early labor is the longest phase of labor and if labor starts on its own you're usually spending a
good bit of your early labor laboring at home now I'm a big fan of labor at home especially
if your contractions are not yet super intense or regular or close enough together and if they're
not really lasting a full minute it's a great time to be at home and in this phase of early labor
it's so important that you conserve your energy now i tell all my doula clients and my childbirth
ed students that the most important thing you can do in early labor is to rest now i say this a lot
you might have even seen this video i did about denial and sleep in early labor but let's be
real here resting in early labor can be hard and one of the reasons for this is when labor starts
most people are excited you've been waiting 40 weeks for this day and here i am saying go
back to bed but you've got to trust me here i have helped hundreds of couples through labor and rest
in early labor is critical today i want to give some solid practical tips about how to create
something i like to call a nest for rest it's a way to set up a good environment to rest in
early labor now the purpose of this nest for rest is to encourage rest the resting nest has to be a
place that will allow for resting snoozing dozing off in between contractions and be set up so that
there shouldn't be really a reason to leave maybe a bathroom trip of course but i'm starting off
with one of the most important parts of this nest and that is the food and beverage tray
for a resting nest to be effective i think the person in labor should have easy access to snacks
and hydration they should be in arm's length so i suggest putting together a tray of snacks and
several options for beverages in this example i've included some different fruits some nuts got some
walnuts and almonds we have some ice water and then we've included some bone broth now this is
a nice variety of food and beverages there's both savory they're sweet on this tray but anything you
put together should work and you don't necessarily need a tray just for this example it makes it easy
but put something together that you can put next to the place where resting will happen now one
important thing i was missing from my example is a straw for water which is my preference because
it makes sipping that much easier so you might swap out that glass for a bottle with a straw
now if possible the support person put should put this snack tray together
for the laboring person but you know don't stress about what's on the tray bring some
options and see what works other ideas might be something like a cheese stick a cup of yogurt
crackers butter toast and then for beverages of course water is a must but you could add other
options like coconut water electrolyte drinks like powerade gatorade hydrolyte and then instead of
the bone broth if you not want another sippable savory option you could think about miso soup
the important thing is to have a variety of choices put them in arms reach and encourage
eating and drinking little sips in between contractions support people you've got the added
task of refilling the tray as needed swapping out items you got this so now that we have an
easy way to nourish and hydrate while we're in this nest for rest what else makes it so special
is lighting so i recommend a soft a low lighting i absolutely love battery operated candles
we added them to the snack tray here to provide enough lighting to know like whether you grabbed
an almond or a walnut but not enough lighting to really bring you out of that sleepy state
so after you have your lighting the next thing is comfort so what would make a place to rest
cozy plenty of pillows cozy blankets maybe a body pillow or a pregnancy pillow anything
that you can use to like prop up your leg or prop up your belly you know making it just
a cozy nest like environment so you've got your snacks your soft lighting all your cozy
cozy resting materials the last thing is a support person there to give some verbal encouragement
to time contractions now every once in a while you don't have to time every contraction but a few
every hour or so and the support person can pull up a chair next to the bed and or they can rest
alongside the laboring person if that's something that is appealing to the person that's in labor
now if contractions are intense enough that laying down isn't really preferred you can always lay
down until the contraction comes and then stand up or get on all fours during the contraction
then after the contraction passes lay back down in bed now i'm really getting into specific details
here but i want to make sure that you can see how this work and you can make this happen when labor
starts remember that especially for first timers labor's long and if you can conserve energy in
the beginning you will be giving your future self a gift when active labor comes when pushing comes
you'll be prepared when you use this method in early labor now finally the question that i'm
sure you're wondering is when do i stop resting or is it possible to like rest too long now here's
my answer stop resting when contractions are long enough strong enough or close
enough together that it's time to head into the birthing location now some providers suggest this
5-1-1 pattern which i explained in a video that i'll put a link here if you need more information
you can also stop resting when you need other coping strategies to manage labor such as maybe
you want to jump in the shower you need to change positions you want to be active you want to be
walking around that's a great time to stop resting now speaking of leaving for your birthing location
i have a great video right here with tips on making the best of the car ride to the hospital
and i'd love for you to join me sometime live here on youtube for a childbirth class that i
teach regularly and i'll put information here so you can find it see you guys next time
bye