Would you like to avoid surgery and stitches as much as possible and go through a smooth and healthy delivery? If you answered yes to this question, you’ve come to the right place!
Books and courses for labour and birth preparation explain mainly about the more active stage of childbirth – ‘opening the cervix’, and sometimes forget to advice about the processes that precede it, which have a significant effect on childbirth. Ultimately, the goal of any labor and birth is to ensure a healthy mother and baby.
To get as ready as possible for labor and birth it is important to understand what is going on in your body, as maturation of the uterus and cervix is an internal and deep process that usually takes several weeks. Even before the cervix opens, it has to prepare for the event, and the body sends it a reinforcement of red and white blood cells to soften it and allow it to move and open. If the uterine muscle did not receive this nourishment prior to birth, even if we perform a natural or pharmacological induction such as phytocin, the cervix will not be able to open, or it will take a very long time to open. It’s like pushing the gas pedal when the vehicle is neutral, it will not get us anywhere.
So, what can be done to prepare for such an exciting moment?
The cervix is an internal organ that connects the uterus to the vagina through which menstruation plays an important role in pregnancy and birth. Naturally, the maturation of the uterus and cervix is an internal and deep process that usually takes several weeks. The cervix opens as a result of uterine contractions, but if we go back a few steps we will find that even before the cervix opens, there is a preliminary process in which the body sends it reinforcement of red and white blood cells in order to soften it, allow it to move and allow the fetus to exit. This is exactly where you come into the picture.
There are actions you can do in order to prepare your body for natural childbirth, improve your contraction abilities and lead to a harmonious and healthy birth.
Preparing a woman’s body for childbirth means balancing and supporting both physically and mentally before childbirth – that is, strengthening the body, improving general blood flow and calming the mother. Your body begins to prepare itself for birth naturally as early as the beginning of the last trimester, around 32-34 weeks, at which point the pelvis sends a boost of blood to the uterus and hormones that soften and prepare the area and the baby settles in the pelvis.
Complementary medicine has a variety of methods, including acupuncture and herbs, which will prepare your body for giving birth and improve conditions naturally and all this without forcing it on childbirth.
Just before I elaborate on methods of preparation for giving birth, it is important for me to emphasize the difference between induction and preparation for labor, since unlike preparation for labor the term “induction of labor” refers to a situation where there is an indication to cause childbirth immediately. The indication for induction of labor can be gestational diabetes, high weight assessment of the baby, preeclampsia, amniotic fluid deficiency, excess pregnancy and more.
During my years as a Chinese Medicine therapist, I have often used the tools that Chinese Medicine has in order to streamline the birth process, many women would turn to me in a very advanced week or a moment before rushing to the hospital for fear of medical intervention. The more I treated, the more I studied and researched the subject in depth out of a desire to provide an effective response to women giving birth. The two most well-known and useful methods in complementary medicine are acupuncture and the use of herbs.
How can Acupuncture prepare your body for giving birth? Studies conducted in England and China have found that the use of acupuncture during the last trimester increases the chances of women giving birth naturally closer to the estimated date, and shortens the latent stage of childbirth.
The purpose of preparation for labor is to help the body get the resources it needs for giving birth, when such treatment must also address mental health, which greatly affects the birth process. A mental aspect can manifest itself when a woman is afraid of childbirth or the idea of motherhood, or has difficulty losing control and letting go.
In acupuncture treatment, I use different points in the body which nourish the uterus and cervix, and circulate blood and energy in the pelvic area.
These points are not necessarily close to the uterus (on the abdomen or lower back), when I usually use points on the hand or leg, which have the ability to affect the uterus. This is not an aggressive external action done to speed up processes, but an attempt to provide the body itself with what it needs.
Herbs are a wonderful way to prepare the body for giving birth. Herbs play an important role that contributes to the birth process and postpartum rehabilitation of the mother. Herbs should support the natural process of childbirth in order to improve the ability of the uterus to contract, which contributes significantly to a harmonious and healthy birth.
In order to streamline the birth process and prepare your body for this moment, and after years of extensive experience in the field, I developed two products that will prepare your body for birth, Mama Prep + Mama Boost, each suitable for a different stage of pregnancy so I like to call them “Preparation for a two-stage birth. “
These products help prepare the body for childbirth and support the woman during and after childbirth, and contain herbs that strengthen the body’s stores in order to allow flexibility of the soft tissue in the pelvis, help open effective hinges, and contribute to the harmonious progress of childbirth.
Mama Prep is a birth preparation formula based on raspberry leaves and nettle leaves, plants that are known to support the uterus and gynecological system and are suitable for use from week 34 of pregnancy. The Mama Prep formula helps a pregnant woman during the third trimester, helps with a soft birth, and helps support during the postpartum period as well.
Mama Boost is a formula consisting of herbs that have a strengthening and circulating quality and is suitable for use from week 38 of pregnancy. This formula softens the soft tissue in the pelvis, allowing the cervix flexibility to open up and allow the baby to descend through the birth canal. Mama Boost as it is called, aims to give a ‘boost’ and strengthen the body’s resources to allow the beginning of childbirth. The formula does not force the beginning of childbirth, but supports the body’s abilities by improving the conditions of the uterus and its environment and allows for a smooth birth. This formula can be used before birth, as well as during pregnancy.
I would be happy to advise and answer any hesitation or question on the subject, you can contact me directly.
