Featured Image Caption: Pregnancy Tips for Normal Delivery
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No matter how popular cesarean delivery nowadays is, almost every expectant woman still wishes to deliver her baby vaginally without medical intervention.
The main reasons why most of the women prefer to bring their babies into the world naturally are:
- No Major Surgery
- Short Hospital Stay
- No Blood Loss
- Faster Recovery Time
- Lower Chances of Chronic Pain
- No Risk of Infection
Unfortunately, not everyone is able to have a safe and smooth normal delivery since no one has control over the things that could unfold inside a delivery room. However, a natural birth isn’t always impossible if a woman follows these tips during her pregnancy.
Embrace a Healthy and Active Lifestyle:
The first and foremost step you need to take to prepare yourself for a normal delivery is maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle. This means being active all the time and performing some mild and permissible exercises – like walking, yoga and kegel exercises – during pregnancy so that your thigh and pelvic muscles become strong enough to bear labor pains. These exercises not only make your pelvic region flexible and ready for a natural childbirth but also help you build up a good stamina required at the time of delivery.
Keep Yourself Stress-free:
If you could practice and train your mind to stay away from stress throughout pregnancy, your chances of having a normal delivery will definitely be increased to a great extent. Feeling stressed or anxious during pregnancy stimulates the production of Oxytocin – a hormone that causes contractions during labor and extends the overall duration of labor, making the normal delivery almost impossible. So try to keep yourself as happy and contented as you can to ease the process of childbirth.
Eat a Healthy and Nutritious Diet:
In addition to exercise, if there is something that makes your body fully capable of facing the challenges of natural childbirth easily and more comfortably, it is your pregnancy diet. As soon as you come to know you’re pregnant, you must pay special attention to your diet – make sure it contains a good amount of dark-green vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, and foods rich in iron, zinc, and calcium. Keep in mind, the right nutrition not only changes your way from cesarean to natural delivery but also it fosters the health and development of your unborn baby.
Practice Right Breathing Techniques:
During labor, you may likely to go under a situation where you’ll need to hold your breath from time to time in order to boost your baby’s health and vitality through sufficient oxygen supply. Therefore, it’s better to start practicing breathing exercises as early as possible. Helping you minimize pain and stay relaxed during childbirth, breathing exercises make the entire process of labor a breeze for you. Some of the breathing techniques that you can practice are: breathing from the chest, shallow breathing, breathing from the stomach, and alternate deep and shallow breathing.
Avoid Standing For Long Duration:
Avoid standing for long periods, especially during the final trimester of your pregnancy. This is probably the most important yet overlooked pregnancy tip for having a normal delivery. According to experts, standing for too long in the later stages of pregnancy exerts a gravitational pull on the unborn baby, which moves him further down in your pelvis before you’re actually ready for childbirth. This may create various problems during labor and delivery. Moreover, it is best not to stand for a long duration as it can tire your legs unnecessarily.
Choose Your Doctor Wisely:
Given the sad fact that many doctors prefer cesarean births due to their own convenience, it becomes vital for you to find the right doctor – the one who’s into natural birth. Seek out someone who has a good rate of normal delivery, respects your desire of having a normal childbirth and help you get rid of all your delivery-related fears. Even if you slightly feel that your doctor doesn’t agree with your ideas and plans for natural delivery, don’t hesitate and switch to another cooperative doctor soon.
Have a Strong Support System:
Support from family members, particularly from the father of the unborn child, during pregnancy plays a vital role in making the soon-to-be-mother emotionally strong and prepared for normal delivery. When you’re pregnant, make sure to have a powerful support system around you, which includes people who not only respect your decisions but also will stand by you through the labor. Having someone dedicated to taking care of you is indeed the key to having a successful natural childbirth.
Do Regular Perineal Massages:
After the seventh month of pregnancy, start gently massaging your perineum area with sweet almond or wheat germ oil. All you have to do is hook your thumb inside your vagina and gently push the walls of the vagina inside and outside. This will help you strengthen the muscles and tissues of the perineum, making them flexible enough to tackle labor efficiently without any vaginal tears. For those expectant moms who are not yet familiar with the perineum, it is the area between the opening of your vagina and your anus.
Sleep and Drink Adequately:
To promote the proper growth and development of your unborn baby, it is absolutely essential that you get at least 8-10 hours of sound and undisturbed sleep. A quiet, restful sleep not only cures many of your pregnancy issues but also keeps your mind calm enough to combat all the tiredness and fatigue you feel during pregnancy. As labor is hard to the body, make sure to drink an adequate amount of water during pregnancy so you could easily maintain your energy level during childbirth. Increase your water intake to at least 10 glasses a day.
Stay Positive and Avoid Hearing Negative Birth Stories:
Some women have a bad habit of sharing their painful and difficult delivery stories with expectant mums. And, the funniest thing is that they never narrate the positive side of their childbirth experience. Avoid hearing negative stories about labor and delivery from such women as it can induce unnecessary fear in you, which can totally change your mind set about natural delivery over time. Instead, stay in the company of someone who talks about pleasant things and helps you shed all your preconceived notions, misconceptions, and fears about childbirth.
By Nishant Gupta
who is a founder of WobblyWalk.com. He is 28-year old married young blogger who feels the difficulty of his wife as a mother and tries to ease other mothers’ lives with the help of his website and content.
Member since August, 2017
View all the articles of Nishant Gupta.
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