Birth Goddess

Empowering Women for a Positive Birth & Beyond

You are here: Home / Birth Goddess Blog / Once upon a time I was you…plus my biggest revelation!

Once upon a time I was you…plus my biggest revelation!

By

Once upon a time I was you…plus my biggest revelation!

FEARFUL of giving birth and especially the big P word? (you know, PAIN!!) I know what that feels like and what it feels like to be FREE from fear. Yep, once upon a time I was you….

Like many first time expectant mothers, I was very fearful of the birth process. Actually, fearful was an understatement. Yet I was committed to going natural all the way and consciously worked through my fears and transformed my experience from being absolutely terrified of the birth process (sad but true) to feeling at peace, having complete trust in birth and my body and actually looking forward to the big event!!!

That was a MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH for me as you can imagine….

More than just a matter of ‘good luck’ or having ‘superwoman powers’ as some of my mothers circle suggested, it involved many months of conscious preparation, relaxation rituals for this stress bunny, digging deep and obsessive hunting around for information to make the unknown more known to me so that it was no longer so big and scary.

I even learnt to trust my gut which told me to give an independent childbirth education class a go (the best thing I ever did) and give the hospital classes a miss!

My biggest revelation along the way?

“I finally learnt the REAL TRUTH about birth ~ the real monster was not the pain but the FEAR itself. It is the fear that promotes the pain. We are taught to fear birth because we are told it is overwhelmingly painful, but what if this was just a myth we have all bought into? What if it could be a pain-free or even joyful experience, if only we would think differently about it?” ~ Katrina Zaslavsky (you can quote me on that!)

This was so BIG for me, I talk about this concept at length and the possibility of a PAIN-FREE BIRTH (which I personally experienced) in my book { A Modern Woman’s Guide to a Natural Empowering Birth } as well as in a TV interview here (2nd video from top) and what is known as the “fear ~ tension ~ pain syndrome” which totally rocked my world.

Having faced and worked through this fear, resulting in two very empowering, natural drug-free births with my beautiful girls and then coaching others in bloom, it turns out I didn’t just cross that bridge from fear to peace for myself but for women all over the world.

My personal journey into motherhood and the birth lessons I have gained along the way, have had such a profound impact on me, that it has led me on a whole new pathway: to become an advocate of natural and conscious parenting, committed to supporting women in bloom to give birth naturally without drugs or interventions (if that is what they choose) and to overcome their fears about birthing in a world that has become so medicalised and fearful of something so perfectly natural.

I felt compelled to help empower other women to walk the same path (or whatever path feels absolutely right for them. I teach not preach!)  And that brings me right here talking to you when it’s way past my bedtime lol……

So I want to ask you a question……What is your biggest fear when it comes to birthing? Click here to let me know or leave a note below 🙂

Or for our birth professionals and practitioners reading this, what troubles your clients the most and how do you help them to work through those fears? Let me know here.

Until next time, may you cross the bridge with me from fear to peace and step into your own power 🙂

Warmly,

Katrina Zaslavsky

Founder of Birth Goddess: A Positive Birth Revolution

What others are saying about “Once Upon A Time I was You…..”

Hi Katrina, I love your emails and magazine – they are interesting, inspiring and about real women.
 
My biggest fear re childbirth is that I won’t be able to handle the pain of childbirth and that my anxiety will get out of control, leading to a panic attack.
 
I have experienced anxiety and depression for the past 20 years and am still learning how to cope with it.  I was challenged a few years ago when I broke and dislocated my ankle.  The pain was excruciating especially when they had to put my ankle back in place while I was conscious (I had a gas mask but it didn’t help much) and I had an anxiety attack, hyperventilated and thought I was going to die – it was a traumatic experience. The recovery was also painful and stressful, resulting in a lot of anxiety and not coping that well.
 
I have not had any children yet but would like to have 1 in a couple of years if possible fertility wise – I am 40 now.  A gynaecologist said he could refer me to a obstetrician who would do a Caesarean section due to my history/present anxiety/depression – his theory is that if I have a bad experience giving birth it could lead to post-natal depression given my history.  I don’t want a caesarean and would like a natural birth but am worried I’m not strong enough to master my thoughts at that time.
  
I have also been told by my mother (when I broke my ankle) that I wouldn’t be able to handle childbirth (the pain levels etc) & my parter has said I have a low pain threshold – so it is hard to believe in myself that I could do it.
Jane
 
 
Dear Katrina, Thank you so much for all your emails I have wanted to reply to quite a few but life, work, babies means I have few spare moments these days which is a great thing! 
 
Your story and your experience of birth and letting go of FEAR is also my story. I am now a Doula and a photographer but it was my birthing journeys that brought me to this beautiful place I am in today …mostly free of FEAR. 
 
Without going into too much detail as it is so easy to do with birth stories I will tell you that I had a traumatic crash csection with my first, another emergency section with my second (both could have been avoided) and then a beautiful, healing, spiritual, empowering (there aren’t enough words) home birth with my third baby my son. 
 
My journey involved educating myself about birth and specifically VBAC and working emotionally on letting go of the fear and trauma from my previous births. I didn’t work on my fear enough before my second birth which meant when my labour began I was so terrified and also uninformed about my options that I got an early epidural resulting in another c-section.  
 
I did so much work on myself before my third birth and although many told me I couldn’t and shouldn’t do it I knew I could and needed to. I am so glad I stayed strong as when I birthed my son in my home in front of the fire a strength came up to me from the earth and love came down to me from above reuniting my masculine and feminine sides in such a way that I screamed out ‘I am a warrior woman!’ And I was! It has truly healed and empowered me in every area of my life.
 
I am currently working on a project called The Birth Journey Project where I am collecting ALL birth stories and photographing women who have had children in a way that shows the beauty of real women’s bodies after birth. I will be launching a photo campaign of the images and stories hoping to raise awareness of subjects like VBAC, birth trauma and the I importance of post partum care but also to share that birth CAN be truly beautiful. Every birth deserves a voice. If you would like to hear more about this project I would love to share more with you.
 
Blessings,
Hannah