I have 10 awesome tips for having unmedicated birth and I'm not going to save my Best For
Last I'm actually starting with one of my favorite tips and I call it sleep and denial now before I
share how to make this actually happen I want to encourage you to grab a notebook because
these are going to be some awesome tips I have collected these after watching so many women
skip the epidural over the last 18 years that I have worked as a birth Doula so if you're
curious about skipping the epidural or maybe you are just definitely planning to skip the epidural
or if you're someone who just really loves getting some tips about Labor then you're going to want to
stay to the entire end of this video and get all the greatest tips this first one is my absolute
no skip tip so you want to ignore labor for as long as possible so while you're ignoring it I
want you to sleep or rest and that's why I call the strategy denial and sleep for short here's
is where this goes wrong is people start feeling contractions they've been waiting 40 weeks for
this they're mentally physically emotionally already ready for labor and they start doing
things like time and contractions Googling their symptoms of Labor telling their family that
friends repacking their Hospital bags like hyper analyzing every little symptom that they have this
is super normal but it really drains your energy it's kind of like putting your brightness level on
your phone on High having 20 apps open and you're scrolling Tick Tock it just totally wipes you out
so here's how I want you to handle early labor when you start noticing some contractions you
just say to yourself this might be labor but it's probably just a false alarm either way I'm gonna
go get some rest I'm going to take a bath I'm going to lie down even if it's not bedtime but
especially if it's at the end of the day after work if you have already worked a full day you
want to get rest immediately taking a bath can actually slow your contractions down and I know
you're probably thinking why would I want to slow my contractions down I've been waiting
for labor to start for weeks well you got trust me here if this is real labor your contractions
will only temporarily be slowed down by this bat and in that time you'll be able to get some rest
this is you charging your batteries for that labor ahead I want you to charge your batteries and keep
yourself plugged in on airplane mode for as long as possible so another way to remember this is
don't be in labor until you are absolutely 100 certain that you're in labor because if you're
still questioning it if you're still wondering if this is labor this is a time you should absolutely
be resting your body will tell you when you can't rest anymore in my work as a doula if I get a text
from a client that says hey I think I might be feeling contractions labor might be starting what
do I say to them take a bath and try to rest it's critical if you don't want an epidural if you're
trying to go unmedicated you have to start off your labor with rest moving on tip number two know
your why so can you tell me in just one sentence why are you wanting to skip an epidural this is
your why if you want to share this why with me leave me a comment below I would love to hear from
you now I won't judge your why because I think your why is completely up to you I have worked
with clients who have been interested in skipping the epidural for so many different reasons they
might want to really experience labor they want to prove to themselves that they can do it they might
really believe in their body's ability to give birth maybe they're inspired by their mom who is
able to do it or maybe they're really interested in having an easier recovery maybe they don't want
to be stuck in the bed it doesn't matter whatever your why is it is your personal why Point here is
that you get to choose it I remember working with this client one time who looked at me very closely
we were right face to face she was getting through some really tough contractions and she said Alice
why am I doing this and I just reminded her of her why and it was like a shot of adrenaline she was
filled with a new energy it was so cool part two of this tip is to tell your support people your
why this could be so handy when you're struggling in labor and you're wondering why are you doing
this your partner or your Doula can remind you of your why it's amazing how your brain can forget
such an important piece of information but in labor it sometimes causes your brain to work this
way speaking of support people having a supportive partner is my tip number three now research is
really clear that good support and labor can make a significant impact on our birth experience
is a subject that's really near and dear to me which is why I created a whole online course to
prepare dads and partners for their role called supporting her I'm going to put a link down
below with a coupon if you want to grab that but ideally you want your support person to support
your choices 100 percent so if your support person isn't there yet this is something I would
really work on before Labor starts I mean imagine yourself in the challenging part of Labor and your
partner just presses the nurse's call button and says that you're ready for the epidural this would
be really undermining of your goals right I know that this sounds crazy but I've seen it happen tip
number four is similar to having a support person that's on board and that's actually having a birth
expert that's with you and a birth expert is a birth Doula so if you want to give yourself the
absolute best chance of skipping an epidural and having an unmedicated birth I recommend hiring a
doula doulas provide excellent support but they also have experience in seeing birth they have
knowledge of what works and what options you have now I know budget can be a barrier to hiring a
doula but if budget is a factor don't give up without looking around many newer doulas have
lower price points it's something to check out doulas can play critical role in going unmedicated
the final very important person in your birth team is your care provider and my fifth tip is to work
with a care provider who supports birthing without an epidural and has also experienced many clients
going without an epidural now usually midwives are going to fit this description better than
OB gyns but that's not always the case in my experience providers that understand what labor
looks like without an epidural they tend to be more supportive and they tend to be more patient
so if you're wondering if you are working with a care provider that's supportive ask them questions
like how do you support your clients who want want to skip the epidural and ideally you want
a provider that mentions things like oh I support movement and labor I we do intermittent monitoring
I encourage the use of the shower in the tub things like that what I would be a little worried
about is if your provider discounts your idea or makes fun of your idea I can't tell you how
many times I've had clients talk to their doctor about skipping an epidural and the doctor tell
them that they have that it was a bad idea or that it's impossible or that they should just give up
that's not the care provider that ideally you want if you're wanting to go unmedicated we're halfway
through this list if you have found any of these tips valuable please hit that like button and if
you'd like a written copy of these tips I'm going to put a link down below to a resource that you'll
want to check out tip number six is to give birth at home or at a birth center the reality is you're
removing the temptation of getting an epidural and if you choose a location station where you
just don't have access to one you're not going to be able to get one even if you want one for
many people it's the only way to go most people however don't want or can't give birth outside the
hospital which leads me to tip number seven tip number seven is to choose a birth location that
respects and supports people without an epidural so find the hospital in the area that has the most
unmedicated births it might be a hospital that offers like birthing tubs or birthing in the water
now I've worked in both Atlanta and Seattle and in both of these cities it's really the smaller
Regional hospitals that seem to be the ones that are most supportive of unmedicated births so if
you have the ability to choose a hospital that's supportive you're going to be setting yourself
up for more success number eight is to labor at home for as long as possible now no matter how
great your birth location is it just won't be as comfortable as your home there of course are many
factors to consider here like travel time time to your birth location whether you've given birth
before but if you can experience early labor at your home and arrive at your birth location when
your labor is really going well very active labor then you're reducing the risk of that slowdown
that often happens in the change of location for a lot of people giving birth to their first baby
they're trying to shoot for a labor pattern where contractions are coming around three minutes apart
and those contractions are lasting over a minute each and that's kind of something that if you're
wanting to go unmedicated you're shooting for that pattern now if you're working with a doula you can
have your Doula meet you at home and labor with you there and then they can help decide when it's
a great time to head to the hospital it's a huge Advantage when you have a doula so once you're at
the location where you're going to give birth my tip number nine comes in and that's set up
a peaceful birthing environment now this might seem like kind of nice to have and not a need
to have but I totally disagree transforming your space into the most comfortable version that it
can be can have a huge difference in labor now I want you to bring things like battery operated
candles or a string of fairy lights and put them in your room I also want you to keep all of the
fluorescent lights in your hospital room and in your bathroom off put those battery operated
candles in the bathroom too now I've had several clients also bring things from home that brings
them comfort so add things like a cozy blanket maybe it's a stuffed animal maybe it's framed
pictures of your pets this is your space put some thought and planning into the step don't skip this
step I've listed some of my favorite items to help you create a peaceful environment Below in that
description now we are at number 10 and number 10 might be lumped into the peaceful environment but
I think it needs to be specifically called out and that is to use music now music can bring peace and
it can bring energy your favorite songs can bring a smile to your face and bring some energy to your
labor I have seen women transformed by songs in their playlist I personally loved music so
much that I listened to my playlist in my final weeks of pregnancy and that way I was mentally
prepared for the task ahead so this is something that you know Runners do all the time so why not
borrow this strategy for birth okay guys I have 10 more great tips that I have put into a part two of
this video of course you're going to watch that grab that here don't forget that I have a some
resources below that you can grab too and help you prepare for skipping that epidural thanks for
watching make sure you hit the like button and subscribe if you want to be ready for part two