When it’s clear that labour is about to begin, many of us tend to think it’s time to make arrangements to go to the hospital or stop everything we are doing and focus on the labour.
It’s estimated that for many spontaneous labours (ones that start without any form of intervention) we can spend up to 70% of our time at home.
Heading to the hospital or having your midwife come over soon can actually slow down the labour process so listening to your body and tuning in with what’s happening is important to time it right! Here are some tips on what to do during early labour, as part of my full hypnobirthing class
??We talk through how labour tends to work during my full hypnobirthing classes and it’s a great opportunity for you to have a think about what you might want to do, what support you might want and what you might need too!
Here are some tips, let me know what you think and whether you used any of these in your labour!
- Continue as normal for as long as you feel that you can. Distract yourself with things that you enjoy doing, go for a walk or make some delicious food.
- Eat a good meal and get hydrated!
- Get into a rhythm of using calm breathing during your surges or contractions
- Don’t get too hung up on the pattern of your surges or contractions, ask your partner to support with this so that you can focus on raising your oxytocin!
- Stay in your own environment or private space as long as you can – this will help the oxytocin flow!
- Listen to your instincts, you know your baby and your body better than anyone
- Listen to your body, rest when you need to and move your body intuitively