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!

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Cool Maternity Wear

For so many years 'maternity wear' meant wearing your husband's tight shirts and I for one am glad those days are over. I love the way nobody is hiding their round little tummies any more …in fact the trend is towards showing that belly off by wearing tighter clothes! Although that is the fashion it is not the best option always. I say when you are pregnant that it is best to go for comfort first and fashion second.
Unless you overeat and gain weight fast or are an unusual case, most women don't need to buy any maternity clothes for three or four months. By month five most women are definitely in need of some kind of clothing that will accommodate their swelling abdomen. Once you are at about four months it is time to buy those low waited pants tor those stretch pants. At the very least wear a shirt that hangs over your belly. Do what is most comfortable for you.
When it is time to shop for clothing the key is to buy it in the size that you were before you were pregnant. Don't try to try on clothes that are way too big as the maternity wear manufacturers have already second guessed that. If you normally wear a size eight in non maternity wear then you will wear the same size in special maternity clothing.
I love the trend towards low rise pants. These snugly fit below the belly. These pants make all women look slimmer but they are also more comfortable. Your belly can hang out above the waistline. Most pregnant women like them because they look like regular low waited jeans. I wore mine with an empire waited top when I was pregnant. However that was only in the first and second trimester. I did find by my third trimester that they were too tight and that it was uncomfortable to bend over. The best types of low waited jeans like this have at least ten percent spandex in them. It is the stretchy spandex that allows your clothing to grow along with your growing tummy.
It is also best to buy maternity clothing in a solid color as stripes and loud prints will make you look a lot bigger than you are. Stick to a solid color if you do not want to look too big. Darker colors make you look thinner too but I warn you — all those neon colors are in vogue for spring.
When it comes to tops for maternity wear you want to try the baby doll look. This is a style with an empire waist and long scoop sleeves. This same type of style also works very well for maternity style dresses. ]
Any wrap around style that can grow with you during your pregnancy and to top it off it is also a very hip look. Any type of wrap around dress is fantastic in fact.
Summer dresses can be easily accommodated to fit pregnant bodies especially if you go for loose cotton styles. Many Indian skirts have loose drawstrings that make the waist adjustable which is of course the most important factor when you are pregnant.

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