7 Natural Birth Tips From a 3x Out-of-Hospital Mom

When you hear the phrase natural birth, what comes to mind? Are you in a hospital? A birth center? Maybe you’re at home, or out in a field with nature? One thing is certain: many people see natural birth differently. For me, when I hear natural birth, I think of a birth that was allowed to unfold physiologically, without intervention. The birth starts spontaneously, with less invasive monitoring, no unnecessary interventions, and collaborative decision-making between the mother and her birth team (if she chooses to have one).

For the record, I am not a healthcare professional nor a birthing expert. Always consult a licensed professional before making pregnancy-related decisions. I’ve had three natural births (first at a birth center, second two at home), and these are some of the things that I have found to be beneficial. That being said, everyone has different needs and mindsets, so please always go with your gut and choose what's best for you. And of course, it goes without saying that sometimes interventions are necessary, and thank goodness we have them for those specific occasions.

Ok… so you're reading this because the idea of a natural birth has piqued your curiosity. The first thing to ask yourself is why? Think for a moment. Why do you want a natural birth? For my husband and me, there were several reasons:

1. We wanted to avoid pharmaceuticals during the birth.

2. We believe birth is how the baby's soul transitions to our earthly bodies, and that this experience can have an impact on his or her life. We wanted to welcome our children into a quiet, dimly lit space with candles and soft voices. We wanted it to be a gentle transition.

3. The last reason was a personal one: I wanted to do it for myself. I wanted to prove to myself just how strong I am.

Many people over the years have told me how "lucky" I am to have had the experiences I wanted. While I do feel extremely fortunate, I wouldn't be so quick to call it all luck. I was very intentional about the choices I made during all of my pregnancies. Luck favors the prepared. One of the hardest parts for me was hearing comments and opinions about what I was doing, and the lack of support. These comments mostly happened during my first pregnancy. After people knew I had already given birth without pain medication and was choosing to do it again, the comments were less.

"Don't be a hero, get the epidural,” or “Just get the epidural, you have nothing to prove” was common.

"Whatever you do, just get the epidural as soon as you can" was another good one.

Or my personal favorite, "You're not having the baby in a bathtub, are you?"

I actually lied to a few people about where I was giving birth with my first because I felt I would be judged and told I was doing the wrong thing. Imagine starting a diet and your good friend, who didn’t know your plan, says, “Oh man, diets are SO HARD! The only way to do it is to take the weight-loss pills. If you don’t, you are crazy!” Would you feel confident about your diet? I did it to protect my peace.

With that being said, here are seven areas to consider when planning for a natural birth:

1. BIRTHING LOCATION: This. Is. HUGE. Birthing a human is insanely challenging, and it is of utmost importance to select a location that makes you feel comfortable. If that’s a hospital, perfect, that's where you should be. For me, the idea of a hospital made me uncomfortable. I had read enough statistics and studies to know it is safe for a low-risk mom to deliver a baby at a birth center or at home. I also felt very comfortable knowing that everyone involved in our labor deals with natural birth daily. That is all they do. I knew that they would allow me to be in control and trust my body, which was important to me.

I also set myself up in a scenario where Pitocin, epidural, and other pharmaceuticals and interventions were not even available. I didn't have it in my back pocket just in case, and I knew this going into the birth. If I wanted an epidural, I would have had to get into the car and drive to the hospital.

If unmedicated birth is what you desire, just know that a very small percentage of women who birth in hospitals avoid epidurals. Hospitals commonly recommend Pitocin, which produces more intense and painful contractions, to “move things along.” This is frequently the first step that leads to an epidural because the pain becomes too much to manage. If you have not already, watch The Business of Being Born. Another great documentary is Why Not Home. These documentaries go much deeper than I ever could about the different places to give birth (hospital, birth center, or home).

However, if the idea of being outside of a hospital is terrifying, by all means, be in the hospital. In order for your body to produce oxytocin to stimulate birthing waves, you need to be calm and relaxed. Cortisol, the stress hormone, and oxytocin are inversely correlated, so the less stress the better! Put yourself in a place where stress is minimal!

2. BIRTHING TEAM: Your birth team is equally as important as the location. Our birthing team consisted of a midwife, assistant, a doula (with our first), and Eric. There are two things to consider in your team: quantity and quality. Most midwives will tell you the more people present, the longer the labor will be. Keep your list short. In regards to quality, choose a team that is aligned with your goals. People that take part in natural births know how to coach laboring women through natural birth. This is HUGE. My team ONLY sees natural births. They treated me as if the whole process was completely normal without even thinking of intervention unnecessarily.

Midwives are great for this because they are trained in the normalcy of birth. If you are more comfortable with an OB, choose one that is supportive of your goals, and remember you can change providers if need be.
If you are having a hospital birth, consider a doula mandatory. You have no idea who will be on staff the day you deliver. The nurses are in and out managing other moms as well. A doula will dedicate their time and energy to only you. They help you through each contraction and apply counter pressure when and where it’s needed. Births attended by doulas have a much lower rate of epidural.

A doula does not replace your partner but allows him or her to relax and be more present with you. It's a lot of pressure for your partner to do it all. The doula will also help you to labor at home as long as possible, so when you get to the hospital you are in active labor rather than waiting around. I've heard several women credit their doula for their unmedicated birth at hospitals.

I am so thankful for our doula. She applied counter pressure exactly where I needed it during the car ride to the birth center. She held my leg and massaged me at the birth center and allowed Eric to sit there peacefully and connect with me. Eric and I were extremely prepared, but we had never done anything like this before. We didn't know what to expect, but having a doula helped reassure us that everything happening is totally normal.

3. EDUCATION: Choose a birth education course geared towards natural birth. Hospitals generally encourage augmentation of labor with epidurals, so you’ll want to take a class that educates you a little deeper about coping with the intensity of labor. Here are a few birth education classes to consider:

Pain Free Birth, Orgasmic Birth, Hypnobabies, Hypnobirthing, The Bradley Method, and Birthing From Within.

I personally really enjoyed Pain Free Birth. It’s an on-demand online class that I watched with my third as a refresher (code: MAMAMEALS for 10% off). Hypnobabies, Hypnobirthing, and the Bradley Method have in-person group classes which some first moms prefer. These courses all vary, so do your research and choose the one that feels most aligned with you.

4. EXERCISE: During pregnancy, I focus on walking, weights (that I was already used to), Pilates, and prenatal yoga. My midwife constantly reminded me how important and beneficial walking is for pregnancy. Consult with your practitioner about exercise, and generally speaking, it’s okay to continue with things you were doing prior to pregnancy. Don’t underestimate the importance of walking though! I was walking about 8,000–10,000 steps a day when I was feeling my best. Also, listen to your body… if you really need a day of rest, take it!

I feel that this made the first stage of my birthing easy with all of my births. I was dilated several centimeters and 80–90% effaced before my active labors ever started. I felt that it helped me “get the early stuff out of the way” while still living normal life.

5. BIRTH PREP: Starting at 36 weeks, I took birth prep herbs from my midwife as well as evening primrose oil for “cervical ripening.” Sometimes I took it orally, but mostly I would poke a hole into the capsule with a safety pin and insert it vaginally. When my water broke, I was 90% effaced, which helped eliminate some of the work. I also saw a chiropractor to ensure I was in proper alignment the second half of my pregnancy. I also did acupuncture throughout.

6. NUTRITION: This could be a whole other blog post in itself. My diet consists of organic, nourishing foods… very Weston A. Price vibes. I eat minimal processed foods and get in plenty of healthy fats, protein, and complex carbs. High protein is essential for pregnancy. Do some research or work with a prenatal nutritionist like Cara Molina to determine the amount of protein you want to consume.

Supplements are a very loaded question/topic, and I won’t go into that here as everyone’s needs are different. In terms of prenatals, I do like Birthright Supplements and Needed. I also incorporated a few other things as well. Cara Molina, again, is a great resource for prenatal supplements.

7. MINDSET: While all of this is important, I personally believe mindset takes the cake. Mindset is what gets you through unexpected bumps in the road. Mindset gave me the power to stick to the game plan. The birthing time is intense; the most intense experiences I've ever been through, and my mindset was truly my most valuable asset.

I am absolutely obsessed with these free affirmations from Yolande Norris-Clark.

Leading up to my births and throughout the birthing times, I never had a shadow of a doubt if I could do it. I knew 1,000% I was going to succeed. When things got intense, I forced a smile and moaned positive phrases out loud like, "Relax," "Breathe," and "I can do this." I knew my biggest enemy would be acknowledging the pain or having doubt. Birth is absolutely, positively, a mind-over-matter experience.

Lastly, I’d like to say that of course, the number one priority in any birth is a healthy mom and baby. Number two is having your ideal birth experience. We must remember to save our judgments because not everyone will think or believe the same things. Every birth and every person can be vastly different, and remembering this can help manage your expectations. Not everything will go according to plan, and it's important to be flexible. Flexibility is a superpower and a massive asset in childbirth.

Control the controllables and let the rest go… and remember that every baby gives you (and him or herself) the exact birth it needs. Home birth, birth center, hospital birth, natural, epidural, or scheduled C-section — no matter how your baby enters this world, you are amazing.