“The mind leads and the body follows”

This is a really well known saying and it is true for so many things, not just to do with birth.

Let’s put the birth bit to one side for a minute and think about more everyday life stuff. Our mind is SO powerful and it does create outcomes in our body. I want you to have a think about the changes in our body when we think about something we are frightened of. Maybe that’s flying, public speaking or being among large groups of people. Just the thought of speaking on a stage or getting on a plane can make people display physical changes such as sweaty palms, stuttering words, needing a wee and changes to a normal breathing pattern to name just a few. Changes that happen because of a single thought.

Many women are frightened of birth and for a lot of people it is the fear of the unknown and the ‘what ifs’. Being fearful puts us into the sympathetic nervous system, sometimes known as the ‘freeze, fight or flight’, side of things. When we go into this side of things our body starts to produce adrenaline and inhibits the production of your own good birth hormones like oxytocin and endorphins (your bodies natural pain relief). We can then find ourselves entering the FEAR – TENSION – PAIN cycle which can be hard to break. When we are frightened our body can sometimes even physically tense up which isn’t very helpful when it comes to labour and birth!.

So how can we stop this from happening and help ourselves?

There are a number of tools and techniques which can help you to stay in the ‘good’ side of things.

Here are my top 6 things to do to help you:

Inform yourself – Find out about the ‘what ifs’ and what your options are should birth go down a road that wouldn’t be your first choice.

Breathing – Learn some breathing techniques , there are 4 included within this course that can help you throughout pregnancy, labour, birth and beyond.

Relaxation – We want this to almost be second nature when it comes to birth. Practice is key. Many, many people struggle to relax as we all live such busy lives but just like riding a bike or learning to drive, practice is key. Make sure you are taking time out at least 2 times a week to dedicate to this.

Get your birth partner informed and talk about your hopes, preferences and how you want to be supported. When you know your partner has your back you can relax a little bit more.

Don’t just focus on your ‘Plan A’ birth. Focus on an empowered and supported birth however it happens which links back into my first point ‘Inform Yourself’. Knowing your options is vital to feeling in control.

If someone starts to tell you a birth story in a negative or unhelpful way tell them to STOP! All these birth stories do it fuel the fear.