How did YOU prep for natural childbirth?

First of all that is fantastic that you are having a home water birth. With my second i wished i had a homebirth but i ended up having another hospital birth which was still lovely without any medication but it was very much the same as my first seeming i was wearing the same outfit, in the same room, did the same thing to cope etc, so now i have to wait for my third child which will be in a few years for my homebirth.

I didn't really prepare for my first or second, i have gained most of my knowledge after their births but i MUST recommend reading "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" book, it is fantastic! I lent a copy to my friend who was wanting a drug-free birth at hospital and she was terrified but after reading my book she was soooo confident! I cannot recommend that book enough....also have you watched "The Business of Being Born" documentary? it is very informative !

With both of my births i just walked the room back and forth and then with each rush i got i just made lots of noise which i found helped me a lot.

Has your midwife been educating you and helping you already?

The water alone is going to do you so much pain relief, also make sure your partner knows what sort of massage and pressure to use...and one other things is to use Rescue Remedy in yout sipping water.

* Get a doula if you feel the need

* Have affirmations around the house and look at everyday between now and during labour

* If there is anything in particular you are scared about aknowledge them and do not ignore it.

* Build confidence about labour and birth-stay away from negative birth stories or videos

* Learn how to deeply relax-maybe try some mediatation or visualisation

* Speak to other women who have had homebirths

* Follow Optimal Fetal Positioning to prevent your baby from getting into a bad position for birth like posterior

If you want to chat feel free to e-mail me via my profile =)

I had a natural birth at a birth center. Gosh I was so unprepared! lol. I went in there for my 37week check up and she ended up breaking my water! The nice thing was after she broke my water she sent me home. I was back at the center within an hour. Honestly the contractions were tough!! But as soon and you get that go ahead to push the pain just subsides. The pushing is nothing. They broke my water at 1:30pm, my son was out by 4:19pm and I was home in my own bed by 8:30pm. It was a wonderful experience. I am 36 weeks pregnant with my second child and will be having this one in a hospital.

However my sister n law used the same Midwife/birth center I do and she ended up being rushed to the Hospital for an emergency c - section.

This is your second child so Im sure things with flow perfectly but just be prep aired for everything and anything! I think its awesome that you want to have a natural birth! In this day everyone seems to just run for the epidural and c - sections. Honestly I would be more afraid of an epidural than natural birth! You will do great!

Also I agree with what "Mommy" said up there! Tons of walking does amazing things! I personally believe thats why my labor was so fast.

I had a completely natural birth with my second child. I had her in the hospital and decided to go up to the main labour ward instead of the midwife led birthing unit. I didn't really prepare I just went with the flow. I had her kneeling up and the midwife kept the lights dimmed with only a small light so she turned on occasionally to check everything was ok. We kept the radio on all the time and that helped me relax as it was the middle of the night smooth radio. I also used gas and air but after a while I just felt I could do better without it. As this is your second everything will be much faster and each contraction will be much more affective, it was really great to have such a calm birth and I think my daughter benefited more from it.

I didnt plan for it, i didnt want to think about labour/birth because i knew the more i thought about it, the more nervous/scared i would get. Yes its impossible not to think about it, but instead of thinking about how painful its going to be, i thought about the end result and kept thinking to myself "well millions of woman do it and go back for seconds, so it cant be that bad".

I had a natural birth with my first, i laboured as long as possible at home (i only live 10-15 minutes from hospital) and then i went to hospital. I laboured in the water (at hospital), which i actually hated, but that helped, because i was so uncomfortable and distracted by that that the time seemed to fly buy. Hahaha. I normally love water, so this was a bit of a shock to me. When i got out of the pool i just sort of rested in a squating position with my arms holding me on the bed (which was real comfortable) but my midwife had trouble finding the heartbeat in that position so i had to hop up onto the bed in the usual lying on your back labour position, which sucked but hey. Anyway i was only at hospital for 3 hours before i gave birth. It all went great. My labour was only 9 or 10 hours long which made everything a lot easier.

Currently 28 weeks pregnant and plan to do the same sort of thing this time around

I'm with you! I was wondering the same thing. I will be 37 weeks tomorrow. I have a 2 year old daughter & got an epidural with her but with my son i'm sticking with natural birth. Getting a bit nervous about it! Eek! Gotta keep up with this post! Lol!

i had my son in a hospital , but with a midwife and no MDS, a good way to prep is to walk, walk a lot, the more you walk the stronger you will be, i got to the hospital at 6:45 and my son was born at 9:15, they say exercising during pregnancy helps make your labor quicker, good luck to you!

i've had 3 children. 2 natural one c section.

i always went in expecting nothing in particular. i heard all stories. horror and otherwise.

everyone is different. just as long as your bub is healthy then you'll have all you expected. yes i was a little scared...but i just went with the flow so to speak. each and everyone exceeded my expectations (which were none really lol).

all the very best and good luck :)