The #1 Thing A doula Suggests before going to the hospital
One of the most COMMONLY asked questions I get is “How will I know its really labor?” (Second I think would be “how will we know when to go to the hospital?”) To me, it can feel kind of dismissive when a provider or even a doula says: “Oh you’ll just know”…but that’s not always the case! Yes yes, I want you to listen to your body and look for the clues and patterns we’ve discussed in our prenatal sessions, but its not always that cut and dry.
Even with my third birth, I wasn’t entirely convinced I was in labor until I was at my midwife’s office and she had indeed established I was in active labor and should get settled! Thats one of the beautiful things about working with a doula, they can help you make those decisions on when to head in and things to try at home before doing so. Before we went in, I texted “I think my uterus is confused. It feels like spasms every two minutes, but not like contractions.” Her suggestion was to get in the shower to see what happened and to call her back in thirty minutes. So that I did! We found that gravity seemed to keep working with my body- contractions did develop, but they were manageable! Once I laid down was the test! We were chatting on the phone and found that my contractions didn’t subside- they were consistently 3-4 minutes apart and I was having to breathe a bit through them. She suggested I head in! (I’ll certainly have to tell my birth stories one day! But that’s not today’s post!)
Oftentimes, I see my mamas get so tense and caught up in the hard work their body is doing- they convince themselves “this is the worst thing ever in the history of ever!” And true, childbirth and labor are quite intense- but this is where the shower comes in!
It might just take some hot water running over your body to relax your shoulders and sink into the work instead of fighting against it. Most clients respond SO well once in the shower, its like “OH MAN SWEET RELIEF why didn’t I listen to you sooner?!” It might help you soften and relax enough to be ready to face that ride to the hospital. Remember, once labor is established, there’s nothing we can do to stop that train! Maybe just maybe once you are relaxed a bit we can more clearly make a decision about when to head in or what to do next. Were you so tensed up and anxious and that was making things worse? The shower will have helped you to find your rhythm and take back your power. Or are you really and truly in active labor and this just took the edge off a bit? Either way having resources for pain management in your toolkit will make all the difference.
SO PLEASE! Hop in the shower! Play some calming music. Sprinkle some lavender essential oil on the shower walls. Speak words of affirmation. Then call your doula back to get your next assignment! ;)
