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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Working During Pregnancy

The days when you were expected to quit your job once you found yourself pregnant are long over. Pregnant women are still very much part of the office landscape right up until their eighth month! Excellent health care has partly allowed this to happen but unfortunately necessity also has many mothers working well into their eighth month as well. We can thank the economic recession for that.
The fact is that most women experiencing low risk pregnancies can safely continue to work outside of the home. There is no reason to retreat from work or society unless your doctor tells you that you have a high risk pregnancy condition and need to take some time to yourself.
However if you job is physically demanding and if it requires repeated lifting, climbing, bending, stair climbing or a lot of standing it may not be good f or you. Shift work that keeps you off your sleep schedule is also not recommended if you are having a child. You should also not have any job that exposes you to toxins, radiation or other polluting substances. If you have any of these conditions in your life you need to quit your job, switch your job or ask for a job modification that will last for all or part of your pregnancy!
If you do have to work while pregnant there are some things that you can do to keep you and your fetus healthy. You should get up and move around as often as you can. Make sure you do this at least once every couple of hours. This is because sitting down for more than three hours at a stretch can lead to fluid being retained in your feet and legs. Strain in your lower back can also cause reduced blood flow to your baby and problems with your shoulder and back.
You might also want o make sure that you are sitting in way that comfortable for you while you are working at your desk. Place a pillow behind the small of your back and be sure to prop your feet up on a pillow. You should also make sure that you take regular breaks from typing if you work at a computer all day. This is because pregnant women are at increased risk of developing problems like carpal tunnel and other repetitive stress disorders.
You should also start dressing for comfort and not for style the minute that you know you are pregnant. This is no time to wear tight bras, uncomfortable suits or high heel shoes. You need to focus on comfort which means dressing in loose comfortable layers that can easily be removed because pregnant individuals often feel like they are overheating. This does not mean that you have to look unfashionable. There are all kinds of very fashionable looking clothes out there that make you seem not pregnant at all including low waited jeans and empire waited dresses.

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