“Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go”. This famous quote by Hermann Hesse speaks volumes about the strength of surrendering to birth.
Lisa’s story is one of a powerful and strong woman who embraced her third pregnancy after 15yrs since her 2nd child had been born. She recalled her two previous birth stories as challenging in her younger years (15 and 17yrs ago). She could recall the trauma’s as if they happened just yesterday.
Some of the challenges she had faced in the past were causing her anxiety in the anticipation of baby Darby’s birth. Lisa came to Calmbirth with CQ Birth & Beyond and embraced the techniques to empower her with confidence and assurance that her mind & body were more than capable of achieving a positive birth experience this time.
When Lisa went into early labour, she experienced what birth professionals describe as “false labour” or “spurious labour” – a stop-start pattern that causes fatigue and discomfort but without progress through to active labour.
I had the pleasure of being Lisa’s doula for this birth & suspected her baby was not in an optimal fetal position in her pelvis. I also had strong suspicions that her anxiety was affecting her body’s ability to surrender to birth & allow her birth hormones to help her progress.
We discussed several options for her to keep her in the calm relaxation response & enable her to rest while her body was preparing for active labour. Lisa reported that a real turning point came for her labour, when she decided to stop thinking about the long week of spurious labour she was enduring, and instead made a deliberate decision to drive away from the “safety” of home, to a remote and relaxing natural spring about an hour and a half from her hospital.
As she floated gently, belly down, in the cool water, she practiced mindfulness & embraced the art of “letting go”. She described to me how her mental shift of surrendering to her labour, actually caused her body to move from false niggling labour, into active labour with regular powerful contractions.
Baby Darby arrived the following day, and although it was not an easy labour, with his head engaged in an “asynclitic” (angled) position in the pelvis, she embraced labour & each contraction in a calm & relaxed manner – it was so amazing to watch.
Skin to Skin by Bec Eadie The origins of skin to skin, or ‘kangaroo care’ began in low resource settings, to care for premature babies where there were insufficient incubators available. It was soon observed that babies being cared for skin to skin were able to regulate their temperature, respiratory rate and heart rate, and experienced…
The Power of Birth Affirmations by Martyna Cooper These can be such a powerful tool for birth. The confidence boost you might need when it all feels too much. Hearing those soft words whispered into your ear as you break between surges. Reassurance that you're doing it. The encouragement to surrender. A reminder to trust the process.
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