Hi OP,
I'm also 39+6, but this is my third. Like jam my first was a CS for failed induction. My second was incredible, I loved it.
Anyways, that's neither here nor there. If you're feeling detached from the world, and afraid to go out in public, maybe your body is telling you to slow down, stay home and keep to yourself. With every pregnancy my world shrinks coming up to labour, I stay closer to home, subconsciously, it's instinctive. If your anxiety is saying to stay at home, listen to it. Maybe you're about to start labour soon and need to rest, who knows.
A lot of labour is instinctive and if you can listen to your body, and learn to hear what it's telling you, you'll feel calmer and more proactive. Surrender to the signals you're getting from your body, and do what feels good. Lie down, make a little cave, shut the world out and listen to your body. Move into positions that feel good, even if you feel like you want to stick your arse in the air. Your body is wise and will guide you as the baby comes down, in a dance between you and your baby.
It's completely normal to feel anxious before anything new, and this is huge. It's primal and it's profound. Practice calming meditations: here's a simple one we use in Psychiatry for panic attacks. Visualize a flower in front of your nose. Breathe in deeply and fullyas you smell the rose. Now visuals or a small tea light or candle. Blow out really gently and slowly so you don't extinguish the flame. Focus on this alone until you feel calm and in control of your thoughts. This is particularly useful in labour because during contractions the baby really needs all the oxygen it can get, so it's important to breathe slowly and deeply, not short and shallow panicky breaths. This is why people bang on about "breathing" for labour, even though all women obviously know how to breathe.
Find the wild woman inside you and listen to your instincts, move as you need to and let go. The pain is so much worse if you fight it.
Every person was born to a woman. For every person out there, there's an amazing wild, warrior woman who gave birth. Personally, that blows my mind, and in labour I feel a massive connection to women all over the world, and all through time.
This beautiful video reminds me of that connection: www.filmsforaction.org/watch/today-i-rise/
Lastly, reading about beautiful positive birth stories with help you to see that there can be good experiences, no matter what the labour went like. I like the ones on the home birth uk page, but just google "positive birth" and related terms. Talk to your partner about your wishes, your fears, what you don't want. Explore all these issues, particularly your fear and anxiety and try to work through them because emotional blockages can make labour more difficult, more painful, harder to cope with.
Imo, being rested, feeling positive, being aware of your body is the best preparation you can do.
The miracle of birth is not that babies are born, but that mothers are born. You will be amazed by the strength and power you have within you, and you'll draw on the this experience for the rest of your life. It will give you the strength to cope with everything that comes after. You're going to do great, and you're going to love being a mother.
(FreeHugs)