scared about birth!

[funk]

I am about 8 weeks away from my due date and as the day gets closer I am more and more terrified of what the labor and delivery will be like. I think I'm mostly afraid of the unknown of it all. Any advice??

[Kirsten]

Did you take any birth classes? We took Bradley classes and that completely eased my fears of birth. You don't have time to do a whole set of classes now (they are usually 10 to 12 weeks, depending), but I'd look online to see if any Bradley classes are offered in your area that you might be able to jump into. Bradley classes are private, not affiliated with hospitals.

If that isn't feasable, I'd try getting the book Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon-Rosegg. I found that very helpful. You also might want to try talking to (IRL or online) people who had wonderful, natural births - it really helps to hear the good stories instead of the bad ones. My three births were all wonderful - nothing bad about it at all. I had really worried all those years (about how in the WORLD I'd ever have a baby, with or without drugs) for nothing. All three times were the most incredible experiences. :love

[Raven]

First of all - congrats on your pregnancy! :hug

What kind of birth do you have in mind? Homebirth? Hospital birth? Birth Centre?

What scares you? I agree that the not knowing can be scary and felt the same way with my first birth.

Birth is very intense and one of the most life changing experiences a woman can have. The thing that helped me the most was trusting my body... and my baby. Knowing that my body instinctively knew what to do and that my baby knew how to be born really helped me to just let go during labour.

The other thing that helped me a lot was understanding the physiology of birth. Let me know if you think this would help you and I can post some more. :)

[EmmalinesMom]

Congratulations!!

I also loved the information from Natural Birth the Bradley Way. Active Birth by Janet Balaskas is also very good. For me talking about my specific fears really helped aleviate them. My biggest fear was having to have a c section, so I worked hard to prepare my body for the birth by eating right, staying active, etc, and when I was in labor, I had as few interventions as possible. (No IV, no meds, etc.)

There is a great thread around here somewhere about all the wonderful parts of birth. I'll look for a link for you. :)

Read up, talk to people who have done it and will be supportive (as opposed to offer horror stories), and trust that your body can do this. :) A woman's body is designed to give birth, and you'll do great!

[massagemom]

you can do it! :hug it is normal to be afraid of the unknown, but when the time comes you will be "in the moment" to the point that you will not be afraid. there is so much great info on this board, and lots of support!

good luck to you.....

[ABand3]

I'd also recommend reading Birthing From Within, it talks about ways to address birth fears - I found it very helpful.

[alegna]

You can do it! Remember that women have been doing this for millions of years.

What helped me the most was being able to go into my own head and block everything else out- but that was a lot easier because I was at home- one of many reasons I think that homebirth is nearly always the way to go.

-Angela

[lilsishomemade]

For me, it takes a little soul searching :) With both of my labors, I had anxieties, the first because I didn't know what to expect, the second was induced, and I wasn't very prepared. But, it was like I'd have a "pep talk" with myself, and think of the why's and where-for's of everything that happened during birth.

I had a copy of the Bradley book with my second, though I didn't get to do it (my dh wasn't around for most of the pregnancy, so we never had a chance to practice), but I did use quite a bit of the info in that book to know what was going on with my body. I'd like to get the Birthing from Within book soon, because I've heard that's great.

[mamachandi]

First of all - congrats on your pregnancy! :hug

What kind of birth do you have in mind? Homebirth? Hospital birth? Birth Centre?

What scares you? I agree that the not knowing can be scary and felt the same way with my first birth.

Birth is very intense and one of the most life changing experiences a woman can have. The thing that helped me the most was trusting my body... and my baby. Knowing that my body instinctively knew what to do and that my baby knew how to be born really helped me to just let go during labour.

The other thing that helped me a lot was understanding the physiology of birth. Let me know if you think this would help you and I can post some more. :)







I agree and the birthing from within book helped me greatly- I had a habit of 'fighting' the pain with my first 2 births and with the 3rd one I read birthing from within (and took a class on it) it really helped me with pain coping techniques (there are excersices in the book you can try) and going into the pain-really feeling it and experiencing it rather than trying to fight it-it really moved my labor along when I finally gave in and went with it and I had my baby less than a 1/2 hour later! my total labor was 5 hours. it was painful but with what I learned it was very managable. good luck!!