Preparing for birth and beyond - Part 3: Setting up the atmosphere and environment for labour and birth

(originally published in 2018)

[If this blog post interests you, you might want to look at my pregnancy course where I go much deeper into these topics]

This aspect of birth prep is, for me, very connected to emotional preparations for birth. French obstetrician Michele Odent talks about how women in labour use the primal part of their brains and need to be fully comfortable, both physically and emotionally, when they labour. Having a comfortable, private, pleasant and safe birthing environment can make labour go so much more smoothly and quickly. .

I have had both a hospital birth and a home birth and both times I prepared things to make the environment I laboured in comfortable and pleasant. While preparing for a home birth is hugely different from preparing for a hospital birth, I'm going to share a few things that I've done in the past/am presently doing to make my birthing time easier for me in the hopes that it will inspire you. 

a) Scents

Pleasant smells can have a huge subconscious effect on us. I have always loved the smell of lavender and in aromatherapy lavender is used for relaxation. For my hospital birth I took my favourite essential oils along to burn while I laboured. This time around I have aromatherapy candles infused with essential oils in my birthing room. My midwife recommends one scent in the birthing room and another in the bathroom, so every time you empty your bladder (and it is important to do so often during labour) your senses get refreshed with a new scent. (Be aware of artificial scents as those contain harmful ingredients, pure essential oils are probably the healthiest product to use). 

b) Beautiful/Inspirational things to look at

The affirmations I wrote about in my last post have been put up in my birthing room to motivate me during labour. I've also included paintings my other children have done because thinking about them makes me happy and that releases oxytocin which gets labour going faster, Alhamdulillah (all praise to God). 

I've also had an urge to have beautiful flowers in my birthing room. Red roses in particular remind me of my pregnancy with my 1st child. I've placed an ultrasound pic of this baby also within easy sight because that cute face absolutely motivates me too ❤

Other things my midwife suggests having/taking with is photographs of your loved ones or candles gifted by loved ones to focus on during labour. 

c) Sounds

Sound can have a great impact on our emotional state and comfort levels. During my first labour I listened to recitations of Surah Yaseen and Surah Maryam by my favourite recitor, on repeat and those soothed and encouraged me immensely. My midwife recommends using sound in different ways though and for my last birth and for this birth I have prepared 3 playlists:

1) A playlist of happy/upbeat nasheeds and dhikr to listen to in early labour to help get the oxytocin flowing;

2) A playlist to help me relax/focus - for me this is Quranic recitations again; and

3) A playlist to motivate me during the final transition and pushing stage of labour- while I've got nasheeds and dhikr on this list too, I suspect I'll be wanting to listen to mostly Quran again, so my favourite surahs are on the top of this list. 

d) Food

Natural labour can last a long time and makes you burn through a lot of energy because of the physical exertion. It is so important to have healthy snacks/drinks on hand to be able to power through till the end.

My midwife recommends "carbo loading" every 2 hours from the time that you are certain that you are in established labour and tells her moms to have a jar of raw honey on hand in case you don't feel like eating and need an energy boost. She also has a recipe for a drink to boost energy during labour (there are tons of "labourade" recipes online too).

In addition to these I also have date balls and natural date and nut "energy bars" packed in my birthing room/bag as emergency snacks (this will all travel with me to the hospital should I need to transfer). In my freezer I have some healthy carbs stored away for my husband to reheat for me when I need them.