What I Wish I Knew About Labor Before I Gave Birth

I wish I knew these 7 things about Labor and Delivery before my unmedicated labor.

I’ve given birth twice- a hospital birth and home birth and these are things I wish I knew when I was preparing for birth. As a Lamaze childbirth educator and DONA birth doula, I want every mama- first time mom or fifth time mom, to know these things as they’re preparing for labor whether you want an epidural or no epidural for your birth.

In this video I’m talking about water breaking, staying calm in labor, how to have a positive birth story by preparing with positive birth stories, and other labor and delivery tips for a calm and easy labor.

There’s so much information about labor and birth that you can consume before you go into labor and actually give birth, but experience really is the ultimate teacher and in this video, I’m sharing from my experience, even as a childbirth educator and birth doula, what I wish I knew about birth before I gave birth.
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SOME THINGS YOU WILL LOVE TO HAVE:

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PREGNANCY MUST HAVES

POSTPARTUM MUST HAVES

BABY FAVES

BREASTFEEDING GO-TO's

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DISCLAIMER

All content and information in this video is for informational and educational purposes only, does not constitute medical, psychological or health advice of any kind and I do not warrant that the information presented herein is free of any errors or omissions. I am not providing medical, health care, nutrition therapy or coaching services to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any kind of physical ailment, mental or medical condition.

Although I strive to provide accurate general information, the information presented here is not a substitute for any kind of professional advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. Always consult a professional in the medical and health area for your particular needs and circumstances prior to making any medical or health related decisions. For your health related questions, please seek the advice of a licensed physician or any other qualified health care provider immediately.

By performing any fitness exercises without supervision, you are performing them at your own risk. See a fitness professional to give you advice on your exercise form. Consult with your doctor before starting any exercise routine.

Built To Birth, Inc and Bridget Teyler will not be responsible or liable in any way for any injury, loss, damages, costs or expenses suffered by you in relation to this video or its content. You are responsible for your own safety.

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#BuiltToBirth

[GodisInYourJobSearch]

you're amazing, your course was fantastic and this was super helpful too.

[tiffylove]

Currently 35 weeks pregnant and called My obgyn last night because I didn’t feel baby move as usual. I tried everything to get him to move: drank cold water, had dinner, exercising, had candy and still nothing.They had me go in to L&D and monitored me for a bit. Nothing was wrong and surprise surprise the second they put the monitors in he starts kicking and moving . I felt so silly, but the doctor and nurses kept reassuring me I made the right decision. And made sure that I knew if It happened again I should do the same thing again. It definitely made me feel heard and cared for.

[nicolebusse]

I’m a doula of 20 years and had an OB hospital birth, a birth center birth with a CNM, and a home waterbirth with a CM…all 3 natural, and I was sitting here emphatically shaking my head yes to ALL of this!!!

[jlaubscher]

I had my first baby 4 months ago. I watched all your videos to prepare for birth mentally. I always told myself "Im built to birth". I labored mostly at home which took a lot of stress away and went in to the birth centre 2 and half hrs before I gave birth. I agree how important it is to have the right care provider. My midwife wanted to give me an episiotomy at the final stages of pushing, but I said no and she respected that and allowed me a few more pushes and turns out I didnt need to get an episiotomy. I also sat on the toilet a lot and I moved from 4cm to 10cm in under 2 hours. I had a medication free birth, although i reached a point where i begged for pain meds, so my husband asked the midwife and she just encouraged me and said i can do it and the pain is good for me. Im so glad i chose a private birth with my husband and midwife who i trust to take care of me. Makes a world of difference! Thank you Bridget for all your videos :)

[HeleneLevonian]

#2 is so true! I had a home birth for my first child in January and at some point I told my husband and doula: "I don't know what to do, maybe I should go to the hospital and get a C-section". I am so thankful they talked me out of it and encouraged me to keep going! And yes your birth team matters A LOT!
My baby was born at home and I am so happy I didn't go to the hospital and get the C-section.
To all women who read this, you are stronger than you think you are! Keep going and believe!

Thank you Bridget for this video and all the work you do. Your videos really helped me during pregnancy and preparing for birth! Bless you

[ennsa]

I'm 40 weeks + 4 days today and have been in pre-labour for about 10 days. It's been exhausting and such an emotional rollercoaster. Even though I know it's normal to give birth past the estimated due date, I'm so encouraged just to hear you say it too. Baby boy will come when he (and my body) is ready.
Thank you for a great video!

[sarahmcw]

Thank you for your honesty! I’m a birth doula and a home birth assistant of 7 years, but am getting ready to give birth myself for the first time any week now. It’s refreshing to hear other birth workers admit that.. we don’t know it all going in, no matter how many times we’ve witnessed it.

[delaneyglenn]

#3 hits hard, my first OB literally laughed at me when I asked a question. That day I went out and found a midwifery and i am sooo happy I did. The midwives at this place are giving me so much confidence and really make sure I am in control of everything that happens. Im looking forward to labor because I know what my birth will look like for the most part.

[bettyglick]

03:45 I feel this so much… you are so vulnerable in birth.. and how your team talks/treats/respects your wishes can make or break it in the hospital..

[Dana-mbhd]

Thank you Bridget this was such a good video! I had a traumatic birth 17 months ago due to all of the reasons you mentioned. I was not prepared and had a bully of a provider. I wish I would have had you as my doula!💜🙏

[Rachel-ehoc]

I had my first home birth In September of last year. The last 6 weeks of my pregnancy, I spent 15 minutes each day to come to complete relaxation as I would bounce, slowly round my hips and lean on my birth ball. I listened to your birth affirmations and followed along to your breathing techniques over and over and over. That is THE THING that helped me prepare for labor itself! Would have been lost without that if I hadn't "practiced" before hand! Thank you! 💓

[kittawa]

I've had two unmedicated births now and the first was in a birth center and textbook amazing, and the second I had planned a homebirth but there was meconium when my water broke so I ended up needing to go into the hospital. I think I'm still mourning my beautiful peaceful homebirth, but I got so lucky with an incredibly respectful midwife and amazing nurses. Plus I had my doula and my husband there to help keep a sense of continuity between my birth plan and reality, I had an awesime birth team. I know I technically could've done it without them, but having such a respectful group that took my wishes into account when I was reeling from going from birth plan to "definitely not my ideal plan" made a huge difference.

[caitlinmenger]

I love this advice and I had similar experiences with doctors and nurses trying to rush me through labor with my son. Get ready to stand up for yourself or designate someone you trust to stand up for you in the moment because some hospital staff just want you to hurry through this experience and to drug you through the whole thing, not caring about you or your baby’s best experience.
I am getting myself mentally prepared this time to not only keep myself in the right headspace for birth, but to be ready to say no firmly and direct my birth as long as it is going smoothly and mommy and baby are doing well. Be strong mamas! Trust what your body is telling you and trust that you can do it!

[bewellwithdanyel]

You are a fantastic birthing teacher/coach. Thank you for all your content. My personal experience with my 1st (a home birth) with the “not believing we can go on” type of feeling mostly came in the form of me saying out loud to my doula (to my surprise) “what are we doing?“. It was like my conscious mind was trying to catch up with experience or something like that. She calmly and confidently reassured, “we are having/birthing a baby.” She continued to tell me other affirmations as well. It was empowering. I would also add that besides being more “sensitive”, I’d say something like our conscious mind let’s go/takes a backseat more and we will/can become more “instinctive”/“primal”I’m sure it can look differently for each person. For me, at times it looked and sounded like me giving orders based on what I felt like I needed. I was very grateful to have a team that respected and honored these requests. I would also add for those who are still preparing for their 1st, that a first birth is it’s not too early to have it at home or how you would prefer. I’ve heard too often “I wish I had done that with my first”. I hope more women learn of the benefits and are encouraged to trust themselves and their body’s enough. For me, after some education, it was clear that it was actually the much safer and supportive option.

[cynthia]

Thank you so much for your videos. I was well prepared and in a good state of mind thanks to you. I was planning on giving birth in a birth center but then I had to be moved to the hospital to be induced. Induction was hard, holy moly! In my head I was considering my options - epidural, C-section - even though I really wanted an unmedicated birth. I wonder if this was already transition. Long story short, your breathing videos were with me throughout active labor and downbreathing during pushing phase and helped me to do it all unmedicated. Thank you so so so much Bridget. Even the hospital midwife was amazed how good your videos were and how nicely I went through the birth process.

[paiges]

YES to everything you said!!!! 🙌🏻 I would add that baby’s position before labor/in early labor matters. I ended up transferring to the hospital because of several of the reasons you listed but my baby was in a weird position (I was told transverse but her head was still down, maybe just not all the way?) and it was making my labor really intense from the start because my body was trying to get her in the right position. We did several rounds of the miles circuit and it would help for a couple contractions and then she would move again. My midwife told me at my 37 week appointment that she wasn’t in optimal position but not to worry about it that baby usually moves in labor. Hind sight is always 20/20. I wish I would’ve been proactive and gone to a chiropractor or done spinning babies or something to encourage baby to move before labor even started. I had a midwife that made me feel like a giant inconvenience. And because labor was so intense from the start I got exhausted fast. At 24 hours in I made the call to go to the hospital, at 35 hours in I asked for an epidural because I couldn’t relax anymore and I wasn’t in the mental space to endure anymore contractions. I took an hour nap and then woke up and pushed for 3 hours. Our surprise gender baby (a girl!) was worth all those contractions. It didn’t turn out how I wish it had but I learned so much from the experience. I hope I can build up the confidence to try for another home birth with any future babies. Thanks for all your great videos!!

[bethanderson]

Thank you so much for this video!! I’m 33 weeks with my first, and I love your videos! This helped me not feel fearful. I’m feeling more confident thank you!

[Kochfam]

My 5th baby was by far the easiest birth ever. thanks to you. I wish i knew this with all my babies. Biggest baby and with ur advice It was just amazing how easy it was. Cant say eASY, but when u hit that wall, ur mind plays a bigger part after it. Thank you so much for helping us mommas out here. Highly recommend this video..

[karlinka]

Thank to you Bridget I had amazing labour ❤️
I’m very happy and thankful I found your advises on you tube, there is so little knowledge about good labour out there, what you do is so meaningful and help many people, wish you the best ❤

[RAGHAVINDRAVLOGS]

I really don't know how to thank you . . . We followed all your videos from past one year. . . We are blessed with a easy delivery recently. . . Thanks for creating such a valuable content. . . Love from india❤️