How to Prepare for Labor Day

Labor Day weekend is here and some folks have been preparing to travel to squeeze in one last beach or lake trip, preparing to host a cookout for family and friends, or just preparing to have a nice long weekend at home. We thought Labor Day weekend was a great time to talk about preparing for your very own Labor and Birthing Day!

There are 4 main things to consider when preparing for labor and birth: think about the birth experience you’d like to have, choosing a care provider, educating yourself, and hiring a doula!

Your Birth Experience

You have several options when it comes to your birth experience. You might like to have a homebirth or a birth at a freestanding birth center. You might like to have an unmedicated birth within a hospital and you might like to have a hospital birth with a planned epidural. Perhaps you know you want or need to have a Cesarean birth. Do you want a hands-of approach or do you wanted a very-managed approach? Whichever kind of birth you are thinking about willl narrow down your choices for a care provider.

Choosing a Care Provider

Choosing your care provider is going to be the number one way to help you have the birth experience you are planning. Some providers are OBs who only attend births in the hospital. Some midwives attend births in hospitals and some attend births in freestanding birth centers or in homes. If you choose a homebirth or freestanding birth center, you will want to contact those care providers early in your pregnancy as they may have a maximum number of births they can accomodate in any given month. In most cases, the care provider you choose will dictate your place of birth. It may be a good idea to look at care providers and hospitals and freestanding birth centers that are considered in-network with your health insurance.

Educate Yourself

Learning about the stages of labor and what to expect in each stage can be helpful in preparing you for labor. You might also want to educate yourself on common interventions that can happen during labor. One way to do this is by taking a childbirth education class. Doulas of Raleigh offers both private and small-group settings for in-person chidbirth education. If you prefer, we also have virtual class options. If taking a class isn’t your thing, that’s ok! Reading books about labor and birth can be effective, too. We recommend The BIrth Partner by Penny Simkin as a great overview about labor. There are a lot of helpful Insta accounts out there that also teach little tips about childbirth (follow us @doulasofraleigh). If you love learning by lisenting you might like listening to podcasts about labor and birth. We really like The Birth Hour to showcase all types of labor and births. Being more educated will likely help you feel more prepared for labor and birth and decrease your feelings of fear and anxiety.

Hire a Doula

As doulas we have to say we highly recommend hiring a doula to support you throughout your pregnancy, labor, and birth. Labor doulas can help share resources for information or referrals to chiropracters, acupuncturists, prenatal yoga teachers, pelvic floor therapists, etc. We sometimes refer to labor doulas as your own “Google safety filter” so they can save you from going down a Google rabbit hole by providing you with evidence-based information in a nonbiased manner. Your labor doula can be your sounding board when you have pregnancy aches and pains or are tired of your judgmental Aunt Becky making unhelpful comments. Your labor doula can also help you talk through a prenatal appt with your care provider that left you with questions. During labor your doula can provide you with reassurance, emotional support, and physical comfort measures. They can also be a great support for your partner by giving suggestions on how to support you as well as giving them breaks so they can eat and rest. They can also help support you in the first hour after the birth with helping you do skin to skin care with your baby, making sure you’re hydrated and eat a small snack, and help you with inital latching of baby to your breast if you are planning on breastfeeding.

Preparing for your own Labor Day can help you feel more empowered, informed, and ready to meet your new baby.