When we find out we are pregnant, there are so many thoughts that run through our head including those about the labour. How painful will it be? Will I be able to do it naturally? What if I can’t push? What if I have a C-section? Will my baby be OK?
I know I had so many of these thoughts leading up to my labour with Finn and as a new mum who was reasonably young at the time, I really had no idea what to expect. I knew I wanted a natural labour with no drugs and I didn’t want any interference but most of all I just wanted my baby to be OK and I think in the end sometimes we just do what we are told or what we have to do. Especially as first time mums, we sometimes don’t trust our bodies as much as we should and let them do what they are made to naturally.
Leading up to the birth of my second baby, I have been reading this wonderful book by Birth Goddess, Katrina Zaslavsky called “A Modern Woman’s Guide to A Natural Empowering Birth” and I wish I had read it before I had Finn. Katrina is a mother who has two daughters and when she was pregnant, she found herself hungry for knowledge on the birthing experience. However, she was unable to find any real resources that focused on the positivity of labour and birth, which soon eventuated in to this wonderful book.
The book is really about taking the power back and getting what we want from labour so that we come out of the experience feeling empowered and positive. It focuses on how to achieve a natural labour and includes a tonne of real-life stories from mums who have achieved natural births, many against the odds, by trusting themselves and being strong in their decisions.
The book talks about how you can achieve your ultimate birth no matter the circumstances and includes tips and techniques from experts in the industry that you can take with you on your journey to becoming a mum. It brings back the beauty of birth and focuses on getting in to the “zone” through techniques like meditation and self-hypnosis.
One of the main points I have taken from this book that I will take into my labour is to relax and be connected. I was so tense last time because I was so scared of the pain and that only made it harder for me. We know the pain is inevitable and from reading Katrina’s book I can go into labour with the knowledge to breathe through the pain and not allow stress to control my body using techniques from this book. You never know, you may end up having a pain-free birth like Katrina had with her two girls, simply from finding that inner peace and strength.
The book really is a birthing bible and is inspiring on so many levels. For first time mums (and even second or third time) this book will teach you things you never knew about labour and give you a whole new understanding on what it’s like to have a beautiful, empowering birth.
I would definitely recommend this book as a must-read for pregnant women, or those planning on having a baby in the near future. It’s also hugely important for mum’s who may have had a birth experience they weren’t happy with the first or second time around and want to have the labour they have dreamed of.
Most importantly this should not discourage any mums who have had to have c-sections or had an epidural or intervention during their previous births. All mums do an incredible job bringing their babies in to this world and a healthy baby is the ultimate goal. I just hope that this book will allow you to realise that you can have the birth you want the next time around with a little bit of knowledge and support.
Purchase Katrina’s book here in time for your labour. You will also find a whole heap of other wonderful resources for birth on her website. Thank me later xox
Sarah (Baby Cakes)
