Forget Hollywood.....this is the reall truth about birthing.

Something I am passionate about is that women are being sold a lie when it comes to birthing. I feel that we are being told so many "scare tactics" that we forget some very basic and simple truths....

• our bodies were created to give birth
• birthing is a natural event
• managing the sensations of birthing is something that is within every woman
• FEAR is the main reason why natural birthing can get a little "out of control"

I want to share with you some of the reasons why I feel women are getting the wrong end of the stick.

It starts with Hollywood.
TV has a lot to answer for when it comes to giving birth. I hear stories all the time from midwives and other birthing professionals, where women roll up to the delivery suite in early labour, and just up straight on the bed and lay there waiting to give birth. Does this sound right to you? If it does, then you too are a victim of the Hollywood mentality.
Firslty, early labour is not a time to be in hospital.
Secondly, early labour is when it is ideal to be walking around, rocking, swaying and gently moving so that the pelvis has time to relax and settle into labour.
Laying on a reclining bed with legs bent at the knee and compressing the tailbone does not encourage relaxation of the pelvis!
Lets not forget established labour either! Managing contractions whilst laying on a table not only minimises the use of gravity, but it actually can hinder the baby moving down easily into the birth canal.
What it does do however, is gives the doctor an easy birds' eye view of your vagina, and gives her easy access to pull that baby out.
Does that sound good to you? Well, those who say "yes" need to have another think about it.
Pulling the baby out can cause trauma to the baby and the mother. How about we think about getting her into a postion where she can use gravity to assist her body pushing naturally, and she can breathe her baby out in to the world? (....more on that later....)

So getting back to Hollywood.....When you think about a birthing woman, is she panting, screaming, yelling obscenities at her man? Well, then she is way out of control and not using her body to assist her baby to birth. When you are in a state where your heart rate is high, you are on edge, you feel angry and ready to argue and fight, then you can be sure that adrenaline is coursing through your system and preparing you for flight or fight. This is terrific if you are under threat of imminent danger, but in a birthing situation this can be disastrous.

Picture the woman who is leaning over a birthing ball, or leaning into her husband's arms and is gently breathing and rocking, or moaning through her contractions. There is music playing softly in the background, the lights are low and the curtains are drawn. There is a candle or two on the table, and there is some neroli and clary sage essential oils burning in the corner of the room.
Picture the woman who is up on the delivery bed, she is attached to a drip, and monitors. She cannot stand up and move around because of the equipment, and she is shuddering and hollering through each contraction. She is squeezing her partner's hand so tightly he asks her not to do it so hard because it is hurting him. She screams back "Do you think that hurts? You should be feeling THIIIIIISSSSSS!"

Both women are in the same stage of labour, but are experiencing very different things. Both women are in natural labour (ie not induced medixally) and both women are using various techniques like heat to manage the pain. What is the difference? Why is one dealing with it more easily than the other?

The first woman has learned to control her breathing and she is assisting her body with the birthing process. She is relaxing into the contractions, and allowing them to wash over her. She is birthing without fear attached. This is not luck. This is not by chance. She has simply learned about her body and she is using the very body she was created in to manage the sensations she is experiencing and to be very present in the process.

Breathing is the very essence of who we are. Learning to switch on the Para Sympathetic Nervous System will allow a state of calm and peace to wash over you, and to get rid of that adrenaline which puts you in a heightened state. Adrenaline allows you to feel every sensation in the body. Your mind is quick to react and you will feel even the smallest sensation. Birthing requires adrenaline to depart and endorphins to kick in.

Stay tuned to learn how easy it is to learn how to shift your mental state, and enjoy your labour......