I’m a birth doula, childbirth educator & midwifes assistant. Natural birth tips for births in hospital are some of the things I get asked a lot and so I thought I would share with whoever was interested!

Working in the field, some of the best advice I could give is:

1. Everything at the hospital is optional which is something they will not necessarily advertise. From getting the IV in your arm to being able to walk around and birth in whatever position you want including wearing what you want is OPTIONAL. Granted, the only way its not is if your vitals or baby’s vitals are funky. So, bottom line, if you and baby are ok, you should be able to do whatever you want.

2. Labor at home as long as possible so you get to the hospital ready to have the baby. This way you can avoid a lot of management from the staff and can stay in your element. Past a certain amount of dilation (about 7-9cm) they cannot give you anything for pain anyway, it would be considered too late. A good way to know when to head in is following the 4-1-1 rule. Contractions will be 4 min apart lasting 1 min for an hour. The magic number here is how long they LAST, or the middle number. Doesn’t matter if they have been 4 minutes apart lasting 30 seconds for an hour. The longer the contractions last the further in labor you are and that’s what you want. You will be seriously laboring at that point.

3. Take a natural birth childbirth ed course. Like hypnobirthing or bradley method or mama natural’s online course etc. this way you go in with a plan and have a really good idea of what to expect and how to develop a birth plan to implement. And as you learn you can discuss several of these topics with your care providers so that you already have some good communication going on about your birth before the actual experience.

4. Consider hiring a birth doula. They are like birth planners and make sure everyone is on board with what you want/dont want, attends your full birth as emotional and professional birth support, assisting with positions, making the environment comfortable, and guiding you through the experience if you should second guess anything. They also bring a lot of eas to your partner and provide support for him as well. Theyre great! 😜

5. And last but not least remember do not neglect the postpartum period. We tend to get very caught up in the experience of birth and then once we are home with baby it’s like what next?? Lol Consider grabbing some literature like The First Forty Days or The Fourth Trimester to help you prep for that. This period requires more pampering and ease than anything else! You probably are all prepped for baby and what they might need - remember you!

Having contractions.

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