10 Tips To Prepare You For Labor And Delivery

10 Tips To Prepare You For Labor and Delivery

If this is your first baby, labor and delivery are completely foreign to you.  If you have experienced labor pains and contractions, maybe your wishing it was foreign again. It sounds scary, but women for centuries have done it multiple times over.  Keep reading if you want to 10 tips to prepare you for labor and delivery.

Are all labor and delivery experiences bad?

I am here to tell you that no, not all labor and delivery experiences are horrible.  There are things you can do in advance to help you have a smoother labor and delivery.  Both my deliveries were hospital births, so because of that, that is what I am focusing on.  However, I have had epidurals, and I have it done it naturally so I do know my stuff.

First off I want to stress the importance of EXERCISE! 

 Exercise, Exercise, Exercise

I recognize that sounds like a massive task when you’re in the beginning stages of pregnancy.  You’re battling sickness and extreme exhaustion and honestly, a lot of those symptoms come back in the third trimester.  Along with that, in the third trimester your uncomfortable and probably achy.   At this point your baby is pretty well full grown so there isn’t a lot of space for extra moving and yet there is still SO much you can do.

My main tip is to get most of your exercise during the second trimester when you have a burst of energy.  Of course, we want to be careful with exercising and keep it low impact with cardio and low weight lifting.  There is a large misconception out there that working out during your pregnancy can lead to miscarriages but studies have shown that those who engage in aerobic exercises during pregnancy actually are less likely to experience miscarriages early on.

I worked out through my pregnancies and had two amazingly smooth pregnancies and pretty easy labor and delivery.  My first recommendation is light cardio, light weights and even more importantly SQUATS!  Having had to push for 2.5 hours with my first daughter, I was so thankful I had the strength in my legs to do it.

The other benefit of squats and strengthening those muscles is it helps with vaginal tears.  I was so happy that with both my deliveries I had no vaginal tears.  Oh, and they BOTH had shoulder dysplasia and even then, no tears!  Thank you sumo squats!

Eat Healthy 

Pregnancy cravings are real, no doubt about that!  But the more we can remain nutritious throughout our pregnancy the easier our labor and deliveries are.  We are less exhausted, we physically feel better throughout our pregnancies and this has a lot of added health benefits.  If your not cautious, by the end of your pregnancy your labor and delivery experience can be affected by things such as high blood pressure, mood swings, etc…

Kegels

I prefer not to group kegels into working out because this is something that can be done at ANY time during the day as nobody knows your even doing it.  This is the exercise that strengthens your vaginal and perineal muscles.  If your not sure how to do a kegel, just think of it as if your peeing and halfway through have to stop the flow of urine for a few seconds, then release.

This exercise is so beneficial for helping women maintain good muscle tone and control of that area, which is a huge bonus not only in delivery but more importantly for the recovery after birth.

 Register

In Canada at your first or second doctor’s appointment with your OBGYN, they make you fill out your hospital registration form.   That way the hospital you are going to deliver at already has all your information ready to go for the moment it’s “time.”  I am so thankful for that because when it was “time” with my first, I had zero paperwork to fuss about.

With that being said, ask about the registration policy where you reside and get it done early and ahead of time if you can.

Labor and Delivery Videos  

Because I am such a big planner,  watching as many labor and delivery videos as I could helped prepare my mind for what I was about to experience.  I needed to know the good, the bad and the ugly so I could mentally prepare for all options.  A lot of mom YouTube vlogs were so incredibly helpful to me. If you’re going to be a first-time mom, I highly recommend you do this.

As a couple, we didn’t go to any prenatal classes but instead watched prenatal Lamaze style videos on YouTube.   This gave us such a good education on what my body was going to go through.  My husband and I watched these together instead of going to “Lamaze classes” and learned breathing techniques and all that good stuff.  It just really helped broaden our understanding.

Give thought and research to pain relief options 

I wanted to be sure what I was getting myself into should I choose natural labor and delivery, or an epidural.  Do your research so you can make the best-educated decision for yourself.  Things happen so rapidly and change out of nowhere when you’re in labor, you have to make quick decisions and sometimes with a short amount of time to do it.  I say it again, educate yourself!

Birth Plan

Prepare a birth plan to take to the hospital.  Include things like who you would like in the room with you, requests you have regarding lights off, or music being played, how you prefer to labor (in a bath, walking, in bed, etc…), emergency contact info, how invasive or noninvasive you would like to be checked, for pain what you will and will not consider and so on.

If you’re confused with where to even begin there are tons of great templates online you can look at.  My hospital was amazing and stuck to all my wishes to the best of there ability.  One thing you need to remember though is that this is just a rough outline.  Don’t get set on your labor and delivery going EXACTLY as you have written in your birth plan because most likely it won’t go 100% that way, and that is OK!

Pack Your Bags

Again, as a planner, I had my hospital bags packed a good 3-4 weeks early as I wanted to be prepared.   Sometimes babies are ready to come a lot sooner than there due date.  Make sure your hospital bags are somewhat packed so should you go into labor a little earlier than expected, your not scrambling to get this all done.  Check out some ideas of what to pack in your hospital bag if you feel a little overwhelmed.

 Map out Hospital Route

Spend some time finding your quickest route to the hospital.  Sometimes having two routes is beneficial because you never know what the road conditions will be like.  Drive the route together so you both understand the way.  Also, do a little hospital mapping around the hospital itself.

What doors do you need to go through to quickly get to the maternity floor?  What floor is the maternity ward on?  Where do you go to immediately check-in?  Where is good parking or additional parking for your family members who may be joining?

Have a good idea of all of this BEFORE your actually in labor.  Our hospital was right downtown one of the busiest parts of Vancouver so I needed to map out all the additional parkades with the best overnight pay rates (hospital parking is EXPENSIVE).

Also, something to consider while your driving and mapping, is stopping for gas.  Keep your car filled so you don’t need to stop and fill up with gas while your contracting.

I hope these 10 tips prepare you for labor and delivery

If you have any other helpful pre-labor and delivery tips, feel free to comment below and add them!  I love hearing all the other comments and suggestions and i’m sure the other mom’s who read this will appreciate all the extra tips as well.

Most importantly remember this is SUCH an exciting time, so turn that fear into excitement and expect the unexpected and just know as woman, it’s AMAZING what our bodies can do and be proud of yourself that you did it no matter what you had to go through!

Need more baby prep help?  I got you!

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Xo, Asia