Ch.17/ Confidence in Your Birth Location
There are times when we have to compromise and when that’s around your birth location, a mindset shift is necessary
I was recently reading “Natural Hospital Birth” by Cynthia Gabriel in preparation for my own hospital birth. I am hoping to go unmedicated (meaning without an epidural) for my birth. I don’t love that unmedicated and natural are used interchangeably in this book but that’s a point for another post!
In the second chapter of the book, they discuss the importance of feeling safe and how your mindset around your birth location is a huge factor in this. Here’s an excerpt:
Ch.17/
Confidence in Birth Location
“I am sure that if you pay attention, you can distinguish between a calm feeling of self-confidence (‘This is absolutely right’) and an unsettling feeling of resignation (‘Well, I’ve made the best decision possible, given all the terrible things that could go wrong’).”
This really landed with me. I’m having a hospital birth but that was never my plan. I had always dreamed of having a homebirth so when circumstances changed, I felt like I really had to compromise on having a hospital birth. Tears were shed and I was really disappointed.
Now that that decision has been made concretely, I need to work on shifting my mindset. I realized that I’ve been thinking of my hospital birth as the best option but not anywhere near ideal. That doesn’t sound like a good mindset surrounding my birth location to me.
I know that feeling safe at my birth is going to be crucial in being able to birth my baby safely and while feeling empowered. Oxytocin gets flowing when we feel safe and my feelings surrounding where I’ll be giving birth are going to help that or hinder that.
Although I never imagined a hospital birth for myself, I know it is exactly right for me for this baby for this time in my life. I need to embrace that fully.
Have feelings you’re working through surrounding your own birth location? Let’s chat:
