Staying calm and relaxed during labour and birth

[GirlCroosh]

I've got a good few months to go yet, but want to get as prepared as possible for labour.

My first took ages. Was in early labour for days and had induction drugs then ventouse and episiotomy to get her out.

I know second labours can be quicker, I want to encourage this! I think that I might just be prone to long labours, but also I was anxious and definitely didn't cope well.

I'm after recommendations for staying relaxed during labour. Specific hypnotherapy birthing recommendations or other tips would be much appreciated. We don't have much spare money, could manage self help packs etc, but 1:1 sessions might be too much

Follow the positive birth company on Instagram, they sell a digital hypnobirthing pack for £35 which is very well reviewed and recommended!

'Ina May's Guide to Childbirth' is a wonderful book. Some of it was a bit too hippy/far out for me (I certainly haven't ever orgasmed during childbirth 🤔) but some of the stories in there documenting really natural births truly helped during the birth of my second child.

I have recommended it to several friends who found it brilliant too 😊

I second Ina Mays book. I used a hypnosis CD from Amazon too, i think it was a Marie Mongan one - it was brilliant and my labour was much calmer than the first time around.

Try reading 'Mindful Birthing'. Mindful breathing is a lot easier to follow than hypnobirthing techniques - with that I was too bothered about remembering the 'right' breaths with my first labour. Second baby I tried mindfulness and it really clicked for me.

Don't be swayed to spend ££££ on hypnobirthing tracks or CDs, some of the programmes can run into hundreds. Buy the CDs second hand on eBay or try the free stuff first to see whose voices you like.