Pregnancy without Pounds Newsletter - Are you LABORING over LABOR?

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Are you LABORING over LABOR?

In my survey of pregnant women, at least 60% of them said they were worried about labor and delivery.

I know I went through a period where I was pretty stressed out about how I was going to get through it. Not to mention all the labor horror stories that people LOVE to tell you when you’re pregnant!

We ALL get to that point in our pregnancy where we look down and think – “how exactly am I going to get this baby out?” In fact, I probably would've gone into the delivery room a complete wreck if not for a purely coincidental conversation I had with a colleague of mine.

So what did she tell me?

This colleague of mine is in fact a great therapist and by chance she asked me how I was doing. When I told her about my increasing labor anxiety, all it took was one simple sentence to turn me around....

"Labor doesn't HAVE to be painful!" she told me. Yeah right, I said (and I'm sure you're rolling your eyes right now just like I did)!

But I'm here to tell you, it is actually true. And I encourage you to stop and take a minute to think about it.

You see, if you go into the delivery room thinking that your labor is going to be painful - it WILL be painful. BUT if you go in there thinking about that beautiful little baby (instead of the pain), it may just be one of the best experiences of your life - I KNOW it was for me!

Even my mom was shocked at how easily I made it through my labor and how painlessly I moved around right after delivery (I would say that I usually have the lowest pain threshold in my family!). Her memories of her own labor experiences were a whole lot different.

Just a little thinking (out of the box that is!) can go a long way on this one. Fear will only make you tense up - making the process a lot more painful than it needs to be. So, stay relaxed, calm and trust the process.

If you're feeling a little nervous about the BIG DAY - here are my TOP 5 LABOR TIPS to help you out:

1. Concentrate on getting oxygen to your baby - do slow deep breaths filling your chest with air, holding and then slowly exhaling (a labor preparation class can really help with this);

2. Visualize a warm, relaxing place, like a beach in sunny MEXICO (this really worked for me!);

3. Move around a lot and try to minimize your time spent lying down (you'll feel much better once you get up!);

4. See labor as a positive experience! I was motivated by the thought that every contraction was bringing me one step closer to meeting my baby girl and it definitely worked.

5. Really concentrate on LISTENING to your body and DON'T be frightened - fear will only keep you rigid - the exact opposite of how you want to be during your labor (that is of course, if you want an easy and quick labor).

Relax and breathe and enjoy your new gift :)

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