Private birth prep

I've given birth twice and both went (mostly) the way I'd hoped. Indeed, the second one was positively life-changing! Do you know what's even wilder than that, though? I did not do a single birth preparation class. You know, the ones that are more about comparing bumps and buggies than how to actually birth a tiny human with your perineum, sanity, and dignity intact. Enforced group activities with people I probably had nothing in common with other than our due dates was not appealing to me either. I guess you could say I'm a do-it-yourself'er. 

 

Are there things I wish I'd known beforehand, with my first child especially? Absolutely! But I don't regret not doing the group classes. What I do wish I'd done was invest in two things: support and my own intuition. Having access to someone who could help me prepare for birth in a way that felt tailored to me would have been invaluable. Because what I've learned through my own births, and in supporting hundreds of women in the birth room, is that doing the deep, inner work to release fear and trust yourself is the most powerful birth preparation of all. 

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If you want birth to be more than just a day you survive - if you want to THRIVE - you have to be prepared to put your own needs first. And sometimes that means doing it your own way, not how everyone else is doing it.