Are you pregnant and wondering how best to prepare for the birth? Then you've come to the right place. I'm a mum myself and I'm also a midwife. I would like to share my valuable experience with you, because the most important thing for your birth is that you are well prepared.
Your due date is approaching. Would you now like to know how a normal birth works and what is most important? Then the Birth preparation crash course workshop a perfect introduction for you to approach this special event in your life. I have developed this workshop for you and your partner to show you the most important things you need to know before the baby is born.
The more knowledge you acquire in advance, the more confident you will feel during the birth of your baby. So that you are perfectly prepared, I also highly recommend that you and your partner read my Online birth preparation course to attend. In this course, I will tell you in detail how your little treasure is developing in your belly, what you can do during pregnancy to ensure that your baby is doing well, how you can prepare perfectly for the birth and what you can expect at the birth. In my online birth preparation course, we'll take a look at the first few weeks with your baby together. You will learn the important things about the postpartum period.
Why do I need a birth preparation course?
Your baby is growing inside you. It really is a miracle. But at some point it has to leave your protective womb and enter its new world. It becomes too small for your baby. After around 40 weeks of pregnancy, your baby will have developed to the point where it can and wants to come into the world. I'm sure you've also heard lots of stories from people you know, beautiful and probably also terrible stories. It's almost a law of nature that people tell scary stories with particular fervour. These stories are particularly disturbing for pregnant women. It is therefore particularly important for pregnant women to be able to categorise them as horror stories. Do you recognise this? Then you may also be one of those pregnant women who say: I'm creating my own birth story with my baby! Maybe you've already made a great plan for how you want to bring your baby into the world. Then you're on the right track.
In my online birth preparation course, you can prepare yourself perfectly for the birth. You will learn techniques to help your baby turn in your belly so that the birth is quicker and less painful. Your partner will learn how best to support you. To give you a good insight into these techniques, I will also show them to you in the Crash course birth preparation workshop. You will learn about breathing techniques, labour positions and how to best deal with the pain. The good thing is that your body has its own methods to make the birth easier for you and your baby. But you need to familiarise yourself with these methods and practise them. You can get a good overview in my Birth preparation crash course workshop. Because there you have the opportunity to practise the positions and methods that I show you. If you take your partner with you to the workshop, they can practise how they can best help you during the birth.
How does birth actually take place?
It is interesting for all couples to find out how a birth takes place. What exactly happens? Once you have learnt about the process, you will also understand how you can best actively support your baby to be born. Before your baby starts its journey out of your belly, it has to slide downwards in your belly. Your uterus helps your baby to get into its starting position with the contractions. You will probably have these contractions from the 36th week of pregnancy. They are good and important and completely normal.
The pool is quite narrow. But your baby can still make its way through this narrow passage. To help you understand exactly what's happening, I've included a Crash course birth preparation workshop I brought along a model of a pelvis and a doll. I can use these to show you exactly how your baby turns to be born. You will be amazed at how much skill your little miracle can muster.
The pelvis - how does the baby get through?
Firstly, your baby bends over and makes itself very small. To slide into your pelvis, it turns to the side and slides its head across into your pelvis. Once there, it has to turn its head 90 degrees to clear the last hurdle. To get its head out of you, it braces itself against your pubic bone and pushes its head upwards millimetre by millimetre. When its head is born, it has to push its shoulders through the narrow part of your pelvis. It makes itself as small as it can so that the shoulders can also slide out of the pelvis. As it pushes itself further forwards, it turns 90 degrees again and then pushes the shoulder that is under your pubic bone out of you. The other shoulder uses the space above the coccyx. While the birth of the head often takes many contractions, the birth of the shoulders and the rest of the body is comparatively quick. All in all, however, it often takes several hours to pass through this narrow passage. Your uterus pushes, your baby twists and squirms and you can really help the baby in its exit phase.
Human life is like travelling. The first steps determine the whole journey.
Arthur Schopenhauer
The uterus - how does this muscle support labour?
Your uterus is already training for the birth of your baby during pregnancy. It is a muscle and can contract. Your uterus hardens again and again through your contractions. However, the typical contractions for the birth of your baby only occur towards the end of your pregnancy.
They clear the way for your baby by opening the cervix and then help your baby to rotate through your pelvis. So if you want to support your baby in its efforts to come into the world, you can actively use the power of your contractions.
The best way to help yourself and your baby is to spend the birth moving and in an upright position. This creates the most space for your baby.
How do I help my baby with the birth?
Your baby needs your help with its birth. It is doing hard labour. Labouring through your pelvis is anything but easy. It's tight there and your bones are hard. The baby is in pain during labour, just like you. But you can ease the pain for both of you. To do this, you need to prevent your body from tensing up. It's important that you stay as relaxed as possible and don't forget to breathe. Because it's not just you and your muscles that need a lot of oxygen during labour. Your baby also has a special need. Because the breathing technique has a serious influence on the birth, it is important that you know and routinely master the different breathing patterns in the different phases of labour. This helps you. But it also helps your baby. If you forget to breathe properly, your baby will be stressed. You can find out why stress during labour is very harmful for your baby in my Baby writing workshop in more detail. I will show you how to optimise your mobility for the birth during pregnancy in the Birth preparation crash course workshop and in detail in the Online birth preparation course.
Does birth hurt?
You may be wondering whether the birth will hurt. I'm sure you've heard a lot about it. I have good news for you: birth does hurt, but your body is made to bring this baby into the world and to deal with this pain well. Your body can open up enough to give your baby room to be born through you. You don't have to fear labour pains, because they have a different quality to pain caused by illness. You can decide for yourself how you deal with labour pain. There are many ways to relieve your pain naturally. Your birthing position is also responsible for how you feel the pain of labour and how long it lasts. The most important thing is that by preparing intensively for the birth, you will also be more self-confident and self-assured. Preparing for labour is also about practising your own pain management for the birth. In the Crash course birth preparation workshop I will show you your own wonderful options for reducing labour pain. In the Online birth preparation course there is also room to discuss the many medical options available. If your own options are not enough, you should not suffer unnecessarily. Opioids, epidurals and nitrous oxide can be life-saving medical aids so that you can give birth safely and hold your baby happily in your arms.
What causes labour pains?
The pain during labour is caused by your baby working its way down through your body. Your uterus works and pulls on its ligaments. But your baby also plays its part in causing pain. It presses on your organs, your bones and your vagina during labour. The better you manage to relax your body, the easier it will be for your baby to squirm out of your body. If you tense up, the pain will intensify. If you choose an upright birthing position, your baby will have more space and will therefore push less and cause you less pain. To do this, you can position yourself standing up or in a quadrupedal position, but the birthing stool or circling on an exercise ball are also possible birthing positions. For many women, the warm water of the birthing bath is a wonderful way to relax. Under no circumstances should you adopt the typical film birth position. Your baby simply has too little space when lying down. Instead, let gravity help you and your baby. You will also protect your pelvic floor and perineum if you give birth in an upright position.
Birth positions
The possible birth positions are difficult to explain verbally or in writing. That is why I will show you them in detail. You can watch and practise these exercises with me as often as you like until you are sure that you will be able to do them during your birth. Do the Online birth preparation programmeIt's best to do this together with your partner. This way you can both try out the positions together and find out which one suits you best. The more you both practise the positions in advance, the more confident you will be during the birth. Because the choice of birthing position has such a big influence on the success of your labour, I also show you different birthing positions in my Crash course birth preparation workshop.
Your birth partner
A Online birth preparation course has the advantages. One advantage is that you can do the course together with your partner. You are not tied to fixed dates, but can take a leisurely approach to this important topic when you have time and are ready. You can repeat the individual lessons at any time. This has the advantage that you can't forget anything. You have the opportunity to really practise and deepen the birth positions. You should both be sure that you know how your birth can go with your birthing positions. So that you can decide together as a team how your baby should be born, it is important that your partner can also watch the course. It's most fun if you watch the individual videos together. This also applies to the Crash Course Birth Preparation Workshop. If your partner doesn't have time at the appointment, you can watch the recording together again the next day.
Your partner can actually actively support you in most labour positions. They can hold you, help you up and stand by you, motivate you and use the breathing techniques with you that will make the birth easier for you. As they cannot take away the pain and cannot help the baby out of you, they are responsible for supporting you as and where you need it. To do this, you must communicate with each other. A nice and important task for him is to help you relax during the breaks in labour. He can massage you, help you take a bath, put on thick socks and remind you to shake out your muscles. Because anything that relaxes you is great. And then the birth of your baby will go smoothly too!
