If you’re anything like many of my clients, you’ll be approaching labour something like this…
You would love for your labour to be as natural as possible. You want to be present and aware of what’s going on (after all, it’s a pretty bloody special event, the birth of your child!) and you’re also aware of the impact of drugs on both your labour and your baby. Of course its great that we have the option of stronger pain relief! But it makes sense to start with the basics.
So here are 5 things to get you thinking about what you might find helpful during your labour…
We often forget that all birth used to take place at home until it moved into hospital in the mid-20th century, as the medical-model of birth took over and it became more obstetric-led. But what might surprise you is that hospitals are not the safest place for all births and simply planning a hospital birth gives you an increased likelihood of unnecessary intervention. So what are your options for place of birth and how safe are each of them?
Broadly speaking, there are 3 places where most people give birth: