26. 5 Tips For Building Confidence To Have An Empowered Birth
Birth can seem scary and might make you feel like you can't do it. Here are 5 of my top tips plus 1 bonus tip to help you build confidence to have the birth of your dreams!
Overview of this episode:
5 key tips to birthing confidently
Why these tips are important to implement into your daily life
How I used these tips
Connect with me, Petra ⤵️
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Email: Petra@birthingcometrue.com
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✨ Check out the transcript here! 5 Tips For Building Confidence To Have An Empowered Birth
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Transcript:
I'm your host, Petra Cruz, if you forgot, and I'm so thrilled to be here with you today. Now, before we dive into today's topic, I want to share a bit about my journey and why this topic is so close to my heart. So if you haven't already heard, I am a mom to four incredible kids. They drive me a little batty sometimes, but they're amazing overall.
And my journey into motherhood has been filled with twists and turns just like many of yours. My first three births were not what I had hoped for. I ended up having three c sections and I found myself feeling lost and disempowered after every single one. But then I had a VBAC, and it was nothing short of transformative.
So in today's episode, I want to talk about how to build confidence in preparing for birth, drawing from my experience with my VBAC. And if you're not familiar with what VBAC is, it's vaginal birth after cesarean, and mine is a cesareans. So these are the tips and techniques that I wish I had known before I started my journey into motherhood.
And I've actually used these strategies to overcome fear and embrace the incredible power within me to birth my baby on my terms. So I'm going to give you five tips with one bonus tip. Now, the first tip is to educate yourself. Knowledge is power. And I'm sure you've heard that many times, but it's so true.
But because when I was preparing for my VBAC, I dove deep into birth education courses. I actually took two birth education courses. One was hypnobirthing, which I feel was so incredibly helpful. And then the second was a VBAC specific course, which now, you know, I look back on it, it wasn't as helpful as I might have hoped it would be.
Um, but like also the person that was teaching it, she had not had a VBAC herself. So I feel like she couldn't speak to everything that I can. But anyways, so I empowered myself with evidence based information and also lived experience information from other VBAC moms to make informed decisions. So I really want you to trust me.
Understanding the birth process is a game changer. Like I'm not exaggerating. Knowing how birth unfolds autonomously and undisturbed is so incredibly important. So birth education, birth education. And if you haven't heard yet, I do offer a birth education course that I have been teaching in person, but I am now offering in the online space so that you can do it at your own pace.
So anyways, moving on to my second tip. It's surrounding yourself with positive and supportive people. That is super key. Now, when I was preparing for my VBAC, I reached out to other moms who had empowering VBAC experiences. I also listened to uplifting birth affirmations. Um, I really soaked in positive VBAC birth stories.
And this uplifting support network reinforced my belief in the birth process and also in my own capabilities to have a VBAC. And this doesn't just pertain to VBAC, like this could be your first baby and these tips are still going to be amazing in helping you prepare. So the third tip is visualization.
Visualization became literally my daily ritual. So I had a daily ritual and this was one of the things that I did every single day. Now how I would do this is I would close my eyes and picture my ideal birth and I would move through each phase of labor in my mind and how I would do this is I would just breathe Deeply and really hone into what I imagined that feeling would feel like to accomplish that goal and the feeling, you know, also of that sense of empowerment.
So I was imagining what that would feel like. And I feel like this. This practice is so powerful and it programmed my mind for the positive birth experience that I had. So, visualization. And my fourth tip is breathing exercises and relaxation techniques. These were also my secret weapons in reducing stress and helping to build that confidence.
Daily meditation. I did that daily along with breathing. exercises, and yoga. So I included all three of those together. And I really feel like this helped me stay calm and centered. And it also released those beneficial hormones that aid in labor progress because you learn how to be calm and breathe calmly and focus on your breath and focus on your intention.
So those were incredibly beneficial as well. Now my fifth tip, which is one of my most valuable lessons that I learned along the way, trust yourself. I learned to trust my instincts and my body's incredible ability to birth my baby the way that my baby was meant to be birthed. Surrounding myself with a supportive birth team who respected my wishes and advocated for my choices, also made All the difference in the way my birth unfolded, like Literally, you could tell yourself out loud, I trust myself, I trust my baby, I trust my birth support team, I trust that my body will know what to do.
Even if I've never done this before, I trust my body, it can do it. My baby knows how to be born. You can try those affirmations and that will help to instill that confidence to trust in your instincts and trust in your innate ability to let your body do what it needs to do and knows how to do. Birth has been perfected over millions of years.
And you know, it's only recently that we've started disturbing that process. So before all the medical interventions came. We did it on our own. There would even be people, like, you would give birth if you were going into labor wherever you were, you know, if you were out having a picnic or just sitting out by the lake, you know, that's where you would have your baby.
You wouldn't try to rush to a hospital. You wouldn't try to rush, like, anywhere. You would just let it happen. Okay, so before I give you my bonus tip, I want to spotlight my sponsor. They are called Needed, and they are a woman owned prenatal vitamin company who also offers postnatal vitamins and supplements as well as fertility support and vitamins for your partner.
They have bridged the gap where other prenatals are lacking, and I now use their electrolyte blend, which tastes amazing and is easy to pack on the go when you need to replace what you've lost in the fourth trimester. So head to needed. com to get 30% off when you enter the code birthingcometrue. Now we'll get back to the episode for your bonus tip.
So for your bonus tip, seeking guidance from a supportive birth professional can be so beneficial and can actually change the course of your birth. So one birth professional that I'm talking about is a doula. And if you know me by now, you know that I am actually a birth doula and I do support in person and virtual births.
And the way that a birth doula can do this is They have so much knowledge, and they also have a caring presence, which can be by your side to help you feel safe and supported, which can make a significant difference in your confidence and your birth experience, especially if you have a partner that's unsure what to do.
And let me tell you, there's a lot of confusion around what a birth doula actually does. So a birth doula does not replace your partner. That's not what we're there for. We're there to help support you. That you are our focus, you, and that is all, nobody else. So, you know, when, when we're getting a birth doula, we are looking for one that aligns with us, I think that's so important when you're looking for a birth doula, look for one that aligns with your values, uh, one that aligns with your wishes and that you kind of vibe with, honestly, if you feel like something's off, then I would trust your gut and not go with that doula.
Honestly. And it's no hard feelings to a doula. One doula is not for everyone. You know, there are many doulas out there too. There's not just one. So you can definitely find a doula that aligns with you and who you are as a person, because that can make all the difference. You could find a doula who is so for medical interventions.
Like, you know, the doula's like, do all the things. I'll support you through them. And you're like, no, I want to have a home birth. I want no hands on me or my baby. I want no interventions. So you have to find somebody that aligns with you so that you feel fully supported through this experience. And so What a doula also offers is, you know, not all doulas do, but typically birth education, and they can offer you experience from, you know, experience that they've had with moms.
And that's not to say that your birth is like somebody else's, because Birth is so unpredictable, and just because a doula has attended 500 births, your birth could be the one birth that she's never experienced a c section with, or she's never experienced a hemorrhage with. So there's so many different situations that can happen that it doesn't even matter how many births this doula has attended that you've chosen, because it just, it matters.
If you feel like you align with them, if you feel like you guys are comfortable and confident in each other, because if you don't feel comfortable around this person, that's going to translate into your birth. So first and foremost, always make sure that you are aligning with that doula so that you can have the most beautiful experience that you could have hoped for in hiring a doula.
So anyways, like I said, uh, doula can offer birth education. They can offer, you know, advice from what they've experienced with previous clients. They can, um, offer emotional support, physical support, and, you know, text and call support. support throughout your pregnancy if you're unsure what to do or you just have a question.
We are like your birth encyclopedia, if you will, and if we don't know something, we will find out because typically one doula knows another doula knows another doula and we can ask each other. It's a community. So anyways, I can actually dive deeper into another episode about Finding a doula, um, but that's what I'll leave you with.
That is my last tip. Hire a doula if that feels like it aligns with you. And just because you hire a doula doesn't mean you have to have the doula at your birth if you don't feel comfortable having an extra person because a doula can still be there for everything that you want before the birth and after the birth.
They can just leave that part out. Some doulas do offer that. I offer that. Just so you know. Um, so anyways, that is the last tip. Uh, let me know if any of these tips were helpful for you and helped you think of, you know, questions or concerns that you want to bring up with your partner or yourself. And I want to thank you for always joining me in raw, real conversations, and if you found this helpful, I would be so grateful if you would leave a review, because when you leave a review, it actually helps other people find it.
Thank you. The episodes because if a show like doesn't have a review, then typically that show gets pushed to the bottom of the list. So like I said, if you found it helpful, other people might find it helpful too. So leave a review that really helps. And I love, love, love to read reviews. I love to know that I'm not just speaking to, you know, like the black void.
I'd love to know that what I'm saying is resonating with you or it's helping you in some way. And if you have any questions or want additional support, I do offer in person birth doula support. I do also offer placenta encapsulation, and I do have, like I mentioned, my online birth education course. I'm so here for you on this incredible journey until next time, stay confident and embrace birth.
Oh my gosh, I feel so honored that you took the time out of your busy day to listen to that episode. I really hope that you liked it or something resonated with you or you learned something new today. Make sure to hit subscribe so that you don't miss an episode. And if you'd like to connect with me, go ahead and go to the show notes and click the link.
I'd love for you to rate and review this show. That helps more people see this show when they're searching. Thank you so much and I hope you have a beautiful day. I will see you next week.
