Though we have all come to embark upon this grand journey of natural childbirth through our own separate paths, we are not really separate at all but united in a common calling towards our purpose.

As a Mother our purpose is possibly the greatest of them all. We have been called to birth, to carry another soul and deliver it into being. This soul is dependent on us to answer this call fully with all that we are, because how he experiences his new world lies greatly in the way he is allowed to enter into it and how much love is presented to him in the process.

Within this article lies the secret to how we can rediscover ourselves as the masters and creators of our own experience, and how we can use this knowledge to deliver our babies upon the Earth in a loving way so that they may feel in peace, balance and harmony with life.

Preparing Yourself for Natural Childbirth- Shedding Your Past

 Who Would You Be Without Your Story?

I once saw a bumper sticker that read “who would you be without your story?” Of course I loved it and it has stuck in my memory for some time now. It pointed to the truth of what we really are.

We are more than just a compilation of events and experiences that have taken place in our lives, we are more than the judgments we have placed on ourselves, and the labels and opinions that others have placed on us.

In order to have a truly wonderful natural childbirth  it is necessary for us to realize who we are beyond our stories of who we make ourselves out to be. We must discover ourselves at our deepest level. We are infinitely more, infinitely greater then we can imagine. We are pure potentiality waiting to be fulfilled!

To Fulfill Your Potential For an Amazing Natural Childbirth You Must Move Forward into Your True Self

In order to realize the full potential of who we really are and what we’re capable of we must first free ourselves from the past.  When we continue the cycle of reliving in our minds the memories and stories of the past we are hindering our ability to move forward into our true selves.

The reason for this is that your mind cannot occupy two spaces at once. If your mind is preoccupied on the past, on things that have been done to you, or that you have done, or how you used to live, or what you used to think, or the million other things that have taken place in your life up to this point then you are not allowing any room for the present moment to take place.  

Although your body may be in the present moment your intentions are not there with it, you are instead living in a moment that is gone, and a missed opportunity for acting in the present moment then arises.

When it comes to birth this is imperative! Let me explain why:

During Natural Childbirth the Present Moment is all That There Is

Contractions or “Birthing waves” carry in them great intensity and power, they enter into your body like nothing you have ever experienced before and all you can do is allow them to happen, embrace them and stay fully present in the experience. If you resist them for even a moment their power can easily overwhelm you and take you to a place in your birth that will be less than desirable.

 It’s like the surfer riding the gigantic oceanic waves, he must be alert, aware and fully present in the experience; he can’t allow himself to get caught up in his mind for even a moment, he has to just let go and ride the wave. If he allows his mind to hesitate or slip away from the present moment for even an instant then the wave comes crashing down upon him and swallows him whole.

 The importance of the present moment during birth is the greatest secret there is! In no way is birth easy, it is hard work. It will stretch you to your limits and challenge you to overcome them and go far beyond.  However birth is intense and it takes a lot to not allow yourself to fall into the role of victim and pitying yourself.

We have all experienced pain in our lives, we all have doubts, insecurities, fears and uncertainties about ourselves. This is normal, however if these feelings are not released by the time birth arrives these uncertainties will come up during birth in the form of complications.

Show Up For Birth With a Strong Mind and Trust in Your Body

We must show up to birth with a strong mind, prepared to maintain our ground and be still in the midst of enormous energy, not allowing our minds to drift into the familiar patterns of “poor me.” We must treat birth as a meditation where we steady our minds and just simply allow the universal energy to unfold as it will, allowing and excepting whatever it brings.

Experience Your Contractions Without Judgment

Birth is a uniquely powerful act, there is nothing to compare it to and if you try to judge or label it, your mind is likely to just easily resort back to that familiar picture that has been painted that birth is pain, and since your mind can’t occupy two spaces at once, and the current focus is on pain then your mind will follow suit and pain is all there will be.

So let’s say a contraction comes on, the pressure is super intense and instead of freeing your mind and allowing it to take place you let judgment sneak in and take over. You then begin to analyze within your mind, whether these sensation is good or bad, short or long, painful or not.

This is when your mind begins its journey of leaving the truth of what’s really happening in the present moment and carries you into a false thought projected reality of either past or future that produces nothing good.

 So the contraction is over now, but in your mind you are still focused on it. Your mind is on the past on how painful that contraction was, then your mind is in the future on how you don’t know how the heck you’re gonna be able to do 15 more hours of this!

But where the mind is not, is on the present. And the present moment is all there is, it is taking place right now, there is nothing you can do to stop it, your baby is coming and birth is inevitable! And only your mind determines how you respond to it.

This is When Birth Gets Good

When we stop analyzing, stop trying to consciously act or respond and just trust and allow birth to take place. This is when birth gets good!

Don’t allow your mind to sit for one moment on the last contraction, once it is over it is over, and you are on to the next. You’ll be amazed at what can happen when you go into birth truly willing to free your mind, free your expectations, release your preconceptions and just allow the power to come in, without analyzing, and without judging. Then the birthing energy will appear as it truly is, it will be neither good nor bad, it will just be.

That is when the magic happens. When you act in the present moment as if that’s all that there is then all limitations you have placed on yourself lift away and you are able to allow the truth of yourself to shine through.

What is this truth? That you are all powerful, capable, loving, that you hold the power of the universe `within yourself and if you open those gates it will effortlessly flow through you unless you let mind come in and stop it.

Always say “YES” to the Present Moment as if you have chosen it, and a deeply satisfying natural childbirth will be likely to emerge!

Conscious gestation and natural childbirth is a gift of divine creation. It’s an ancient energy that acts powerfully through you, first growing your baby and then peaking during your birthing time, rhythmically pulsing, surging and moving through you, bringing life perfectly into the world.

What you and your baby experience together during this time is profound and sets the very foundation for you and your child’s life together. As Mothers we are the vessel in which this new soul will form and be given life through. We are the most important and influential factor in our baby’s life while living both inside and outside of us.

In this article we will explore why we are more important than we know, and how we can transform ourselves to be more supportive of our baby’s physical, mental and emotional health allowing us to create a balanced, confident and happy child by making just a few simple changes now.

You are Your Childs Teacher- During Gestation, Natural Childbirth & Beyond

So much of what your child experiences and learns about life is being learned right now in the womb world where your baby is literally living inside of you. Like a sponge your baby is soaking up everything that you are sending his way and building his ideas of life and personality traits based on his experiences thus far. This learning will be followed by how he is birthed and how he is greeted and cared for, or not cared for upon entering into his new world.

I think that we all too often tend to underestimate just how important of a role we play in our baby’s lives during those precious nine months and during birth. Maybe for sake of modesty we just don’t realize how powerful, influential and important we are.

The role of a Mother is to teach her child about many things, about life, about the world, about how to react and respond to situations, about selflessness and love. It is not enough to simply talk to our children about these things; after all talking is not something that is very familiar to your baby yet. Your baby communicates through a transfer of energy, emotions, and feelings. So we must set ourselves up to be in a place within us where we can teach and lead by example.

For a Great Natural Childbirth the Time for Transformation is Now

Pregnancy and natural childbirth is a significant time in both of your lives. It is a time for great change, an amazing and rare opportunity for growth and transformation on all levels. To prepare your child as an emotionally adjusted member of life you must first make that transformation within yourself.

To do this we must rediscover ourselves as pure potential waiting to be unveiled. We cannot be fully present in our role as a Mother and a leader unless we first come to terms with the fact that we ourselves harness all that we will ever need to give our baby a great birth and life.

To do this we must practice regularly going deeply within ourselves, preparing ourselves emotionally, physically and spiritually for our baby’s natural childbirth and our role as Mother and Mentor.

Your Baby’s Quality of Life and Birth is Held in Your Hands

Your baby is living inside its own universe which is YOU! Everything that you experience is experienced by your baby.

So when you are having a stressful day so is your baby; now this is important to realize because your emotional state will not only affect your baby’s emotional state while living inside of your womb but will also have a large influence on your collective birthing time.

Negative emotions felt by Momma such as fear, anger or inability to accept what is currently taking place offsets your baby’s emotional health and results in a general feeling of lack of security.

When the birthing time begins if your baby has experienced and harbors feelings of fear, stress or insecurity your baby will be less likely to be confident in making that leap off into the unknown, and will struggle with the ability to just relax, let go, trust and allow birth to happen. You are only one part of the birth; your baby is the other. So as you prepare yourself for natural childbirth remember that you are preparing your baby as well.

By Loving Yourself You are Loving Your Baby

For a Peaceful and Balanced Childbirth Balance Your Energy

When you are out of balance your energy levels, emotional state, and overall health suffer, which similarly affects your baby. However when you make it a priority to align your mind, body and spirit in unison with your baby you are creating two masterpieces! When you are both at your best birth will unfold perfectly.

Natural Childbirth Momma:

Take time for you. Pamper yourself, spend time doing things you enjoy, go on long walks, spend time in nature, daydream, paint, dance, laugh, meditate, do yoga, connect with yourself and let your creativity and imagination flow.

Natural Childbirth Papa :

If this were your boxing match you would be her man in the corner. Your job is to keep her feeling good. Do the things she enjoys with her. Practice asking yourself, “can she be any more comfortable? Can she be any more relaxed? Does she have everything she needs? Could you use a massage? Can you draw her bath? Be sure to go out of your way, above and beyond to be patient and loving.

When you make it a point to take time everyday to love yourself, balance your energy and to be happy you are not only soaking your baby in those wonderfully fluffy feelings but you are also teaching your baby the most important message: that no matter how stressed you are you always have a choice, you can choose calmness, peace, happiness, acceptance and self love over negativity and resistance. Work on building a more confident and happy self and you and your baby will be well on your way to having a great natural childbirth and a fulfilling and joyful life.

For us natural childbirth is a defining moment in our lives. It is said that during birth we truly meet ourselves and for the first time we are given the chance to allow our greatest potential to be fulfilled.

But this is not a journey we travel alone, and as grand as it is for us, just think about what an enormous and defining experience birth is for your Baby!

With all of the nervousness, excitement and anticipation it’s easy for us to get caught up in our own heads with our own agendas about our birth and we sometimes forget that we are merely here for the ride, and that this whole show is being put on for our Baby.

This is our child’s birth and it matters more than we can ever imagine! It is his first step in his new land. This experience teaches and imprints the child deeply.

We should put careful thought into what we want our children to learn from this experience, and what imprint we wish to leave with them. This is not something to be taken lightly, this event will set the foundation for the rest of their lives.

In this article we will explore childbirth from your baby’s perception and discover what natural childbirth means to your baby.

Challenging Society’s Beliefs About Awareness in the Newborn

There seems to be a harmful misconception in our society that newborn babies just aren’t quite full human beings yet, that because they are small, and they don’t talk, they don’t see, hear or move like we do that they must not be capable of experiencing the full range of emotions yet either.

Many may argue that this is not true, that of course we recognize babies as being human!

But if this is so then why would we possibly allow our babies to be treated with such carelessness, disregard and even violence upon their first entrance into the world?

Birth Trauma

This is a video that I don’t like watching, but it is important to be realized. To the medical professionals delivering these babies it’s just another day at the office. But for these poor babies it is a traumatic beginning that will be forever imprinted as their first experience and impression of this world.

Not all hospital births are this extreme, however they are definitely not ideal.

“Why must a child emerge from the quiet darkness of the womb into a blaze of blinding light and loud voices? Why must an infant take its first breath in terror, hanging upside down as its vulnerable spine is jerked straight? Why must the infant be separated from its mother after spending nine months inside her nourishing body?”

~Frederick Leboyer

In an attempt to understand birth from a babies perspective I am going to tell the story of birth and I want you for a moment to imagine that you are the baby, and that this is your birth.

The Average ”Un” Natural Childbirth - The Baby’s Story

Imagine, you are safe, warm and cozy in the womb, surrounded by the familiar comfort of your Mother. Then suddenly your world is pressing in on you from all directions, you hear your Mom screaming and yelling, you feel her fear and it causes you to clinch with fright.

 You are then drugged, you can’t think straight, you are scared and you don’t know what’s going on, you think this must be the end, that you must be dying. You are then forced down into a dark tunnel, and you hear strange voices shouting PUSH PUSH!!!

Then suddenly, you come out into a strange room, with these bright blinding lights and weird machines beeping. It’s filled with strange people. Your cold and scared, and the light makes it hard for you to open your eyes. Your groggy and disoriented from the drugs. People are shouting all around you, “It’s a BOY, it’s a GIRL! There loud voices pound through your fragile eardrums. And you are being carelessly clutched in the gloved hands of a strange man wearing a mask.

You look around for something familiar,  something to explain what is happening to you!

You hear your Moms voice and want to go to her. But instead you are surrounded by strangers who roughly dry you off, then proceed to shove things in your mouth, poke you with needles and run tests on you.

You are crying and screaming profusely but no one seems to take notice or care, they are too busy congratulating themselves for a job well done.

If your lucky you get to meet your Mom for a moment before being whisked away down the hall and into a  room with a bunch of other babies like you, who are scared and crying for the love of their Mothers, but she is no where to be found.

“Oh my God, is this what the world is like?”

 What Kind of Message is That Sending to Your Baby? 

I can’t imagine it sending the message that it is welcomed and accepted, that it will always be loved and kept safe. Rather I imagine it being a terrifying experience, that would make me just want to crawl back inside of myself and hide.

How can we raise confident children when with their first experience we strip them of their dignity?  

Imagine The Alternative - A Sacred, Respected and Natural Childbirth   

Your Mom feels her birthing sensations begin, she takes a deep breath and fills herself with the most peaceful and calm feeling imaginable. She lights some candles, turns on soothing music, or takes a warm bath. She talks to you and lets you know that everything is ok, not to fear, you’re birth will be a sacred event that you will journey through together in trust, faith and love, and that you will be born into a peaceful and loving home. 

The birthing space is being held by the select few who your Mother has chosen to be with her, they are there bringing her comfort, making her feel safe and loved. They are there to honor her and to honor you.

As the natural child birth progresses your Mother does not allow herself to be swept away by fear, rather she soars into greatness and awakens to an inner strength that introduces her to her full exquisite and powerful self.

She embraces the power of her body, and for a moment in time feels connected with the ancestral wisdom of every woman that has gone before her.  She is releasing, opening and allowing her body to lead her.

The walls of your world are tightening all around you, you are nervous and not quite sure what is going on, but then you feel the soothing and calm vibrations that she’s sending your way. You feel her love emanating through you and all around you. You take the leap into the unknown, release and let go!

You ease gently out into a dimly lit room, it is filled with peaceful and loving vibrations. No one is running around, or shouting. It is as if you are entering a holy temple, the space is respected, voices are hushed and peace fills the room.

You are surrounded by the gentle warmth of water or of a cozy room.

You are guided into life and welcomed for the first time into the loving hands of your Father. What an amazing introduction! But still you yearn for your Mother, your only true source of familiarity and comfort.

You hears your Mommas voice, look around and there she is, gazing at you with the warmest smile. You are placed in her arms, you feel welcomed, safe and loved.

Your Mother instinctively offers you her bosom, you yearn for that connection and happily latch on. You are wrapped snugly in her arms surrounded by her love. Your belly is filled with the sweetness of your Mommas milk. 

You feel loved and safe, and so curious as to where you are. You are very alert and spend the next few hours looking around bright eyed and curious before drifting comfortably off to sleep.  You have entered your new kingdom in peace, you are home.

The other night a guy friend of mine who saw the content of my Facebook page asked me, “so what’s the big deal with all these women and natural childbirth? And why do they feel the need to constantly talk about their birth and to get people to watch their birth videos and stuff?” My first reaction was to say, “You won’t get it, it’s a girl thing and it’s WAY too big of a topic to even get into.”

But then it occurred to me how little the average person knows about the current state of birth in our country. And that the only way to change that is to make it common knowledge and the only way to do that is to speak up and spread the word!

The truth remains that in our society most of us are either uninformed or misinformed. And most of what we think we know has been implanted into us not for the safety and well being of ourselves and our babies but for the monetary gain of the HCA (Hospital Corporations of America) one of the richest and most fraudulent corporations of all time.

I can’t keep quiet any more, this information is too important not to be shared. Women deserve to be given all of the information, only then can they be expected to make truly informed decisions.

Only when women are acting from a place of knowledge and not from fear will we have a real chance to reclaim birth as the sacred and empowering journey that it is meant to be and not as the dire medical emergency that is leaving millions of Mommas traumatized.

We Choose Natural Childbirth Because We Know the Facts

FACT #1- The Current Medically Engineered System of Birth Is Failing Us

In our country we treat birth as if it’s a medical emergency. Instead of allowing normal birth to follow it’s natural process doctors are interfering and are taking over with their own man made technology centered system of birth. As if they can somehow do a better job than nature. These methods are highly intrusive and dangerous. Over half of the women who give birth in the hospitals are leaving feeling abused, mistreated and traumatized. This system is failing us in a BIG way!

• The United States lags behind most other industrialized and even some developing countries in maternal mortality, currently ranking 50th out of 171 countries

• Our current C-section rate is 33% and rising

We Choose Natural Childbirth because it is Our Bodies, Our Babies, Our Experience and Our Choice

FACT #2- “Birth Rape” is Real and It’s Common

Since I have dove into this birth world I cannot believe the stories that I’m hearing every day. We’re  seeing our fellow women, our sisters, and our friends going into the hospital to have their babies and coming out completely traumatized by what went on!

They say that they were manipulated by the hospital system and bullied into accepting unnecessary interventions and even c-sections without sound medical reason.  The feelings some women have about their negative experiences are overwhelming. Many are claiming birth abuse, and some would even go as far as to say birth “rape” especially if they had instruments placed inside them without their consent.

This (rape) can include having Q-tips, speculums, scissors, forceps, vacuums, fingers, hands, and other objects inserted into a woman’s vagina or being given an enema, IV, epidural, or C-section without their consent.

 Having one’s water broken without consent is another example of doctor’s taking control, which is basically what rape is all about. Being coerced, manipulated or deceived so that one will be obedient and go along with these treatments is another form of birth rape. Some even consider making rude and discouraging remarks to influence the mother rather than empower her to be included in the definition. Moving a mother into certain positions without asking and telling her what to do are further examples of mistreatment.

Some deny the existence of birth trauma in mothers or believe that they or exaggerating, especially being that misconduct is rarely reported.

Some 54% of women in one study had grounds for a complaint but did not file.

We Choose Natural Childbirth Because We Will Not Allow Ourselves to be Operated on For Profit

 FACT #3- Despite the Poor Quality of Care, Business is Booming & Profits Soar for the HCA (Hospital Corporation of America)

One of the largest hospital operators is a gigantic corporation called the HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) it is one of the most profitable and corrupt multi-billion dollar corporations of all time.

 Before you decide to hire them to be in charge of one the most important and monumental experiences of your life, the birth of your child there are a few things that you should know about them.

• The HCA has been investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services who served search warrants at Columbia/HCA facilities and on dozens of doctors with suspected ties to the company. Following the raids, the Columbia/HCA board of directors forced Rick Scott to resign as Chairman and CEO. Who despite his wrongdoings still made off with $350 million dollars. In 1999, Columbia/HCA just simply changed their name back to HCA, Inc. and went about business as usual
• HCA also admitted fraudulently billing Medicare and other health programs by inflating the seriousness of diagnoses and to giving doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. They filed false cost reports, fraudulently billing Medicare for home health care workers, and paid kickbacks in the sale of home health agencies and to doctors to refer patients. In addition, they gave doctors “loans” never intending to be repaid, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs from hospital pharmacies.
• 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty to 14 felonies.
• In late 2002, HCA agreed to pay the U.S. government $631 million, plus interest, and pay $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition to $250 million paid up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare expense claims. In all, civil law suits cost HCA more than $2 billion to settle, by far the largest fraud settlement in US history.

All of these crimes appear to be aimed at making more money from each patient as possible. Apply this to birth and suddenly the reason for a 33% cesarean rate becomes clear. They have no interest in a simple, intervention free birth but have such a huge interest in interventions that they are willing to risk a $2 billion fine as just a small cost of doing business.

 Fact #4- Hospitals Make More Money Off of Birth Than any Other Condition

They have twice as much money coming in from each c-section birth than each natural vaginal childbirth, some employer based health plans give doctors an extra bonus of up a $750 per C-section.

This is a scary thought. We are putting our faith and trust into a system that is not working for us but rather for themselves. This is why you need to analyze for yourself everything that these doctors tell you. They can be crucial in spotting and helping with severe issues, but they also have a terrible record of inflating very minor differences into surgery requiring problems.

Most midwives on the other hand have nothing to gain from advising an intervention, their only motivation would be the wellbeing of the mother and child. This is a crucial separation of interests; it is never good to have the person with the most to benefit from a bad outcome as an advisor.

Hospitals most profitable service is birth; they’re charging a fortune but are delivering poor service. If they were a restaurant chain they would have gone out of business years ago.

But they are a multi-billion dollar business and they have something very powerful on their side: billions of dollars, enough to hire the most expensive cut throat financial consultants there are, people sitting at desks doing nothing but figuring out how they can make the hospitals more money!

They have the ability to manipulate using the oldest tactic in the book, by feeding off of peoples fear. They do this by creating the illusion of danger, they tell us that for one reason or another our bodies are broken but we are in luck because they are there to offer the solution to it, and one they get paid for.

We Choose Natural Childbirth Without Fear

It is the most natural thing in the world for us to have fear about birth. It is something that is huge! We’ve never done it before, it sounds impossible that our bodies would be able to pass another human through them. And then the pain, all the pain we’ve heard about, the anguish the horror stories, and then there are the movie scenes that all tell us that birth is scary and painful! Women are scared to death of giving birth.

And that is why WE are here!

We Share Our Natural Childbirths because…

If We Don’t Tell Women the Truth about Natural Childbirth Then They’ll Never Know!

“Pregnancy is Not a Condition and Birth is Not an Emergency”

I and many other women know this to be true! We know how profound, amazing, empowering, beautiful and completely encompassed in love natural childbirth can be! It is so powerful I feel like it has changed me right down to the core, it has awoken me to this powerful woman that I always thought that I could be but that I now know that I am.

I choose natural childbirth because I want to pass on to my daughter that she too is strong, and to lead by example that when you are faced with the unknown the answer is never FEAR,  it is always to trust and believe in yourself.

Why do you choose Natural Childbirth?

Read this story and I’m certain that you will be just as inspired as I was by it! Enjoy!

(Thank you Olga for sharing your story, it is an inspiration to women everywhere!)

My Natural Childbirth

By: Olga Naden

I want to share a birth story of my second baby, Sylas Victor Naden born at home unassisted at 39 weeks and 2 days.

I had been preparing myself for the upcoming birth thoroughly, during the whole of my pregnancy I practiced Natal Hypnotherapy by Maggie Howell and read multiple natural birth books, like Ina May Gaskin’s ‘Guide to Childbirth’ or ‘Childbirth Without Fear’ by Grantly Dick-Read. I have watched many natural birth documentaries and videos and all episodes of ‘One Born Each Minute’ – to remind myself what I DO NOT want my birth to be like.

“After having a traumatic first induced birth, I vowed to stay at home this time, to avoid any unnecessary interventions.”

I feel very strongly about the importance and beauty of natural birth and feel that women should be given their primal powers back in this important time.

How I Prepared Myself for Natural Childbirth

During pregnancy we tried to stay as low-tech as possible: declined dating ultrasound, most blood tests and all Doppler testing. We had only the 20 weeks ultrasound, which revealed that we were expecting a baby boy – which we were very pleased about as our first child was a girl. Our consultant recommended conducting multiple growth scans, as per previous small baby, which I politely declined. Consultant then confirmed that my pregnancy was indeed very low risk and was happy for me to go ahead with my home-birth plans. Pregnancy continued relatively uneventful, though after bad hyperemesis I developed pregnancy SPD which left me in pain for most of the time.

Getting Closer Now

It was Tuesday, 5th April 2011. I still had 5 days left till my due date and was getting quite uncomfortable and impatient to meet my new baby. I was getting period pains for the previous three days, some of them contraction – type.  I was reading up on natural induction methods and as much as I believe that they will work only when baby is truly ready, decided to try breast pumping to move things along.

I had used my double electric pump for 15 minutes, soon after my husband set off to work. During that time the period pains had intensified. After I had finished pumping, I woke up my daughter from her afternoon nap and realized that those period pains had become quite regular.

Is This the Real Thing?

 It was 3.15 PM. I had decided to time them and they were lasting one minute each, three minutes apart. I was quite confused as to whether the sensations I was experiencing were meaningful or not, as they didn’t seem very painful. I didn’t expect them to be labour pains as I have never heard of contractions starting three minutes apart from the onset.

I made an afternoon snack for Freya and we started watching Toy Story 3 together. For some reason I couldn’t sit down so I started walking around the living room, timing the pains and rocking from side to side leaning against the table during them. I texts my husband that I had some sensations, but wasn’t sure that they meant anything.

Progress

 By 16.15 they were still coming every three minutes, but started getting longer – lasting up to two minutes at the time, so I called Christian to come back home from work.

 After one visit to the toilet, I found a jelly ‘blob’ of clear mucous, but dismissed it as nothing, as it didn’t have any blood in it.  All that time I still wasn’t convinced that I was actually in labour as contractions were easily manageable – all I had to do is rock from side to side and breathe through them.

 When Christian arrived at 5PM, I decided to have a shower as I felt quite hot and sweaty. I stayed there for about 30 minutes and noticed that the pains were getting slightly stronger. At 5PM I called my brother Victor to come round and look after Freya as something might be actually happening. At about 5.30 I asked Christian to put on my Tens Machine and started using its Boost mode during contractions, which felt great.

 I was still convinced that I was only in early stages of labour and was quite happy leaning on my birth ball during contractions, visualizing cervix opening and ‘breathing in golden light’ – techniques from Natal Hypnotherapy.

I Began to Withdraw into My Own World

About 6PM pains were increasing in intensity and frequency – they lasted for two minutes, two minutes apart.

 By that time I have become very withdrawn, didn’t speak to Chris and practiced hypnotherapy techniques most of the time. I have noticed that Christian has started to set up the birth pool. I felt very calm and detached from everything, withdrawn into my own world. I remember Christian asking me some questions and I couldn’t give him a logical answer and ended up mumbling incoherent words.

Finally I Realize that I Might Actually Be in Labor

At 6.30 my waters broke and I started moaning during contractions. Only at that point I have finally realised that I might actually be in labour.

 J Victor arrived at 6.40 and immediately took Freya to the park for a walk. Christian then called midwives at 6.45 and they confirmed that they’re on their way.

After having two three minutes contractions that came only one minute apart, I went into transition and remember thinking ‘I bet that when midwives arrive I will only be three centimetres’ and that I would not be able to cope if that was the case, as it was starting to hurt by then. Those two contractions are the only ones that I could describe as painful; otherwise they just felt like warm pressure opening sensations.

Got in the Water and it Felt Great!

I got into the pool at 6.50 and it felt great! It was only about half filled, but warm water relaxed me a great deal. Christian started to pour hot water down my back, which was one of the best sensations in my life! I was hanging of the sides of the pool, in deep squat, with my pelvis wide open. My first contraction in the pool felt different, like everything was opening wide inside. During the next contraction I had to cling onto pool walls and shot up into half-squatting position with a loud roar, realising that my body has pushed the baby’s head out.

The Head is Out

I told my husband ‘The head is out’ – he couldn’t believe it but soon reached down and felt baby’s head. During next contraction the body slid out and at exactly 7PM I have scooped my son up from underneath the water into my arms.

Meeting Our Baby- As a Family

He was tiny but perfect, with ideally round head. He started crying straight away and was a lovely pink colour. Both I and Chris were in shock as we didn’t expect the baby to come so quickly and effortlessly. I sat in a pool staring at my perfect baby, holding him in my arms after nine months of anticipation.

We left the cord to stop pulsating for over forty minutes. Christian called Victor to come back from the park and he and Freya were the first to see newly born Sylas. Freya was very excited to meet her baby brother.

Here Come the Midwives

 Midwives arrived at 7.15 PM and started filling in their paperwork. In a way I am really glad that they didn’t make it on time, as they would have most certainly disrupted my hypnotic state and natural birth process. I know that they were just doing their job, but I found their presence intrusive.

One of the midwives actually admitted to me that she was terrified of natural birth and decided to ask for elective cesarean section if she ever became pregnant. I am really glad that a midwife with an attitude like this didn’t participate in birth of my baby.

 I loved the fact that nobody but family members got to hold Sylas during his first hour of life. Afterwards he was weighed – 2720g – 6lb and had his first breastfeed soon after. He was extremely alert and took to breastfeeding like a pro! Midwives have checked my perineum, which was completely intact – which they haven’t apparently seen before. Blood loss was minimal

“I felt like I could conquer the world. It was a true freebirth!!!”

I really loved my birth experience – it was much better than I could have ever dreamt of. Though I was toying with idea of unassisted birth during my pregnancy, I didn’t want to make that decision consciously. I am very happy that it turned out to be unassisted though. I now feel that this moment was too special to share it with strangers – our baby was welcomed to this world only by his loving and caring parents.

I also gained lots of confidence as a women and it was an amazing experience for us as a couple. The amount of love and power it gave us is beyond description. Both my husband and myself remained confident and calm throughout – we were not afraid at any point.

“I feel truly empowered by my birth, which now has completely healed trauma of my previous hospital birth.”

 It is such a shame that more women don’t get to have an experience like this and are robbed of this almighty feeling forever.

It is very interesting how I experienced ‘Foetus Ejection Reflex’ as described by Niles Newton. I didn’t know it was possible until it happened to me –

“My body just ‘pushed the baby out’ without me having to do anything – truly amazing!!! “

I am also very pleased that I practiced hypnotherapy during my pregnancy – it has helped me a great deal. I was able to block out the pain – contractions felt like pressure, but weren’t really painful.

Most important factor was letting go of my fear and accepting that labour is something that female bodies are designed to do and have done for thousands of years, all we have to do is let go and let nature do its job. And it did.

“ What a miracle our bodies are and what a truly empowering experience natural, undisturbed labour can be!!! “

 I understand that homebirth isn’t for everyone, but I wish it was offered to more women. In our culture birth became over medicalized, it is now seen as a dangerous emergency and women are expecting agonising pain.

The fact is, if women are left alone in their own environment, the whole process can be very calm, safe and empowering. Natural birth doesn’t have to mean that you’re a martyr and go through unbearable pain, but is an important rite of passage that empowers you to be the person that you want to be – nothing is impossible anymore. Just like Nietzsche said ‘What doesn’t kill me – only makes me stronger’.

Please don’t feel sad or like a failure if your birth experience was far from ideal. I know – I have been there. I believe that we always make the best decision with all the information available to us at the time. Medical staff can be intimidating sometimes and we feel pressured to do something that we didn’t intend to do and regret it afterwards. I was bullied into accepting induction for my daughter, without sound medical reason. The birth ended up being horrific and all that I didn’t want to happen happened.

 We all learn from our mistakes, I hope this story will show that your dream birth is possible, but you really have to take charge of your experience – otherwise decisions will be made for you, and they might not be decisions that you would be happy with.

Thanks for reading…

~Olga

~Rumi

Secret Doorway #2 to having an amazing natural childbirth is through your breath. The simple act of breathing is surely the most natural, primal, and universal human experience, quite similar to birth.

When used to its’ full potential your breath can open up a whole new way of natural childbirth,  that can not only be free from fear and pain, but can actually emerge as an amazing and truly enjoyable experience!

In this article I will share how to use the power of  breath to assist you in remaining calm, flexible and relaxed during your birthing time, to effectively focus the energy of the birthing waves, to minimize discomfort, and allow you and your baby a much more comfortable and enjoyable natural childbirth.

Through Breath Lies Everything You Need to Give Your Baby a Great Natural Childbirth

“You know that our breathing is the inhaling and exhaling of air.  The organ that serves for this is the lungs that lie round the heart, so that the air passing through them thereby envelops the heart.  Thus breathing is a natural way to the heart.  And so, having collected your mind within you, lead it into the channel of breathing through which air reaches the heart and, together with this inhaled air, force your mind to descend into the heart and to remain there.”

~Nicephorus the Solitary

Because we are always breathing, like most things, we tend to take it for granted, and fail to recognize the infinite store of potential that lies within the power of our own breath!

We each hold within us everything that we need to bring our babies into the world: personal power, love, strength, confidence, passion, wisdom and determination.

When you breathe with conscious awareness into your heart it activates all of these systems, as you inhale it gathers them together, and then on the exhale pours them out over your birthing time.

You must understand that when you are operating from love and strength there is simply no room for fear, they cannot share the same space at the same time.  And in the absence of fear there is no limit to what you can achieve.

Your Breath Sets the Tone for Your Natural Childbirth

Your breath sets the tone for your entire body. If your breath is relaxed your body is relaxed.

So the goal is to get your breath to be a mirror of what you are trying to achieve in both body and mind during your birth. So the goal of your body is to remain relaxed, and to be open and expansive, but at the same time your mind must be calm and strong. So then these are the things to encompass in your breath, these are the things that you should focus on incorporating into your practice.

Natural Childbirth Exercise: Mastering the Breath of Birth

As you focus your awareness on your breath take the time to notice each one of these qualities,  Go down the line and activate these things within your breathing, relaxed breaths, open breaths, expansive breaths, calm breaths, strong breaths. There is no need to change the way you breathe, or to breathe in a certain way. Your breathing already encompasses these qualities,  your job is to simply bring your awareness into your breath and to be aware of these qualities that already exist within it. Be the “watcher of your breath” so to say.

Proper Breathing for Natural Childbirth and for Life

First you must relearn how to breathe correctly:  Which is through your abdomen, as you inhale you abdomen rises, and as you exhale it sinks. We were all born breathing this perfect way,  but as life and stress compound we learn to take short shallow breaths through our chest. This way of shallow breathing really limits the potential of our breath and tends to disconnect us from the primordial connection with the one universal breath or flow. In order to embrace the power and strength of your birthing time it’s essential to reconnect with this powerful primal breath , because this is what reconnects us with the powerful breath and energy that propels birth.

Spiral Breath

Throughout your practice and birth always maintain a relaxed jaw and wide open mouth. Inhale and exhale through your mouth, this encourages the opening of your body’s sphincters. As you breathe in and out feel your breath flowing into and out of you. Now do it again, but this time there is no pause between the inhale and exhale,  just imagine it flowing into and out of you in a continuous flowing spiral. Good Job!

The Amazing Secret To Using Your Breath is to Gather, Compress, and Disperse

As you inhale imagine gathering energy or “chi” as a beautiful light… picture it flowing into you through your breath… as it flows into your body it begins to gather and activate all of your gifts:  your personal power, your love, strength, confidence, passion, wisdom, and so on… it then compresses, and as you exhale they flow through you carrying out all negative, dark or stagnant energy and dispersing it.

Focusing the Energy of the Birthing Waves and Dispersing Pain

During your birthing time you use this same Gather, Compress, and Disperse to handle the intensity of the pressure waves.

• Gather- as you inhale you gather and allow the pressure and intensity of the birthing waves to flow into you,  gathering and activating your calm inner strength, love, confidence, and personal power
• Compress- you then allow the intensity to combine with your personal power, and as it compresses the  energy is focused downward
• Disperse- as you exhale you take all of the intensity, energy, discomfort etc. and allow it to completely disperse back into the earth clearing the way for the next pressure wave to come.

Renewing Cleansing Breath

One of the most powerful qualities that lie in your breath is the amazing cleansing ability that it has. Every breath is all new. And even if with your last pressure wave you got pulled into a place of fear, that’s OK because each and every breath is a chance to start over fresh.

Every breath is a choice. With every breath you must choose relaxation. With every breath you must choose pleasure over pain, love over fear. With every breath you must choose to gather and bring forth your calm inner strength, with every breath you must choose to embrace birth, to embrace the energy, to embrace the magnificence, and to embrace the power of it.

You must allow yourself to breath openly, and freely.

Although the body is moving, the mind remains centered with the steady flow of breath creating a dynamic since of tranquility and internal strength. With this on your side birth is more enjoyable on every level! It can emerge as a painless, empowering, and amazing act of love that can give you and your baby an enjoyable natural childbirth without fear!

We will be entering each one of these doorways through a natural childbirth technique that will be shared each week. Every one of the 5 components is equally special, powerful and important on its own, but when used all together can make a huge difference in the quality of your birth!

In order to achieve a great birth you must work on opening the doorway to your “true state of being.”  This is where you must reside throughout your birthing time, in the “seat of yourself “so to say;  the place inside of you that knows how powerful you are, how strong, capable, wise, loving, and masterfully designed you are for natural childbirth.

The best way to prepare yourself to operate from that place during birth, is to practice accessing that place while you are still pregnant. I’ll share with you some of the exercises that I used to do that. These exercises teach you how to access and use your energy to work in accordance with the birthing energy, which makes birth a lot easier and more comfortable.

Secret Doorway #1 To An Amazing Natural Childbirth-

Enter through The “Universal Spiral”

Natural Childbirth and the Universal Spiral or “Golden Mean”

A great mathematician by the name of Leonardo Fibonacci became aware of the “Universal Spiral,” or when broken down into math terms is called the “Golden Ratio.” This is the idea that many if not all things in our world come into existence through the same universal spiraling motion.

Here’s a video that explains it a bit more:

So if it is true that possibly all things come into the world within this spiral then it would seem to make sense that we would follow this same pattern of movement when bringing our babies into the world.

The Benefits of Spiraling for Natural Childbirth

The spiraling that is practiced for natural childbirth is an actual physical movement where you spiral your hips in big flowing circles, it is a very empowering movement that can open the doorway to the primordial connection that exists between your body and the universal birthing energy.

Lack of movement during your birthing time enables the intense energy of the rushes to build and compound in the abdomen which causes a great deal of unnecessary pain. But if you allow your body to glide along this spiral, then the intensity of the rushes is being actively moved and spiraled downward which prevents pain, focuses the energy in a useful way, opens your pelvis and encourages your baby to travel downward.

Natural Childbirth Video – “Birth into Being” an Awesome Documentary that Embraces the Act of Spiraling during Birth

When I was pregnant I watched this amazing documentary. This is where I was first introduced to the idea of spiraling during birth. There are some really beautiful natural childbirth stories in this film. It’s a must see!

Wow! If spiraling was going to allow me to have an amazing natural childbirth like those ones, I was going to spiral my little heart out! So I began practicing it as often as I could. It felt so amazing that I would practice it many times a day!

Natural Childbirth Exercise: The Practice of Mastering the Art of Spiraling

You may sit on your birthing ball, on your hands and knees, or you may stand.

Close your eyes, and begin to bring your awareness to your breathing….. Feel yourself taking full, controlled breaths…. inhaling and exhaling completely….feel the flow of the breath spiraling into you and out in a continuous flowing cycle…

…Still your mind and go to a place of peace within yourself….. Now begin to move your body in Big Circles like you’re outlining a large sun with your hips… circling your hips around and around….. …Just relax and allow yourself to flow into this movement……

…As you are doing this,  imagine gathering energy from the heavens, and as it enters into your body it fills you with this beautiful white light that is flowing through in a downward facing spiraling motion.

This feels wonderfully rejuvenating!  The effects of this exercise works on many different levels to remove harmful blocks within your body’s meridians or (energy centers), and to refill with a  light and refreshing energy.

What makes this exercise successful is the combination between breath, movement and imagination.

My Natural Childbirth Story - Spiraling My Way To An Amazing Birth

As soon as I felt the first rushes of my birthing time I immediately went into this place of calm inner strength. I focused my awareness on my breathing and allowed it to channel the intensity of the birthing waves down through my body. This was working well, but as the intensity began to build I felt a very primal urge to move my body.

I instinctively began this spiraling motion. I moved my body in wide opening circles and imagined the birthing energy just as I had during my practice, as a white light, but this time it was intensified 100 fold. I visualized all of the power of the cosmos pouring powerfully through my body. It was a magnificent feeling that I welcomed into me!

I kept spiraling and felt like I was grabbing a hold of the intensity of the rush and was able to focus on spiraling it downward and then releasing it through my breath.

At one point I stopped spiraling just for comparison, this time when the rushes came in, instead of being spiraled downward they began to compound and build in my abdomen and was becoming pretty painful. The moment I began spiraling again the pain dispersed.

My Natural Childbirth Video-

Here is the video of our birth, where you can see the spiraling motion that I did throughout almost the entire birth.

I hope that you enjoy practicing and exploring this beautiful spiraling movement, it can make an incredible difference in the quality of your natural childbirth.

Next week we will enter through Golden Doorway #2   using the  “Breath of Natural Childbirth”

Natural childbirth without fear is an empowering and often times highly spiritual event where a women learns the natural rhythms of her body and glows with an indescribable radiance…

As her birthing progresses she awakens to an inner strength, and suddenly knows what it is to be a woman…

She embraces the power of her body, and for a moment in time she feels connected with every woman that has gone before her…

As she relaxes deeply and lets her body lead, she knows that she is giving her baby the best gift she can bestow – the gift of a loving childbirth without fear.

In the presence of a woman giving childbirth without fear, people often report seeing a glow of light and color radiating from her.

And the father says he has never seen his woman look more beautiful.

When you birth with love you greatly increase your chances of experiencing a gentle, comfortable and painless childbirth without fear.

If you want to experience childbirth without fear you have nothing to fear but fear itself

I believe that we are introduced to fear in our first moments of life…

When we are born our first impressions of this world remain forever embedded in our subconscious minds…

And later in life, when faced with new challenges and obstacles, we often revert back to those same old feelings…

Feelings that tell us the world is a big scary place, and we are very small and helpless.

We’re ashamed of fear, so we often bury it inside and try to hide our fears from others…

But that is not the best approach if you want to give the gift of a happy childbirth without fear.

It is better to address each of your own fears and uncertainties honestly and directly before going into labor.

This way you can put them out of your mind and allow your true potential as a mother to shine through when the time comes.

When we realize that as women we are beautiful and powerful creatures, and that our strength lies within our love, then we can experience an amazing childbirth without fear.

Effects of Fear on Your Body and Your Baby

Many times complications during childbirth can be directly attributed to the mother’s inability to control her fear.

“When your baby is inside you, your baby feels what you feel”

Your baby’s every fiber is interconnected with yours, and he or she is like a sponge, soaking up all of your emotions.

When you dwell on feelings of self doubt and fear you will be unconsciously sending your baby a message that he or she has a legitimate reason to be afraid of being born.

As well as causing emotional distress in your self and your baby, this can also create harmful physical responses in both you and your baby…

• Your heart rate rises…
• Breathing slows…
• Blood pressure rises…
• And the muscles in your body become tightly clenched.

This is where complications can begin.

Your body is trying to do its job, which is to move and stretch and open to allow your baby to come out.

Your job is to relax and let your body do its magic.

If you are clinched with fear you are actively fighting against your body and creating a struggle for your baby to be born.

Choose To Give Childbirth Without Fear

Remember, you are the creator of your own experience and it is your choice what emotions you focus on and cultivate inside yourself.

You can choose to focus on positive thoughts and experience childbirth without fear.

Focusing on your fear during birth can lead to a self-defeating process I call:

Forgetting that

Everything is

All

Right

Sometimes things are not all right. But most of the time they are…

When you allow fear to take over your thoughts your interpretation of reality can become skewed and create a self fulfilling prophecy.

The more you focus on your fear the more that fear grows, like a snowball.

Then your potential for a painless and calm childbirth without fear slips right out the window.

The Benefits Of Natural Childbirth Without Fear

When you shift your focus away from your mind and all of it’s worries, and focus on allowing your body to do what it does best, you are giving your child a beautiful gift…

The gift of believing in herself.

By cultivating feelings of peace, calmness and love you will be sending your baby the message that she is welcome in our world…

You are telling her that she can feel free to come on out and join us.

“She doesn’t have to be afraid… she can do it, and she is capable of anything!”

In return she will be sharing that same message with you…

“You don’t have to be afraid, you can do it! You are capable of giving life!”

Practical Methods For Overcoming Fear

Here are some things you can do while pregnant and during labor to prepare for a natural childbirth without fear:

Tip 1 – Kick Fear Out

One method to get rid of fear is to be conscious of your emotions and don’t allow fear to take root in your mind.

If fear had a physical form it would look like a thick cloud of black smoke that blocks out the light of your potential and makes it impossible for you to breath.

Exercise:  Imagine your fear as a billowing plume of black smoke burning inside of you that, if left unattended, will soon fill up every crevice of your body. Now take a deep breath and exhale, blowing it all out and releasing it from your body.

Tip 2 – Address your Concerns and Move Past Them

Throughout your pregnancy, especially as you get closer to your baby’s arrival, be conscious of indentifying any fears and questions you may have before they have a chance to take root and affect you and your baby’s well being.

When new concerns and fears come up don’t ignore them or dwell on them.

Instead keep a log and write them down so you can find answers to them later.

This way you can put them out of your mind.

Tip 3 – Go Within to keep Fear Out

If you look deep within yourself you will find the truth that you already instinctively know how to give birth, just like all of the creatures of the earth do.

Even if you have never done it before, as a woman you already possess the ability to give birth naturally.

With this realization you can dismiss many fears that are based on self-doubt and trust in nature and your body’s natural ability.

Tip 4 – Release Negative Energy and Refill With Positive

There are many activities you can do while pregnant to promote the positive flow of energy within you, such as:

• Yoga
• Chi kung
• Creating art
• Walks in nature
• Meditating
• Swimming
• Soaking up the sun…

If you engage in activities that build up positive energy throughout your pregnancy you can open yourself completely during labor and allow all of that beautiful energy to pour out…

Bringing your baby right into your arms!

Childbirth without fear is a beautiful experience that every woman is capable of and every child deserves…

If a Momma can be conscious of holding herself in a calm and peaceful state, she will be sending her baby the message that she doesn’t have to be afraid of being born, she can feel free to come on out and join us, and that she will be loved and welcomed.

When that understanding is reached, birth has the potential to be a magical and miraculous journey for everyone involved.