Terrified of labour, first baby!!

[NewMrsH]

Hey,

Just wondering how everyone is feeling about labour?

Having never done it I'm terrified, especially as i know alot what can and may happen.

Im now 22 weeks and People have started giving me their experiences which is freaking me out!! The dreaded words 'tear' and 'cut' have been used a lot as well as ppl saying they got left alone??? I know they mean well but I'm so scared?

Xxxx

I agree with chocolateteabag.

I had a stressful experience with DC1. One other woman in our prenatal classes also had a traumatic birth experience. The other 10 or so all found it empowering, yes it was hard work for sure, but rewarding and very worthwhile.

Of course mine is the experience that gets talked about, nobody wants to gossip about a normal straightforward birth.

Don't let anyone tell you horror stories. Feel free to put your hands over your ears and say "I'm not listening". They are just being rude, so be rude back if you need to in order to get them to shut up.

I am about to have DC2 so despite my bad experience, I must have felt it was worth it in the end :)

Congratulations on your pregnancy, lots of good tips here already. Try & listen just to positive birth stories - most people who have had a positive experience don't always mention it so scary stories sometime predominate. I have met quite a lot of women who have used self hypnosis for achieving a calm relaxed birth through Natal Hypnotherapy CDs and workshops. Good luck for a positive experience.

In our hypnobirthing class, we were shown a video of a home water birth where the woman was using hypnobirthing - seeing that made me think "I can do this" and it was that positive attitude that helped me have a "good birth" despite all the intervention (my birth couldn't have been more different from the one in the video!)

I was the same as you, terrified! But i found a very strange sence of calm come over me. I admit i did struggle with the pain thing. I had an epidural and episotomy.
My advice is listen to what your body is telling you! And make sure your birth partner knows what you want. At the end of the day no one can predict what mother nature does so keep an open mind.
You'll be fine! And congratulations!