5 Things You Should Know About Labor

Join us today with Trish Ware, a labor and delivery nurse of 17 years to explain the five most important things to know before labor! 

Over the past 17 years, Trish has developed a reputation for making laboring mamas feel empowered and confident — even if she’s not in the labor room with them. She has spent many years analyzing the literature & her own experiences in the labor room to prepare and educate mothers for a confident labor! 

1. Mindset:

• Remove fixed expectations: When women have trauma from previous birth experiences, it is sometimes hard to let go of that. 
• Embrace the entropy: Labor rarely goes as planned, so getting comfortable with the potential paths that can unfold is extremely important!
• Prepare: Being educated on what’s happening to your body is important so you can make informed decisions during labor. 

• Decide on a specific person (nurse, another mom, a doula, midwife), to ask questions when you’re beginning to feel uncertain. 
• If you have a question or something in your body feels off, don't be afraid to talk to your provider about it. You are not meant to do this alone, and your body often knows best! 

3. Stay at home as long as possible:

• Stick to intuition and stay at home until contractions are less than four minutes apart for at least two hours. This is key for environmental control and less interventions.
• At home you can dim the lights to boost melatonin, which will help make your pain threshold higher!

• As long as complications don’t occur, holding your baby for the first 1000 minutes of their lives is vital for their neurological and microbiome development.
• Skin contact, even with another family member, builds an immediate connection and gives your newborn a sense of safety after coming into the world.

• Allowing yourself to move around freely, such as using a yoga ball to help open your hips, will also prevent the need for additional interventions if you arrive to the hospital early and are confined to a bed. 
• Your baby’s weight isn’t going to change within a matter of minutes, so it is okay to know that you’re allowed to ask for that first 1000 minutes with your baby and wait to bathe and weigh. 

If you need help finding a birth advocate, or want access to the mindset challenge- check out Master your Childbirth Mindset, a five day interactive challenge that will change the way you view labor & birth!