Labour and Birth Support

Labour & birth is incredible, powerful, an overwhelming amount of emotion and hormones circling our bodies and different for every birthing person.

Often feared, and misunderstood.

We see horrible ‘birthing scenes’ in movies and TV, we hear horror stories and see so much intervention in a milestone that is often so innate in every aspect.

Education is often what often shapes a birth, being able to understand (as much as we can) what labour is, how our incredible bodies go through such a powerful transformation. What we can do to support this process and how we can support others, to support us.

I can not stress enough the importance of having a support person/people who you can trust in every aspect, who understand your birthing intentions and have the ability to advocate for you, when you might be at the height of it all.

During your pregnancy along with education it is so important to sit down and create a ‘toolbox’ with your supports. Seeing your partner or loved one in labour can be really emotional so having that ‘toolbox’, and those discussions around what labour and birth can look like is so important. You don’t need to know what you want, because trust me you will have no idea. But it is a great start to give your supports some ideas…

I like to tap into the senses,

TOUCH

• Do you want to try massage?

• Heat/Cool (water or heat packs, ice to hold)

• A light hand? (hand holding, touch on the shoulder, lower back etc.)

• Birthing comb or TENS

• Soft/rough items to hold

• Water immersion (shower/bath)

SMELL

• Essential Oils (what do you like/don’t like?- peppermint for nausea, lavender, clarysage (calming)

• No smelly food or drink? (be aware of coffee breath, hot food etc)

HEARING

• Encouraging and powerful spoken affirmations?

• Do you want silence?

• Music/birthing playlist?

TASTE

• Water vs Energy drink, hydralyte, juice etc

• Snacks (despite what you see on TV you can eat during labour, energy is so important)

SIGHT

• Darkness? (there is a reason pretty much all animal will go an isolate and find darkness to give birth!)

• Graphic affirmations

• Videos/TV etc as distraction

All of these things are so important and just a few ways your support team can support you.

(If you have any else that worked for you, leave a comment!)

And remember postpartum care is JUST as important, whether it be talking together or needing to speak to someone to unpack it all, is so very normal and very important. It is something that needs to be normalised! Think about how many people you talk about a wedding with, a job promotion etc!

*This picture is shared with permission, from a beautiful couple who I was able to support and document the birth of their beautiful baby boy.