Anxious about delivery

knottie50e4e871576edf32

Is anyone else terrified of labor & giving birth and mentally trying to prepare yourself for it? I’m 32w6d and the closer we get to her due date, the more anxious I become. Any tips to calm my nerves??

meggyme

Are are you nervous because you don’t know what to expect or the pain? Maybe identifying what specifically is making you anxious so that you can ask more questions and do more research into your options and what you want as far as support or pain meds or other delivery decisions will help you feel more prepared.

harpseal135

L&D can be overwhelming.  Honestly what I felt helped me was to be open minded.  I wrote everything I was feeling down.  Took major concerns with me to my weekly appointments and was reassured by my obgyn.  

If you are getting anxious, definitely speak to your doctor.  

knottie50e4e871576edf32

I’m feeling anxious because I want her to be healthy and don’t know what to expect pain & comfort wise. I normally have a higher pain tolerance, but I’m not sure what to expect since I’ve heard so many horror stories. 

meggyme

Maybe you need to focus on some good news stories. I used Bradley Method, some people like hypnobirthing for pain management before getting to the hospital. Ina May’s child birth book has a lot of good information.

And most importantly, delivery seems like the peak of your childbearing, and it is a big event but it’s a relatively short period of time in your overall motherhood. My oldest is 7 and I rarely think about her delivery anymore. Maybe focus on the good, both with your labor stories (even stopping people telling you horror stories) and do some reading that will help you on the other side. Baby whisperer is a great one as are Janet Lansbury’s books.

Feel good labor stories below:

I started having cramping at 3am and they increased until 6am. I was GBS+ so my doctor wanted me to come in when contractions were still 5min apart. I was admitted at 2cm. I got an IV with the required antibiotics. A few long hours of trying all sorts of positions for pain relief later I opted for the epidural and took a couple long naps. Later that evening I pushed for around 45minutes and had my baby. I had some retained placenta and ended up needing some stitches, but I was too busy cuddling my baby to really notice.

With my 2nd I had a sweep done which resulted in a long night of false labor. 2 days later I did a ton of walking and started real labor. I tried to keep moving in early labor while I could and eventually had to lay down. Went to the hospital that evening when contractions were about 3 minutes apart. Checked in at 2cm and got to a hospital bed. In the time it took my husband to go back and park the car I started feeling like I had to push. The nurse looks under the sheet and baby is crowning. Somehow I went from 2 to 10cm in 45mins. 2 or 3 pushes and she was born, no medicine. Her cord was wrapped around her neck but the nurses handled it so quickly I didn’t even realize until later. The midwife didn’t even make it into the room in time, one of the nurses caught the baby. No tearing or stitches.

knottie1c550164f6547569

No. I’ve had a natural birth and it’s so great. I’m reading Gentle Birth Choices, and I know my midwife assisted home birth will be beautiful. 

I highly recommend reading this book, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, and looking at Spinning Babies website plus YouTube videos on helping baby engage (in the pelvic window). Our positioning can help baby move through easily! We can actually partner with our baby in this process. We aren’t helpless or powerless. We are made to do this. 

And it can be a very pleasant experience! 

NOW…..The scariest thing about birth in retrospect wasn’t the birth itself but it was being in a hospital where the doctors and nurses have all of these rules and interventions that led to me having two births that were unnecessarily traumatic. One was an early induction, which I will never allow again, not even for the precaution they took…not knowing what I do now. They were wrong. 

My second birth in the hospital was natural and quick and it would have been perfect except that when I said the baby was coming and I needed to push, the “midwife” doctor lady didn’t believe me!—she made me lie down to check that I was dilated fully AS the baby came shooting out. I tore because of her selfish intervention and couldn’t focus on baby as she was sewing me up. I LOATHE hospitals and their stupidity and disrespect of a mother’s intuition and ability to birth. All I needed was support—that’s it. I didn’t need a doctor telling me what to do, like a lot of mothers think they do. Most pregnancies and deliveries do not need cervical checks, fetal monitors, etc. These things are unnecessary. Evidence-based research actually shows that a midwife attended birth outside the hospital is safer and leads to less interventions, far fewer c-sections, far less drugs, and more satisfied moms and healthier babies, and I totally totally see why now. Birth is nothing to be afraid of, but hospitals are the beast I’d rather avoid. 

  

pambrent3

Just don’t be, Megan

Love Pam

knottie33f5359a64570c25

I’m feeling anxious bc I was a labor and delivery nurse and know everything that could possibly go wrong in a blink of an eye! I’m not anxious about the pain. Just more anxious about the knowing instead of the unknown. (

smz2023

SAME ^^^

knottie33f5359a64570c25

Definitely need fetal monitoring 

knottief6018f1e3379598a

Ya, I'm nervous too... I keep going back and forth about whether i should go to a birthing center or the hospital. I agree with a lot of what one of the other commenters said about the unnecessary interventions, but at the same time, i just feel safer at the hospital for some reason. I'm 41, the baby was breech from 32-33 weeks, they say i have too much amniotic fluid. My son came out hand first 3 years ago, and this baby has her hand up by her head now too - i'm 35 weeks. I'm so uncomfortable all the time i just want her to come, be healthy, and skip this last month of misery/anxiety.