Last week I posed a question on my Instagram stories...
‘What one word would you use to describe your birth experience’.
The range of responses back was fascinating, and largely positive! The words that came into my inbox included:
Empowering
Perfect
Quick
Unexpected
Surreal
I tend to find that reflections on birth experiences tend to sit on 2 opposite ends of the spectrum- the highly positive, or conversely accounts of feeling upset by the way birth unfolded. It’s very rare you hear a middle ground response when it comes to birth (hardly surprising when it's one of the biggest life events you can experience!).
My #1 goal is to empower birthing people with the tools to feel confident and calm in preparation for, and during labour, so they can achieve the ‘perfect’ and ‘empowering’ births they dream of.
The word ‘unexpected’ featured- and yes, it’s true that we cannot predict, plan or necessarily control the direction birth will take. What we can do however, is utilise the simple tools learnt with hypnobirthing to feel confident, calm and in control of your mindset and decisions, no matter what journey their labour takes.
If I could hear every woman/birthing person describe their birth as "perfect" and "empowering"- that really would be job done! The movie's don't tell birth with this narrative in mind, and my aim is to get the message out there that birth really can be that perfect experience to remember for a lifetime, for all the right reasons.
