How to Prepare for a Natural Birth

When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I was overwhelmed by how much there was to figure out in order to plan a natural birth.

But now, I’ve had two successful natural hospital births! And I’ve got the #1 most important tip on how to prepare for a natural birth. Plus, how I built my support system for natural birth.

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DISCLAIMER I am not a medical professional and nothing in this post should be taken as medical advice. Please consult your midwife or OBGYN regarding any plans, questions or concerns you have about labor and birth.

#1 Way to Prepare for Natural Birth

I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’ll give you the #1 way to prepare successfully for natural birth right here: Read “Ina May’s guide to Childbirth” by renowned midwife, Ina May Gaskin.

This book is amazing for helping to get you prepared for natural birth in so many ways! The first section is filled with countless positive natural birth stories from Ina May’s patients.

The first time I read it (during my pregnancy with my first daughter), these encouraging stories were my favorite part. Reading about the successful natural births of so many women filled my mind with the reality that I could have one too.

In the second section of the book, Ina May goes into the facts and science as well as her research and recommendations on numerous aspects of giving birth. The second time I read the book (during my pregnancy with my second daughter), this was my favorite part because I was in a very different state of mind after three pregnancy losses. My focus was on having an efficient natural birth over having a magical natural birth.

So this book has helped me successfully and beautifully have two totally different experiences with natural birth.

The birth stories in the first part meet the emotional need to be assured that natural birth is completely normal and doable. And the factual information in the second part meets the logical need to understand how birth works and why medical interventions can cause problems.

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My journey to my first natural birth was very gradual and began with my first pregnancy which resulted in miscarriage (read my missed miscarriage story here). It wasn’t until I began reading Ina May’s book at the recommendation of my midwife late in my first trimester with my first daughter that I fully realized I wanted a natural birth.

This book changed the course of my birth plans and dramatically altered how I thought about birth. I went from an initial state of assuming birth was horribly painful to believing it could be a beautiful experience to treasure.

And my first birth did indeed turn out to be a treasured experience. It is still such a precious memory to this day – 6 1/2 years later. I mainly credit reading Ina May’s book to my enormous success with having a pleasant natural birth with my first child.

My second natural birth had its own journey that was fraught with loss, grief and intense struggles. To be honest, I was not really interested in having a magical natural birth the second time. The magic of conception, pregnancy and childbirth were largely lost with my recurrent miscarriages.

But what I was interested in was keeping my baby safe and getting her into this world quickly. Although I did not care a whole lot about the beauty of my second birth, I figured the best way to achieve my goal of having an efficient labor was to go natural once again.

With so many emotional hindrances in my way, I had a lingering fear throughout my pregnancy that my labor would stall in response to my mental battle between loss and life. But because I had read Ina May’s book, I knew how to fight these mental battles in a way that would keep my labor moving.

Because of reading this book and God’s grace, I had another successful, wonderful natural birth. Also, I was able to have a natural birth that was an astounding 26 hours SHORTER than my first natural birth, thanks to these 10 simple strategies I used to shorten my labor.

But I would be remiss if I did not mention the amazing natural birth support I received in various forms during each of my pregnancies.

Other Ways to Prepare for Natural Birth

Over the course of my pregnancy with my first daughter, I became passionate about having a natural birth and gradually built up a team of natural birth supporters around me, blocking out any opportunities to hear someone tell me I wouldn’t be able to do it.

My team consisted of the following supportive sources:

• Loved Ones (my husband, my mom, and a friend who has had several natural births).
• Care Providers (my midwife and chiropractor)
• Pro-Natural-Birth Hospital (the environment and the nurses)
• Birth Doula
• Natural Birth Stories (there are a ton in “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth” as well as limitless stories and YouTube videos online)

This entire team – along with Ina May’s book – was responsible for giving me the courage to prepare for a birth without medicated pain relief and with as few interventions as possible the first time around.

However, I did not have nearly as wonderful of a support team for my second natural birth due to many factors. Yet, I was still able to have the fulfilling natural birth experience I was hoping and planning for.

So while I highly recommend building up support for your natural birth as much as you possibly can, all of the things on this list do not have to be present in order for you to have a successful natural birth.

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Loved Ones

It is important to gather people around you who will support your vision for your natural birth.

During my pregnancy with my first daughter, I relied on support from my husband, my mom, and a couple of friends who had experience with natural births.

In preparation for my second birth, I mostly just wanted my privacy because it was really hard time for me after my recurrent miscarriages. I barely talked about the pregnancy – let alone giving birth – with anyone besides my husband and my mom.

So I just relied on my husband and my mom for support the second time around.

Having friends and family who believe in you to help plan for your natural birth is extremely helpful, even if you only have one or two people supporting you.

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By the same token, it’s also necessary to protect yourself from those who won’t support your plans for a natural birth.

I did not publicly broadcast the fact that I was planning to have a natural birth, particularly the first time. I didn’t want to hear the negativity that would inevitably come out of people’s well-meaning mouths.

The following statements are what I mean by negativity:

• “Wow, you are brave!”
• “You must have a high pain tolerance.”
• “Ha, that’s what I wanted until I was in labor.”
• “Well, that’s a good goal to have, but if you feel like you need it, don’t be afraid to ask for the epidural.”
• “Why do you want to put yourself through the torture?”

Statements such as these instill a tiny piece of doubt in our minds no matter how hard we try not to be affected by them.

I know that every woman has a different experience with birth and some people have had difficult or traumatic birth experiences. I’m not trying to diminish that.

But right now is not the time for you to dwell on those uncommon scenarios. I am a firm believer that how we view birth ahead of time partially dictates how we experience it.

Do yourself a huge favor. Surround yourself with natural birth supporters and don’t tell the pro-epidural medical interventionists that you are planning a natural birth. Just don’t. Now is not the time to try to win a debate on medicine versus nature.

Care Providers

It can be easy to get stuck with a care provider who does not agree with your natural preferences simply because you have a history with him or her or because you don’t know where to look to find someone better.

But it is essential to have a doctor or midwife who is on board with how you want to do labor as well as after-birth care and medical interventions you may or may not want for your baby.

The last thing you need during the intensity of labor is a doctor getting angry with you because you won’t accept medical pain relief (yes, this really happens to some women). Wouldn’t you rather have a doctor or midwife who believes you are capable of delivering a baby with as little medical intervention as possible and who is cheering you on?

You will also find that a natural-birth-friendly care provider can provide you with more information about other resources to help you prepare for your unmedicated birth. Several of the (extremely) helpful resources I utilized during my pregnancy with my first daughter were recommended by my midwife.

Pro-Natural-Birth Hospital

With my first natural birth, I was so incredibly blessed to have a hospital that was known in our area for catering to natural births. They had all the tools to offer a laboring women for natural pain management, continuous movement, and relaxation.

But even more important than the tools and facility itself were the nurses. They were phenomenal! They did not try to talk me into anything I said I didn’t want and they were my cheerleaders throughout labor.

I was not as fortunate with my second natural birth because we lived in a different area. I still went with a “natural-birth-friendly” hospital, but I definitely did not get the same level of support as I did with my first natural birth.

This would not have been an ideal place for my first natural birth. But because I knew what I was doing the second time, it was just fine.

Doula

A lot of people don’t understand the purpose of a doula. I did not understand the purpose either when I first read about the idea of hiring a woman to sit through labor with me. But because having a doula increases your chances of having a successful natural birth, I was instantly interested.

Having a doula present really can have a significant impact on your birth experience. Studies have shown that women in labor who were randomly assigned a doula had less pain and were less likely to get an epidural than the women who were not assigned a doula – this was regardless of whether or not they were planning on having a natural birth (Source).

But besides increasing your chances for an unmedicated birth, a doula can also make the whole labor process easier on you and the daddy-to-be.

One of the main ways my doula helped during my first labor was by simply being there ALL the time for me. During the 28 hours she was by my side (including the two hours she stayed after my daughter’s birth to feed me and help me figure out how to breastfeed), I think she took one 15 minute break.

This was amazing because it allowed my husband to leave to eat, use the restroom, etc. without leaving me to labor alone. I literally was never alone throughout labor unless I was in the restroom.

You could also just have an extra support person with you to accomplish this goal as well, especially if you can’t spend the money on a doula (last I knew, they can range anywhere from $300-$1000).

A doula will have knowledge and experience your average loved one probably won’t. But you can reap some of the same benefits as having a doula by simply having the additional encouragement of a friend or family member.

I had a couple of reasons for wanting a doula instead of a family member. First, I am a very modest person and can’t quite stomach the thought of a family member seeing me in my most vulnerable, uncovered state.

Second, I wanted to have someone who would tirelessly and empathetically support me without being swayed by personal emotions.

My doula was so sweet and caring, but we didn’t know each other outside of the arena of my pregnancy and birth, so I didn’t have to worry about her making suggestions or pressuring me to do something out of a desire to stop my pain because it was too hard for her to see me that way.

Is having a doula the only way to have a successful natural birth? No. I did not have a doula with my second natural birth because of the expense. And I honestly did not feel I needed one with my second birth.

It’s really a personal choice and a matter of finances. But you can have a successful natural birth either way as long as you prepare for it (and reading Ina May Gaskin’s book is a great place to start).

Natural Birth Stories

I love reading, hearing and watching birth stories! To me, each and every story of a mother’s journey through labor to meet her little baby for the first time is so exciting.

This was especially true of natural birth stories while I was preparing for my own natural births. Reading and watching women successfully labor and give birth without medicinal pain relief and little or no medical interventions inspired me on a regular basis that I could do it too.

Seeing the diverse ways in which labor can progress for different women and different pregnancies was also very beneficial. Since you can’t know what your labor is going to be like ahead of time, being familiar with as many possibilities as you have time to learn about is sometimes the best way to prepare.

I read natural birth stories online, watched real natural births on Youtube and read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth to get my fill of birth stories during both of my successful pregnancies.

In the real life birth stories in Ina May’s book, there are so many different kinds of labor. Some women struggle to resist getting an epidural while others never feel they need one. Some women’s labors last days while others are only three hours long.

Some women love and find relief in pushing while others hate or are confused by it. Some women tear, bleed, and are exhausted at the end while others are energised by the experience.

Despite the wide range of experiences, the overriding theme that almost every woman seems to agree on is that having a natural birth is a life-changing and beautiful experience. Every time I read another story in preparation for my first natural birth, it fueled my desire to give birth naturally.

Some women use birth affirmations before and during labor to create and maintain a positive view of what their body is doing. For my first labor, these birth stories were kind of like my affirmations because they reaffirmed over and over that natural birth is doable, safe, and amazing.

And you know what? My first labor and delivery was indeed doable, safe, and absolutely amazing! And my second labor was also doable, safe and amazing in its own way.

Yours will be too if you believe it will be and prepare yourself (and your spouse) throughout pregnancy.

The One Thing You Need to Know

Preparation is really important for any birth, but there is just one simple thing you need to know and believe to be capable of giving birth naturally: Your body knows how to do labor.

Natural birth is not some invention of crunchy moms. It’s the way women have been giving birth since the beginning of time.

Nowadays, we have so much medical technology – which is lifesaving in some situations. But unfortunately, medical interventions are overused in a lot of perfectly healthy birthing situations.

If you want a natural birth and do not have any complications with your pregnancy, do not get sucked into the lie that you “need” medical pain relief or assistance to get through labor. Surround yourself with support to continuously feed your belief in what your body is capable of accomplishing all on its own.

Did you have a natural birth? What was most beneficial to you in preparing for labor? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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