Listen to the Podcast here.

If moms go in labor with negative ideas or with anxiety and feeling really worried about their labor and birth, the outcome is usually not as good as if you go in labor with a positive mindset. I would like to use a marathon analogy. You don’t run a marathon and train and like “I probably won’t do it, I hope I can make it, I really worry about this or that.” But, you go in there and you know that you’re going to make it, at least that’s what you’re telling yourself. And that is the same for labor and birth.
You need to actively look into your options and you want to be an active researcher. For example when you buy a car, you look into all your options and the pricing and what this car does and can do. When you book a vacation, you look into all your options and look into where it is the most beautiful and where you are going to have a great experience. But many pregnant women say, “I’m going with the flow.” The problem is in a hospital, it’s not going to be your flow. It’s going to be the hospital’s flow.

The goal for your birth is that it is going to be your flow. It’s your baby and your body and you want to have a good experience. So go in there more relaxed because you did your research – you asked your doctor about certain things that are important to you like you don’t want IV fluids, you don’t want constant monitoring all the time, or you don’t want to be on your back to deliver your baby. Those are important things to tell your doctor and the OB team/midwife team because sometimes you have someone else at your birth – not your actual doctor or midwife – and knowing that you had good communication with your OB team, makes you more relaxed and more empowered when looking at your birth. And when you’re then in labor, you really know what to expect. You know all the pros and cons of everything and you’re more relaxed because you took it into your own hands and you weren’t negatively pressured in a way but you were relaxed and therefore you have a better birth experience.