathe as best you can; do not allow yourself to get frantic.
Most women bring their labor support person with them to classes so they can practice together. You can find birthing courses at your local hospital or birthing center, or your doctor can help you find the right class for you. Sign up for birthing classes early in your pregnancy, as they can fill up quickly.
4. Tour the hospital.
Knowing where to go and what to expect can help you feel more comfortable once you go into labor. Schedule an appointment for a tour of the hospital where you’ll deliver.
A hospital staff member, such as a nurse, will take you on a tour through where you will have your baby and tell you what you can expect while you’re there. Touring the hospital will also help you find out what options are available so that you can plan your birth. Make sure to ask plenty of questions during your hospital tour!
5. Consider your pain relief options
Make sure to discuss your pain relief options with your doctor ahead of time so you both know what to expect. An epidural is the most common form of pain relief for labor in the U.S. Epidural drugs stay in the epidural space where they are injected. They don’t enter your bloodstream, meaning the drugs won’t spread to your baby.
Giving birth without pain relief, while often seemingly ideal for both mother and baby, isn’t always in their best interest. When the pain becomes more intense or has gone on too long, it interferes with the progress of labor.
It’s impossible to predict if you’ll need pain relief during labor before the pain has actually begun. Even though epidurals are safer and more effective than ever before, they, like every childbirth invention, do have some risks that you should weigh against the prospective benefit. Visit the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists website to get a summary of pain relief options that may be available to you.
6. Pack your hospital bag.
Start thinking about what you’ll need to bring to the hospital. Most experts suggest starting to pack your hospital bag at 34 weeks. Doing so will prepare you in case your baby makes a surprise appearance before their due date. You can grab the bag and head for the hospital once you go into labor.
To make your hospital stay more pleasant, here are some things to think about packing. Hospitals have different rules about what they give out to new moms and what you will need to bring from home, so make sure to ask when you tour the hospital.
7. Check any self-consciousness at the door
Things like screaming, swearing loudly, or accidentally pooping may seem embarrassing now. During labor, though, avoiding awkwardness will be the farthest thing on your mind. Nothing you could do or say during labor will surprise the doctors and nurses. They have seen and heard it all! They’re definitely not judging you.
“I was having a really bad contraction and going, ‘Mmmmm,’ but as the contraction got more intense, it became, ‘MmmmMOOO.’ I literally mooed. Like a cow,” writes user maddiec49bdbe126 for a BuzzFeed article on embarrassing childbirth stories.
So, check your self-consciousness at the door when you check into the hospital/birthing center. Feel free to do what feels natural as well as what makes you the most comfortable. If you’re normally a loud person, don’t try to hold back your grunts and groans.
How NOT to get ready for labor
If you’re nervous about giving birth, don’t watch shows or visit sites with labor stories that scare you and make you feel anxious. “Reality shows” about labor and delivery mainly focus on the scary and extreme things that rarely happen. A great bulk of births are healthy and normal.
And don’t listen to people who will tell you scary stories of their experiences. Everybody’s story is different, so don’t listen to one person and think that will happen to you.
If you found this blog helpful, you’ll want to explore these others for more labor and delivery tips!
7 Ways to Make Your Labor Easier
Gas or Labor Pains: How Can I Tell the Difference?
How to Get Ready for Labor Induction