Recently I have had several friends give birth for the first time, and after talking to them I found that many were not prepared for the actual labor and delivery experience. They say that speaking to others and reading the books just did not work for them. So we were wondering can you really prepare yourself for labor and delivery to the point where you don’t freak out at your first contraction. After speaking to several experienced mothers in my area we all agreed that the answer to that question is yes? We also came up with a list of suggestions on how you can prepare for labor and delivery.
The first thing you need to do if possible is speak to your own mother, or a close relative like a sister. They will be able to share their experiences with you, and your labor and delivery may be similar to theirs. Out of the group of women who I sat down and talk with all of them agreed that they had a lot of similarities to their mother’s first pregnancy or their sisters. This is also a great source of information for any expectant mom since they have already experienced the joys of labor and delivery. Sometimes talking to friends, can sometimes cause us to worry a lot more about what is going to happen.
The one thing that you don’t want to do is assume that you will just arrive for your epidural and you will feel no pain, and everything will end up working out just fine. We all agreed that labor and delivery are both very natural things, but sometimes complications do arise. For example they may end up having a difficult time inserting your epidural, which is what happened to one of our moms. She was informed that her spine was very small and crooked and that it would be a challenge to get the epidural in. It actually took them five attempts before they got it in.
Therefore you really should take the time to prepare yourself for the unexpected. Of course you don’t want to think negatively but just prepare yourself for any possibility. While you are pregnant you should take the time to read some baby magazines and books. You will be able to get a lot of information from these books, and most of them even mention different unexpected things that can occur during pregnancy and during labor and delivery. The suggestions that are mentioned above are few but you will be surprised at how helpful they really can be to you. It really is a very simple process when it comes to preparing yourself for labor and delivery. The last suggestion that we were able to come up with is just try to relax, and make sure that you have some support at the hospital with you. In some cases that support group may be all you need to get your through. In the end you will not even remember everything that happened after you went into labor. What you will remember is the first moment you say your little boy or girl.
