[00:00:00] My name is Trish Ware and I am obsessed with all things pregnancy and birth and helping you to navigate with the practical and the magical seasons of this journey called motherhood. I'm an all day coffee sipping mama of seven. I've had the amazing privilege of delivering many babies in my 15 plus year career as a labor and delivery nurse and as a mama of seven.
I'm here to help you take the guesswork out of childbirth so you can make the choices that are right for you and your baby. Quick note, this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not replace your medical advice. Check out our full disclaimer at the bottom of the screen. of the show notes.
So we are going to be talking about prepping or preparing for unmedicated [00:01:00] birth. And I'm going to be talking specifically about preparing for unmedicated birth in the hospital. But this could apply anywhere, but the majority of my unmedicated students that chat with me and people who chat with me on social are usually asking me questions specifically about going unmedicated in the hospital.
So that's what I wanted to really touch base on. So what I wanted to talk about first is we're going to talk about Your fears, because I think it's really important that we address them. So the very first thing we're going to really think about if you want to have an unmedicated birth is your why.
What is your why? If your why is because everyone in your family did it and that's just what you're expected to do, that's not a really strong why. [00:02:00] If you're gonna go unmedicated and I hope you guys notice that I don't say go natural. That used to be the way that we referred to it as if a mama didn't get medication, she was going natural.
But you know what? I think it's rude. Birth is natural. Period. Whether you get an epidural or not, or you have a cesarean or not, we're not going to say natural around here. That's one line that I draw in the sand. If your why is because you've done some research and you've decided that's best for you and it's best for baby and you just get this like excited feeling when you think about unmedicated And for those of you who are like, hell no, I'm not going unmedicated.
When I say that excited feeling now, the people who know what I'm talking about, they know what I'm talking about, but. You can get excited about labor. Fear can throw a loop into anything you do. But when it comes to [00:03:00] your birth, fear can really mess up the progression of your labor. It can It can mess up, it can stall it, it can stop it, it can slow it, so you really want to deal with your fears prior to going into your labor and delivery room, wherever that is, whether it's at home or in a birth center or in a hospital.
So when we talk about Dealing with your fears. One of the things that I do with my students in my birth classes is that I have them List them out and we replace them with truth. There's so much power in truth and tonight I'm gonna be talking about the big six beers, right? The big ones that we all here all the time.
I'm so excited. You guys, if you're in the Facebook group, my doulas are in there. I see them and some of my students and some of you lovely mamas. Okay, so when we talk about your mindset. It's really important that you have some mindset strategies. One of [00:04:00] the biggest ways that I'm going to tell you to prepare for unmedicated birth has everything to do with what's going on up here.
It starts with knowing your why it's also about flipping those fears, replacing them with truth and power and, mindfulness and meditation and prayer and scriptures and whatever it is that you use to reset your mind. During stressful times or difficult moments you want to know how to use them during your birth And that's one of my super tools that I love my superpowers.
I love teaching you guys Because all of those things when you're able to control your mind birth is 90 percent mindset So what you do before you step into your labor room? matters tremendously. This is why I spend so much time educating and supporting my mamas, because your [00:05:00] mindset matters. The next thing I would tell you when it comes to that is being educated.
You have to be educated. If you think you can wing your birth, you are absolutely 100 percent wrong. And winging your birth is going to leave you traumatized. It's going to leave you wondering and what ifs and all of the things that you don't want to leave your birth journey with. I say this all the time to my girls, like you only get one.
birth this baby, let's do what we can to have a really powerful birth, to have your best birth. So being educated again, works on up here, your mind, because when you educate yourself about Anything that you don't know about, it gives you a sense of calm and peace. On the flip side, if you were to wait till your first contraction to start thinking like, Oh my gosh, how do I handle this?
What do I do? What are the breathing techniques? What are the positioning? What are all the things? Then [00:06:00] your fears are gonna shoot through the roof. Mindset and mental preparation is not It's not just learning mindset techniques, but it's also about educating yourself. So your very first step towards unmedicated at birth is mindset strategies and techniques to deal with your fears.
And then the second one is being educated. And I will. I will stand on this soapbox till the day I die that a woman should never wing her birth. You should always educate yourself. This is one of the most life changing moments that you will ever experience. And if you're facing a life changing moment, you don't go into it blindly.
You don't. There's just way too many twists and turns. And if anybody out there tells you, Oh, there's really no sense to be educated. There's no sense to have a birth plan because they won't do what you want. And you don't really get control anyway. And you can't control birth. It's unpredictable. Yes, it is [00:07:00] unpredictable.
And yes, they might try to do what you don't want them to do. But that's why you have to. to be educated. That is exactly the 100 percent reason why you have to be educated. Because if you're not educated and someone else tries to take control of your birth, which will happen, you are not going to be confident to speak up.
So one of the things, one of my mantras inside of my birth classes is that You can refuse anything, but should you? And my other one is, if you don't know your options, you don't have any. So those are things we really dive deep into because you have to be educated to steer your birth ship. So know that, okay?
And if you are educated and you take a birth class, hopefully ours, then you're going to know pain management techniques that aren't just like on the fly, your nurse in your birth telling you, Oh, do this, do that because that does not work. I've tried it over 16 years as a labor nurse does not work.[00:08:00]
And you can also be educated in my next thing, which is number three, is preparing your body. So you don't want to just wing that. This is something we are so passionate about inside of Calm Labor Confident Birth Class and the VBAC Lab is that you have to be educated. So hopefully you guys can see me.
Knowing, this guy right here, this is like your most powerful tool that you take into your labor room. And I know my doulas are going to be like, preach it. Because if you know how to work your pelvis. You've got it. tHis is such a powerful part of your body and it's so insanely incredible how it works, how flexible it is, how you can do movements.
This one doesn't open. Mine is not flexible. My real one is not this one. You can do movements that open up the inlet. Okay. Because you want to open up the inlet. [00:09:00] For the baby to go in. I don't know if I posted my reel yet, but I posted a reel today talking about the reason why the baby engaging into your pelvis is so freaking important.
And if the baby is not engaging, then guess what? Labor's going to be stalling and not starting. So we want to learn how to open the pelvis to get baby down because baby's head pressing on your cervix. Is what starts the whole kit and caboodle and that's how you start going into labor because what happens when the baby presses on the cervix that sends signals to your brain, your pituitary gland starts releasing oxytocin and oxytocin, we all know.
is the amazing hormone that is not only called the love hormone, but it's also our labor hormone. And when the labor hormone starts flowing, the uterus starts contracting, which pushes the baby [00:10:00] farther into the pelvis, which puts more pressure on the cervix, which I call the gate or the door. And that starts thinning it out, which allows it to open.
So if you don't know positioning and physical movements, To do to open up your pelvis. You could indirectly be keeping the door closed, right? If you're maybe sitting improperly or you're not doing some key movements and it's not a lot, it's not a whole lot. We have a book called unstoppable labors.
It's a printable visual guide that you can print, laminate, whatever. You can print it small or big, take it into your labor room and even use it prior to labor. We give it to all of our students in their labor bat signal. Because you want to know how to work this magical pelvis and the fact of the matter is half the, I can't swear, but I was going to say another word for poop.
Half the poop we do to you in the labor and delivery room does not allow the power of the pelvis to [00:11:00] flow. Laying you flat on your back does not allow the pelvis to do what it's supposed to do. It makes it more immobile and it doesn't allow the baby to move into the pelvis. And the next thing you need to know is how to move your pelvis to move the baby through the pelvis.
So if you don't know how to do those things, you're really in a lot of trouble. So this is why we're so passionate about your education and then being educated physically as well, because your body is so stinkin powerful. It is so powerful. You guys can tell I'm getting worked up. This is, oh, this is so important that because you need to know how to open the outlet.
Or the inlet to get the baby in you know how to you need to know how to move the baby through the pelvis and then guess what we want to move the baby out of the pelvis so that's pushing knowledge you have to have pushing knowledge you can't just wing it right because you might inadvertently do something that you know you're probably going to get your baby out whether you're educated or not.
Chances are [00:12:00] high, but you can make it a lot easier on you, a lot smoother, and just a much more peaceful experience. And love your labor. That was the first name of my very first birth course. Love your labor. You can love your labor. And if you've been told that you just have to endure it, you've been told a lie.
I'm just gonna say that right now. Okay, I've got a list because y'all can tell I'm going off on different tangents. Another part of the physical preparation for an unmedicated birth is knowing the right foods to eat. Get the body prep girl. You're about to run a marathon and you would not run a marathon if you weren't prepping your body through nutrition, through physical exercise, through movement, all the things to get your body ready for unmedicated birth and Medicaid at birth.
So if you're listening and you are absolutely like hell, no, I am not having an unmedicated birth. That's fine no problem stick around and come to my classes this week because some Let me just say a lot [00:13:00] of women who come to my classes end up Either deciding they do want unmedicated or they want a hybrid because you don't have to have one or the other just so you know.
Okay, so the next thing that I would say is creating a supportive team or birth environment is super important. Okay? So the next two could be interchangeable. They're not these are not in order. It's just what my brain is giving you. Okay, so by creating a supportive birth environment, you are going to allow the natural pain killers that we have flowing through our body to flow.
And if you create a birth environment that is supportive, you're going to feel safe. You're going to feel protected, and that alone is critical for birth, medicated or unmedicated. So just so you know, this one is important [00:14:00] too. So I always like to equate it to when you made the baby, right? I don't want to get booted off of Instagram or Facebook right now, so I'm not going to say the word, but you know how you made the baby, most people, and During that process of making the baby, if I were standing at the side going push, breathe, hold your breath, lift up your legs, and shining the lights of God on you, you probably would be a little nervous and your love hormone might not be flowing.
When you think about your birth environment, Do not accept the fact that's how it has to be. That a nurse needs to be yelling at you, that bright lights need to be on top of you, that you should be completely exposed, and that everyone should be hustling and loud and talking about their son's baseball game, or the next thing they're doing.
No, your birth environment should be centered around the birth queen, and the baby, and the birth. So I always tell my mamas, tell the team, [00:15:00] Hey. I want you guys to talk low, I want the lights dim, I want everyone focused on what I'm doing, which is birthing the baby, I want words of affirmation, encouraging, words coming at me, and I don't want any weird talk about everything else.
Because it's so important that your love hormone is flowing so your birth can go in a beautiful best way possible. sTart planning for a calm and comfortable birthing space. I always recommend bringing your own pillow, bringing your favorite blanket, and then the next thing that's really important about your birth environment is having support.
So your support team is so freaking important. It is so important. When you have an educated support person at your side now typically when I say an educated support person You know a doula is best case scenario, but not all of us can afford a doula I couldn't afford a doula when I had my babies so [00:16:00] I get it.
This is why I provide virtual support options from doulas for 39 a month because a lot of people cannot afford a doula so Having a supportive person who's educated can also be your partner, or like I said, it can be virtual support services. When you have an educated support person, you are more likely to have an uneventful vagin*l birth.
It decreases interventions, including cesarean. It's less likely for an assisted delivery like a forceps or vacuum or a cesarean or c section. It's less likely that you're going to need pain meds, which is really important for you ladies who want to go unmedicated. You're going to leave your birth feeling more happy about the birth if you have a supported, a supportive team.
That makes sense, right? Then if you have someone. Now when you're choosing who you want at your bedside when you're birthing your baby is so important. You don't want to pick someone who annoys [00:17:00] the stink out of you on a daily basis. This is not the time to include everyone. This is the time that you choose who is important to you.
When you have a better support person, an educated support person, your baby even has better APGARs, and let me explain why that is. So APGARs is a scoring system that we do once baby comes out. We do it at 1 minute, 5 minute, everything's good, we stop. If not, we're going to look again at 10 minutes. And we want to see how is baby acclimating, and we score them on different areas.
Well, a lot of those have to do with how much, how well they were inside of you, how they tolerated labor. When a mama who has a support team, who is educated, whose mindset is in the right spot and she's utilizing movement during her birth, then she's going to be getting more oxygen to her baby.
That's why they have better APGARs. One of my tips for you guys when you are talking about your birth environment is to create a [00:18:00] labor tool bag. Now we have a link in my bio on Instagram that goes to my Amazon shop and we have a list put together for you guys already with all the things we recommend for your labor tool bag.
But when you think about your labor tool bag, this is going to be, different pain management options unmedicated pain management options, obviously, because that's what we're talking about. These are going to be things that can support your goal of your unmedicated birth. So that is my other number five is your pain management techniques.
You have to be educated. You have to understand all the different techniques that you can use. In alternative to medications, and there's so many you guys can see on this list. It's probably pretty small But there's essential oils that will help with pain during labor. There's massage. There's touch There's using a fan using the comb all the different things.
He hot and cold therapy counterpressure All the different things that can help you [00:19:00] with your tool and like I said, we've got them listed out on my Amazon shop But having a knowing those unmedicated tool, pool, blah, blah, blah, blah, can't talk. Knowing those unmedicated pain management options, so important.
Breathing techniques. And I'm going to teach you guys three powerful labor coping tools on Friday night. 6 o'clock p. m. Central Standard Time. Just reply FEARLESS if you haven't signed up or sign up for FEARLESS Birth. For my mamas that are already signed up, I gotcha. Be there at 6 o'clock. Okay. The other thing that you're going to want to do, and this is my sixth tip, is understanding the interventions and your rights when it comes to them.
Because... When you start agreeing to interventions early on in your labor, that can become a cascade effect, and that can make it much harder to go unmedicated. So the least interventions that are used, it's just easier. And this is coming from someone who has had six [00:20:00] unmedicated births, and three of them were inductions.
If you're able, if it works out for you that you can go into spontaneous labor, you are already a leg up because it's just so much easier to go unmedicated if you are not being induced. But I did it three times, so don't be afraid if you have to be induced, I gotcha. But you just want to know. The intervention so that you can make an informed decision.
And like I said before, we don't just refuse willy nilly. You need to know what is it used for, why is it used, and when is it appropriate? Should I say yes? Should I say no? You have to know your rights during the birthing process to. Navigate it, but you have to learn those before you're in labor. When you're in labor, your only job, your absolute only job is to labor.
That's when everyone else advocates for you. That's when everyone else is protecting your sacred environment, your sacred birth environment. Again, are six steps [00:21:00] Dealing with your fears and your mindset right your mindset strategy super important and that includes your why do you want to go on?
Medicated what are my birth fears? How can I replace them with truth? The next thing is educating yourself take a powerful birth class. I prefer you take mine. Obviously, it's online It's actually going on sale on wednesday We're opening up the cart and you get a hundred dollars off and some bonuses. The next thing is preparing your body Then the next thing is knowing that you need to have a birth environment that includes, all the tools that you can set up to make it calm and confident.
And then also your team, your support person. And then the other thing that you need to know is your pain management techniques that you can use for an unmedicated birth. And then the last thing is understanding your interventions. And your rights so that you can navigate the decisions and make informed ones [00:22:00] and not make decisions out of fear, because when that fear starts creeping, which we're going to talk about that in tonight's workshop, when the fear starts creeping, it can really destroy the whole thing.
So we don't want that to happen. Okay, you guys, 30 minutes. I did it in 25 minutes. I'm so stinking proud of myself right now. I'm just gonna give myself kudos All right, you guys if you have any questions shoot us a dm.
Hey mama. I hope you enjoyed this little Episode from an instagram live that I did All right, make sure that you subscribe and leave us a review. We love it when you guys do we really appreciate it And as always I will see you again next friday. Bye for now[00:23:00]
