Top 5 tips for your birth preparation

Daisy Birthing® antenatal programme (by Lazy Daisy®) has teamed up with Baby Swap or Shop to help you plan for your forthcoming arrival in the most cost effective, comfortable and relaxing way possible.  Whilst the ideal antenatal preparation in our opinion is of course to take time out to enjoy our weekly antenatal classes, we appreciate not every mum-to-be has a Daisy Birthing® antenatal teacher near by.  So read on for some great tips and watch out for our antenatal e-book and i-phone application both availble in the autumn.

So what is Daisy Birthing®

Daisy Birthing® is the fastest growing 'birth preparation' method in the UK, offering high quality FEDANT approved 'peer to peer' antenatal education and birth preparation classes.  Mums-to-be learn in a relaxed comfortable environment (over terms of six week sessions) led by a Daisy Birthing® mentor who has not only experienced birth herself, but is also fully trained to deliver our antenatal programme (and FEDANT accredited). 

The Daisy Birthing® programme is often mistaken for traditional active birth classes or pregnancy yoga but is in fact a subtle and unique variation of both, or as our founder calls it relaxed-active birth education.  Our antenatal classes combines movement, relaxation, breathing and antenatal education in a way no other antenatal class does - designed to use small, rhythmic and repeated pregnancy movements linked to key birth messages, to literally wire natural birthing techniques to the pregnant body, allowing confident birth to simply play out on the day!  Daisy Birthing® teaches you how and why, but all the while you are moving and enjoying relaxing, hypnotic and muscle improving sequences!

If you don't have a Daisy Birthing class near you, try our top five tips for your birth preparation routine:-

Tip 1 - It's all about balance!

It's all about balance - for body, mind and in particular the uterus.  Our antenatal classes place so much emphasis on balancing the body.  Think of the uterus like a hot air balloon floating in your pelvic cavity and anchored with guide ropes (or in anatomical terms the broad and round ligaments) holding it in place.  Through daily life, posture, sitting for prolonged periods these vital birth ligaments can become shorter on one side than the other, holding your uterus unbalanced.  This makes it so much harder for baby to turn into optimum foetal position (it's like trying to lay in a hammock tied too tight to one tree).  So how do you remedy this, if you can't come to a local Daisy Birthing® antenatal class?

Well getting on 'All Fours' is fantastic for helping the broad ligaments (those which hold the back of your uterus to the rear of your pelvic) relax.  In particular if you work in an office or sit in the car for long periods, try getting on your hands and knees at the beginning and end of each day for a few minutes, or try relaxing on your knees and leaning over your birthing ball!  To watch Emma practise a variation of pregnancy yoga cat, great for balancing the ligaments of the uterus and for working the tummy muscles under bump, just click on the image.  If you attend a Daisy Birthing® antenatal class, ask your antenatal teacher about using the Reebozo, particularly if you are concerned about baby sitting breech or posterior!

Counterpose the twists!

Keeping each side of your body symmetrical will also help with physical balance and optimum position for baby so think about your lifestyle?  Does your job involve you continuously twisting to one side (perhaps you are a nurse or physio therapist)?  If so make sure you counter pose by working in the other direction from time to time.  In Daisy Birthing® antenatal classes this is worked on weekly with movements such as our 'spirit level' sequence, gentle seated twist and our thread the needle exercise (remember mums with SPD, treat twists with cautious - your teacher will show you a modification!)

And keep your legs uncrossed!

Try and avoid crossing your legs too.  Not only is it bad for blood flow and can lead to varicose veins, but it is also so unbalancing for your pelvic floor - the floor of muscle supporting your uterus and your baby!  When the pelvic floor is kinked or twisted, again, baby is prevented from finding OFP.  In Daisy Birthing® antenatal classes this is worked on weekley with our 'relax release' pelvic floor segment but ask your antenatal teacher if you are feeling particularly tense in the pelvic floor and she can model a more intensive release pose!  Remember too, when practicing pelvic floor exercises make sure you don't clench your bum, as this will cause spasm in the muscle and compromise that balance!  Click on the image to see our Cambridge antenatal teacher Karen leading a group through pelvic work!

Mind over matter!

For emotional balance, which of course is equally as important,  try deep breathing in for 4 and out for 8 or listen to our lush Silver Lake relaxations, and really start to build a positive mindset.  By letting go of emotional tension, you will automatically relax your jaw, your pelvis (remember one axis links them all - the spine) and the muscles of the back, making for a more symmetrical birthing body!

Tip 2 - Walk tall and walk properly!

Ditch the high heels!  As your uterus grows, adding to curvature (or lordosis) of your spine and pulling your centre of gravity forward, it becomes harder and harder to walk with the whole foot - particular when as women we are so much in the habit of walking on the balls and toes of our feet already due to high heels! 

Walking incorrectly causes our pelvis to tilt even further forward, shortening the hip flexors (we need these nice and long and supple to help us open in labour) and also shortening the big muscles running through our core from either side of our spine to the inner thighs - the psoas muscles.  When the psoas muscle shortens over time, it crowds our womb and our baby, compromising circulation, space and the ability for the pelvis to move and open as it should.

So think about standing tall, feeling the whole of the foot, keeping your feet parallel like train tracks and practising gentle standing movements such as our figure of eights (figure of eight when slow to dilate!), to really work on lengthening those hip flexor muscles.  Click on the image to see our spring 2011 teachers in training practising some standing movements!

So much of our Daisy Birthing® antenatal class is based around lengthening this psoas muscle;  we work on sitting forward in our seated salutation to begin our lengthening work, work on releasing from the solar plexus and navel throughout the seated and standing segment, think about lengthening from point of origin in our gentle spirit level stretches and even work on this muscle emotionally with our solar plexus tap relaxation and self hypnosis exercise!  Remember, like any muscle in spasm, lengthening the psoas takes time so enjoying 6 or 12 weeks of Daisy Birthing® antenatal classes is definitely recommended - so SEARCH FOR A CLASS  to see if there is a teacher near you!

Tip 3 - do the deswelling tip!

Night Cramps?  Cramps can be caused through a combination of changing hormone levels and also fluid retention or oedema (common in pregnancy due to increased blood volume and relaxing vein valves).  Cramps are often worse at night, when the legs are static (causing fluid to pool) and when the sensation of sheets on top of our feet during the night, cause them to flex and extend sending the muscles into spasm.

Try elevating the legs - but not just the feet;  Remember you actually need to get the feet of your bed elevated (perhaps on phone directories) to help the fluid drain to the lymph nodes in your groin.  Some people also believe sleeping with a pillow between the mattress and duvet to prevent it resting directly on the feet, and thus preventing the feet flexing in the night, can also help.

Gentle ankle rotations throughout the day such as those we enjoy during the lymphatic segment of our Daisy Birthing® antenatal classes can also aid drainage and of course our much celebrated inner thigh lymph drainage massage, as featured in Pregnancy & Birth Magazine 'Do the De Swelling Trick' (Feb 2011).  Click on the image to see our Milton Keynes antenatal teacher in training (and former trainee midwife) modelling the technique.  And the great thing about this is that by stimulating the lymph nodes, you also help the entire lower body drain, keeping your cervical tissues decongested too (helping them dilate and open more easily).

Tip 4 - brand advertise positive birth!

Positive mindset all the way!  Keeping adrenalin at bay in the lead up to 'd day' and in the birthing room is so important, as adrenalin can quite literally stop contractions in their tracks by reducing oxygen to your uterus and making it hard for the muscle to contract and relax during labour.  However, building a positive mindset can be so challenging when you are often surrounded by people keen to tell you how difficult birth is.

Daisy Birthing founder Julie Long says " I thoroughly enjoyed all 5 of my births, all very different, all very intense but sensations which whilst testing all my energy and focus, I can honestly not describe as painful ".  Programmes which try to tell you that you will feel nothing can be so detrimental to preparation - after all, of course you will feel the normal natural sensations of your uterine muscle contracting and your pelvis opening for your baby;  as mums in the making we want to experience our births, don't we girls!  However, it isso important to focus on these sensations as being just as we have said 'normal sensations'.  Whilst these can be so powerful and often all consuming, when you choose to embrace them, to let them wash over you and to ride them with confidence (just like the Daisy Birthing® surfer riding those big waves), they will make you feel more exhilarated, stronger, and more amazing than ever before.  Join a Lazy Daisy® antenatal class to begin to build this mindset, or from September 2011 tune into Lazy Daisy's monthly relaxation pod casts right here on this site!

To try at home:-  write on 20 post it notes 'I feel the sensations of labour and I feel powerful'.  Stick these all over the house, in places you will simply discover them throughout the day (perhaps inside the tea cupboard, or inside your make up draw) - begin to brand advertise your positive birth!

Positive mindset is not just important for our mums-to-be but for our teachers in training too.  Click on the image to see what I mean! 

Or click here to read about a mum who quite literally advertised easy birth to herself right through labour.

Tip 5 - know you have the right to enjoy your day, however it pans out!

Remember every birth is a journey!  Every birth, however it plays out on the day (and only mother nature can decide that), should be a wonderful and celebrated journey.  Perhaps you know you will have to be monitored in labour - have a chat with your midwife to see if they can position you on all fours or seated on a ball, whilst the EFM is on (so much better than on your back, which can encourage baby back-to-back and prevent your pelvis from opening).  Perhaps you know you will have to have a c-section birth - still practise your centred breathing and your positive mind set techniques, so that you can control adrenalin levels when you go down to deliver baby enabling you to meet baby in optimum state and to heal more quickly!  Daisy Birthing® classes welcome all mums-to-be, whatever their planned journey and believe we have valuable hints and tips for everyone!

Every birth is a miracle and should be treated as precious - Every mum should be congratulated on her experiences!

To learn more watch out for our i-phone application which will launch in October 2011 or check out SEARCH FOR A CLASS to join a course near you (no teacher near by, then why not register for training yourself and run your own baby friendly business!)

The hints and tips on this page are not intended to replace or act as a substitute for the care you receive from your own mid wife or health care professional.  These are 'natural' tools designed to enhance your pregnancy and to be used in addition to the medical advice you are receiving.  If you are experiencing any pain or discomfort please do not attempt any of these techniques before referring to your midwife.  In the event you experience excessive swelling please ensure you seek medical advice as soon as possible, particularly if this is accompanied by head aches or distorted vision as this can be a very serious condition know as pre eclampsia.  Remember, mums with SPD should be very cautious about movements which involve the hips or pelvis - if any of the suggestions above hurt, do not continue!  With our suggested 'all fours' movements, do be careful coming up and down particularly if you suffer with low blood pressure.  For further assistance or to query anything on these pages please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .