Spiritual Preparation for Birth
Spiritual preparation for birth includes as much or as little as you want it to. It is going to involve different aspects and layers and perspectives for each person but here are some pathways that you might find supportive and offer a bit of guidance along your pathway.
Connection to Something Greater
Maybe it’s God, maybe it’s your ancestors, maybe it’s the universe, spirit, nature, Goddess, or even Western Science… As they say in Integral Yoga, ‘Truth is One, Paths are Many”. Whatever your spiritual or religious affiliation or your belief system, lean into it. Learn what it feels like to allow it to bolster you. In those tough moments prenatally, pray, meditate, connect to your spiritual experience. Lean into it, like you’d lean into your mother (or a caregiver) as a child when you’re sad. Find comfort and trust as you rely on this force that is greater than you.
Giving Fear a Voice
When we hide our fears, submerge them deep within us, or even when we word vomit our fears onto anyone that will listen, we’re not truly honoring them and giving them a safe space to be spoken and then subsequently, deeply heard. It is important to give your fear a safe container to be spoken without judgement, without shame, and within a safe and secure space.
Trusting Nature, Your Body, Your Baby, Your Instincts
There is a lot of birth talk making these broad statements like “Trust your body! It was made to give birth!” And while I personally believe that this is true 99% of the time and that most of what sabatoges birth is when it is unecessarily interfered with (but that’s a whole other conversation for another time), it might not be true or feel true to you. Maybe your relationship with your body is awesome! Or maybe it’s not so solid.
Find the statements that feel solid and steady within your nervous system… “I trust nature, I am nature, I was made to birth” or “I know my body can do hard things and I trust my body to give birth to my baby” or “My baby and I are working together and I know we’re going to do it!” or maybe “I trust myself and my ability to make the right choices in each moment”
And that last statement, or something like it, might be the most supportive for those of us who’s birth experiences aren’t going exactly according to our birth plans/hopes/dreams.
Allowing / Letting Go / Surrender
Surrender is necessary for birth to unfold. Letting go of attachments to “feeling good” or the attachment to avoiding pain. And most importantly allowing the contractions to come and then go, and then come again, and then go again… until it is time for baby to be born.
I personally prefer the language of “allowing” over “letting go” and “surrender”. Allowing means that you give permission for this to occur, it means that there is still choice in the experience. Some find that what’s so tough about “surrendering” is that it’s often meant as giving control and leadership to someone else. And some find that what’s tough about “letting go” is that you let go of normal expectations for your care and the expectation to uphold your birth plan.
Explore these words and phrases to find what feels just right for you!