Tips for a Natural Birth

Are you into the idea of a natural birth? How you choose to have your baby is a very personal decision. Everyone delivers a baby differently and natural childbirth is not for everybody mainly because it can hurt! However proponents of natural childbirth believe that it helps you have a healthier child.
One thing you might want to do is take prenatal yoga classes. These help you with the pain management and physical strength. The yoga also keeps you healthy, calm and strong.
You should also practice the vaginal strengthening exercises called Kegels. These will help you gain more positive awareness of the body and help prepare the birth canal for natural childbirth.
You can also write a birth plan. Many templates for this are available online. It helps your doctor and delivery team assess what you want and what your needs are.
You should also talk to your doctor ahead of time and get knowledge of all of the pain medications that you will be offered. These options need to be discussed with your doula and your partner before you arrive at the hospital.
Take childbirth classes. Many midwives and doulas offer these classes. It will help you visualize your labour and prepare for it in the best way possible.
It can also help you to get a prenatal massage. This helps keep your body and muscles loose and your mind and soul in a positive frame of mind.
Use aromatherapy oils such as lavender rose and yang yang to calm yourself down and oils such as grapefruit, spearmint and orange to keep yourself energized. You can buy a small fabric pouch and keep yourself stocked with the oils you need to keep yourself in a good mood. Simply sniffing a bit of ginger oil can help balance you and take away any feelings of stress caused natal nausea.
It also helps to discuss your labor with someone else in your family like your sister or your mother. This si because people who are related tend to have experiences that are in common when giving birth. This can help prepare you both emotionally and physically for what could happen.
You should familiarize yourself with how contractions work. One of the benefits of natural childbirth is the experience of sensations that you will never feel again during any other experience in your life. Even though contractions are painful your body will release pain relieving endorphins to counteract those effects. Another benefit is supposed to be that the length of labor can be shortened if you do not use pain relieving or labor inducing drugs.
Natural childbirth is not for everyone. It certainly was not for me. Listen to your body and your gut instincts. If you do not think you can handle the pain then do not go for the option of having natural labor!

Trendy Maternity Underwear

If you are pregnant you are probably thinking that you are doomed to wearing really large plus sized underwear. This is not true. Not so long ago maternity underwear had a high waist and low thigh cut. However this is not that unfashionable any more thanks to modern trends that actually celebrate the more staid types of underwear. Many celebrities, including Madonna, have been seen sporting these old fashioned grandma type underwear styles which largely look like a pair of underwear for a very fat lady.
If you are pregnant it is best to avoid underwear that is called Slim n Lift or Spanks. These elasticized garments are basically full body girdles and they cut off too much of your circulation and that is not good for your baby. You may tempt to wear this because it slenderizes the upper body but it is not a good idea.
Just because you are pregnant does one mean you do not have to be sexy. You can also get fantastic lingerie sleep wear that is done in stretchy lycras. This type of undergarment comes down far enough so that the midriff is covered. You can be one cool momma wearing leopard skin Lycra.
For just casual wear boy shorts are in. Fruit in the Loom has been specialized in making these in bright vivid colors and stripes. The stretchy cotton easily expands along with your belly.
Of course when it comes to Maternity underwear you want to think about comfort and also functionality. This is especially true of nursing bras but it can also be true of underwear. In terms of underwear you want to make sure that there are no seams or elastic in front to press into the belly. There should also be a front panel of fabric that nestles comfortably underneath the belly. You also might want to make sure the underwear is big enough that it creates a wide soft support band around the belly.
It is also crucial that there should be generous leg openings that don't creep up and that the soft leg bindings that gently sty put all day,
If you are on a budget you might also want to make sure that the underwear that you choose will be able to be worn once you are done with your pregnancy. In other words it must be made to fit non-pregnant, non nursing women too.
The thing about maternity underwear is that it is sized to your pre pregnancy size. It is not a great idea to order it so that it is extra large or you will end up with underwear that is way too big. It is also not a good idea to wear thong underwear as you can catch an infection. Bladder and vaginal infections can cause stillbirths in babies.