Tag Archive for: anxiety. pregnancy

Reason #2 It’s all in Your Head

/0 Comments/in /by

 

Reason #2 It’s all in Your Head*

Welllllll heck, reason number two that labor doesn’t start is that there is an emotional or mental block that is keeping your baby from getting in synch with your natural “going into labor” rhythm. What’s that you say “I didn’t know that I could mind block my labor?!” Well sure you could, just like if your hang out up in your head to much you can stop (or significantly slow) other things, you know, that use that same general area. Just think about that for a minute. Ever tried to get dowwwwwnnnnn but your mind wouldn’t let you? Same thing with birth, but now instead it looks like anxiety  about birth, or the postpartum period or work stuff, or “Can you wait to have the baby? Today is not a good day.” Anxiety will stop a labor in its tracks, so  when control type A peeps get wound up because birth and labor aren’t carrying on according to their time lines, that in surging adrenaline stops oxytocin cold. Think Ice Ice Baby…. If we hop over to the emotional side of things, getting emotionally wound up is also a labor block. Ever been so upset you couldn’t think straight? Or so over the top pissed off your voice shook and hands were unsteady? In my family we call this having a red hair moment. This will stop your labor. So what if its more subtle than that? A nagging worry, or something that just keeps you emotionally off kilter? Like, I dunno, you hate your doctor, or the hospital, or some other person or place where you are birthing. Like a key factor, those types of emotional unease or trigger will keep you from feeling safe and ready to go into labor. So lets start here, get out a journal or the back of an envelope or a smart phone with Evernote or whatever and brain dump all the shiznit thats bothering you.

Here is my horrible attempt, but I think you get the idea.

list on enveloope

Out of your Head, Onto the Paper

So just to lay it all out there, when it comes to birth emotions and/or things we mentally chew over and over again, its either part of the solution or part of the problem. So if you have a list working (and most folks do), its time to address the points one by one and create a plan  or workarounds or boundaries, or whatever, but the goal here is too have a mother trucking list of solutions in your hand. Alert: your action plan most probably needs to include the thinning of peeps attending your birth. So make your list, sling it on some social media, and tag it with #LaborWhispering so that way we can clap and cheer and give you our two cents (or not) for getting your head and heart clean and ready for a new baby in your arms. And thats how you Labor Whisper yourself through reason #2. xo my loves, Rowan *Let’s be clear here, “It’s all in your head,” is valid all freaking day long. Its not any less real or legit than an obvious physical challenge, like lets say if you had rickets when you were a kid and have a deformed pelvis or some shiz. Which you probably don’t, but I think you get me.

Reason #3 Its Physical

/0 Comments/in /by

Lets get Physical!

Meggan with a be

Belly Map Belly Art by Gail Tully, creator of Spinning Babies.

Fetal Positioning~ Here is the deal, optimal fetal positioning is an actual physical thing, and not a bunch of horse hockey. (You like that? It’s cause I’m trying not to cuss.) Anywhoo, sitting, driving, computering etc all contribute to stiff and underutilized muscles, and in general keep our bodies not especially labor ready. Some type of prenatal fitness is helpful, with of course WALKING being awesome, along with yoga or whatever else you were into prepregnancy. And don’t hate me when I say chasing a toddler doesn’t count.

  1. One thing that I’ve seen work super well is this daily deal from Spinning Babies,  seriously loves, if you had any idea how positively this would affect your labor it would be THE EVENT of the day, top of the self care list. A mal~positioned baby creates a funky labor pattern, most times within a hospital setting that is not luxury a laboring person gets. I especially love that their site has an entire section dedicated to if you are in LABOR RIGHT NOW the best ways to get labor unstalled. This is gold y’all.
  2. 2nd up is the Dancing for Birth peeps. This is some legit moooooves here, and I use these all the time. Think about the pelvis, the more fluid and asymmetrical the hip moves are, the more the baby has an opportunity to reposition and settle down. So instead of clenching up and working against the contraction, how about moving with the body? To see Dancing For Birth in action, check out Instructor and trainer Heather Gream  showing her moves here, about an hour before baby was born. Pretty sure Christina Aguilera would hop up and dance right with her!
  3. Lastly, if you are unsure if your belly and uterus could use more support booking a session with an Arvigo Therapy Maya Abdominal Massage practitioner is a great idea!
  4. Need more help? Schedule a session with a Labor Whisperer, either in person or virtually. Not sure who fits you best? Give a shout in our FB group, and we will do our best to fix you up.

xoxoxo Rowan brainstorming up my next way to support your labor!

Labor: Four Reasons Folks Don’t Go (Or Stay) Laboring

/0 Comments/in /by

Actual conversation with a prenatal/labor massage client circa Dec 2008:

me ~ Janis, would you like some water? Janis ~ I WOULD LIKE A BABY!!! Can you bring me THAT?!!!!!!

Sure, she's all smiles now but you should of heard her.

Sure, she’s all smiles now but you should of heard her.

There are four kinda general reasons that people don’t go into labor,

  1. The due date is crap ~Arbitrary, a guestimate. And people get MARRIED to that shiz. Calm down people, its just a a shot in the dark. Every woman, every pregnancy, every weather pattern is different.
  2. Its all in your head ~  Something emotional/mental/energetically is slowing the roll.
  3. Let’s Get Physical! So maybe fetal malposition (due to a number of things), tight pelvic floor, broken and now stuck pointing inward  coccyx.
  4. We don’t actually know, but somethings up. ~And this is where we do everything we can to get a preggers person as ready as can be with the other three reasons, so that if you need a little help from our (medical) friends, that you’ve cleared the way for any medical intervention needed to be as effective as possible. Collaborative not combative.

So it absolutely is worth your while to think about these categories, and see what sticks for ya. Each number links to a specific post about that topic, so give a click to the one that speaks to you most. once you are there, poke around a little, see if you can get a little dialogue going with your labor to see what it needs. Good luck my love, Rowan not sure? leave me a comment and or jump over to our FB group.