6 Mindsets That Will Help You Look Forward To Labor
What’s your attitude towards labor? Are you afraid, feeling quite neutral about it, or are you even excited Mama, keep reading to discover 6 mindsets that will help you ditch some of your fears and help you look forward to labor.
Speaking from a 38 weeks pregnant 1st-time mama-to-be perspective.
Mamas-to-be, let’s look at our attitudes toward giving birth in three ways. Let’s imagine, there are three levels.
The first one being that you don’t wanna go through it. Fears and worries are what drive this approach. The focus lays on the uncertainty and the pain. You might feel lonely, lost, and confused. The image feels cold, unsafe, messy, stressful, impossible, and scary.
The next level would be acceptance. A mindset of trusting your body, and believing in nature doing its thing. It’s knowing that so many women before you have done it and are doing it daily, so you will be able to as well. You might not necessarily look forward to it or know how it’s gonna be, but your main thoughts and feelings are acceptance and trust. The image feels natural and familiar. You might feel capable and rather calm.
So what would be the third level? To actually look forward to labor. The main feelings accompanying this approach would be curiosity, excitement, gratitude, peace, being present, a feeling of belonging as well as reuniting (both with your baby, with yourself as a woman and with all the other mamas out there). You feel magical, confident, and strong.
I think a lot of mamas probably experience most of the above. Depending on the day we might feel more like one or the other. It might also just be a mix of those 3 different attitudes that we have toward labor and that’s perfectly fine and normal. Let yourself feel all of those feelings, but also find ways to switch from number one to at least number 2 (which you can do by simply educating yourself) and ideally also to number 3.
Let’s look at some suggestions of mindsets to have and focus on to make yourself look forward to labor
6 Mindsets That Will Make You
Look Forward To Labor
#1 It’s teamwork.
Let’s not look at labor as “poor me, I will be going through all the pain ….”.
How about we think of it as teamwork. We’re gonna be going through it with the baby, not just for the baby. Little kiddo will do its part, our birth partner will do its part and yes, our bodies will do their (main) part. One supports, influences, and helps the other.
I don’t wanna take away the credit women should get for giving birth. Your baby will not remember it, but you will. Your partner’s body will not physically have to go through it and then heal from it, but yours will. I’m not comparing our part in it to anyone else’s, but again, isn’t it more beautiful, calming, and empowering to think of labor as teamwork of your new little family as opposed to a solitary (excruciating) task?
#2 You will meet your baby!
Yes, a super obvious one. What’s not so obvious again is how much of our mind does this thought take up when we think of labor.
Let the excitement of holding your little miracle for the first time be the focus to such an extent that it will overshadow all the fears and worries.
#3 It’s a unique experience that you are fortunate enough to go through.
Seeing labor as a blessing, a special, unique experience that not everyone is fortunate enough to go through can make you feel very grateful and embrace all that’s coming.
How exciting is it that you were given the opportunity to have this experience in the first place? Don’t take that for granted. It’s a blessing, not a curse.
#4 You will be part of something special and have a deeper connection with and understanding of other women.
There are so many mamas out there, in your family, your circle of friends, in books, songs, and movies and you get to join the club.
I can only imagine the understanding, compassion, and respect that you will develop for other women through the experience of labor. The same goes for thinking about all the generations of women that came before you. Think of that during labor to not only remind yourself of how natural it is what you’re feeling but also how special it is.
#5 You will witness your body doing things that you can’t even imagine possible yet.
Be curious and excited to see what your body is actually capable of doing. It’s like you will get the chance to experience a whole new side of yourself, strength, and beauty that you might not even know is in you.
#6 You will discover the unknown. It will all step by step become clearer and less scary.
All the questions you might have right now – how will I know if I’m in labor, what are the signs, when will I go to the hospital, how much will it hurt, how does it feel to hold my own baby, etc. You will get all those questions answered, one after another.
You will have so much insight into this fundamental part of life. Of course, every birth is a little different, but how amazing is it that you get to experience your own, unique labor story.
What’s such a big mystery for you right now and for so many people will forever be, will become something you have actually gone through yourself.
Mama, I hope the suggestions in this post made you discover and open up to new, more positive ways of approaching your upcoming labor or have simply reminded you of what might be worth focusing on.
Be sure to also check out 50 Positive Pregnancy Affirmations + Free Printable.
