Head in the sand...panic!

[New2020]

Hi all

I have a lot of fear around labour and at 34 weeks I've spent the first trimester very very sick and then the second doing all the practical baby buying bits!

I've kept my head in the sand about birth out of fear.

I just had my first pregnancy yoga class and feel so irritated with myself for leaving it so late and wish I had started sooner :'( it all feels too late.

I've also booked a couple of Hypnobirthing sessions but again wish it was sooner.

Is it too late to get ready properly for labour? :(

I recommend the positive birth company digital pack. I’m 35 weeks and only recently watched it all. Not too late!

I’m 26 weeks and honestly I feel so unprepared...! I’ve started doing pregnancy yoga, and I start nct in a few weeks, which I hope will help a bit, but tbh I think whatever I do it will still be scary and I’ll feel unprepared - because it’s an unknown, and you can’t know how it will go til you’re there. I actually don’t want to make too rigid a plan for that reason - I can’t know how it’s going to pan out! Don’t know if this helps but at least you’ll know you’re not alone! I’m holding on to fact women have given birth for thousands of years with far less medical help than we have now....But if it will help you feel better it’s def not too late for online classes, read a book, speak to mums you know etc

I'm 39w and still don't feel ready for labour. Can't imagine anyone ever is, really!

I think you can plan and prepare as much as you want, it doesn't mean it will go smoothly or exactly how you want it. My labour was completely different to how I planned, so were a lot of my friends and family members who have had babies. Stop panicking about all these classes, just go with the flow. The baby will arrive one way or another :D

Everyone else just seems so clued up and on a positive headspace! The yoga class today people have been going to for months or just pregnant and starting..and I feel like an idiot as I'm starting so late

Right just bought the positive birth company digital pack which looks fab!

Also have 3 Hypnobirthing zoom sessions planned starting tmr and preggers yoga

And need to get through the Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond book!

I'm curious to know what others are doing in preparation and when you started doing all of this stuff?

I did pilates throughout pregnancy (did pilates for years anyway so that wasn't new, switched to pregnancy class at 13weeks).

I did NCT classes between 28 and 31 weeks (that was the only dates so I didn't get a choice really and have forgotten it all now).

I watched a couple of YouTube videos from the positive birth company at 38 weeks.

It'll be what it'll be. Baby is coming out one way or another, I see no point in stressing too much about it personally.

Can i just say .. i did the one nhs ante naral class and did an aqua natal class

Birth happens whether you do tge class.

.M y best advice it is going to happen whether you read the books, go to classes , be open to what will hapen and medication

I really wouldn’t worry OP, women have been having babies for centuries without doing pregnancy yoga or hypnobirthing! I’ve had two children and didn’t do any classes, just a bit of basic reading and a chat with my midwife. DD1 was an induction that needed forceps, but that was unavoidable due to me developing pre-eclampsia and DD2 was a very fast birth and I didn’t even realise I was in labour until an hour before she was born.

My midwives both told me that no matter how much you plan, you really can’t control the birth. It’s much better to be prepared to go with the flow.

You haven’t left it too late at all . I also recommend the Positive Birth a company !

With my first I wasn’t prepared in the slightest and labour was fine . In the early stages I realised I needed help with breathing and found some YouTube videos to watch 😂!

You do realise you’ll give birth whether you’ve paid for 20 overpriced birthing classes or not? I went to a free NHS class on the birth, that was the subtotal of my prep and reading bits online myself (I’m very into the science/biology side of things so enjoyed just learning about it all, not particularly to help me give birth). I’ve had 2 children and had 2 great “go with the flow” births without so much as a tear. I never made a plan either, my plan was “get baby out safely”.

I have 2 friends who spent a ridiculous amount of money on classes before giving birth, private hypnobirthing course and god knows what else, their birth plans were pages long, they had it all planned out. One ended up with a c-section when it went tits up and the other spent 60 hours in labour and ended up with forceps. They were both so upset.

So personally I think you can over prepare and over plan, the thing is you don’t really have any control over what will happen. It’s nice to get clued up about birth and the different physiological stages but you have a midwife there with you supporting and guiding you, plus your body pretty much does it’s thing with or without you.

I did the nhs classes for the first and just went back through my books for the second.. I had big plans the first time around but my body just seemed to do what it wanted so I pretty much trusted that the same would happen again.