The Best Ever Birthing Advice {from Moms Who’ve Pushed a Time or Two}

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Lewis At Birth

Pregnancy is tiring, and often our birthing experiences are so much more than we expected. To ease some of that new-mama fear, and answer the questions you never thought to ask, we asked our readers and contributors what is the one piece of advice you wish you knew before giving birth.

Hold on to your seats, because their answers are insightful, revealing, and sometimes down right funny.

  • If you are birthing in a hospital, don’t be afraid to speak up or ask questions. The doctors, nurses, and staff can’t read your mind . . . and they give no awards for being the most low-maintenance patient.
  • Take home all the “goodies” from the hospital! Those giant bra-strap to belly button pads aren’t at your local Walgreens.
  • Worry less. By the time you get to D-day and birth time, so much of what worried you doesn’t matter because you are so focused on that moment.
  • GET A DOULA! There will come a time in labor when your husband will either be too exhausted or terrified of the sounds you are making to continue laboring with you. You will want a second person who is trained in all the sounds, smells, oddities of labor.
  • Avoid awkward conversations with loved ones after birth by sending everyone an e-mail detailing who will be in the room, when we’d invite them back to see the baby, when they should visit in hospital, when they should go home and leave us to figure out life with a new baby, and when they should come back to visit. Don’t worry about being a momzilla!
  • Buy Depends! You can use them in case your water breaks at home, and also after the birth when trying to get in and out of bed without showing all of your visitors a whole new side of you.
  • Ask for stool softeners!
  • Make flexible plans, like dinner with friends up until and even after your due date. That way, if you go days and days past your due date, you’ll have social engagements to look forward to.

See anything we missed? What is your best birthing advice? Tell us below in the comments section.

You can also read the entire “Stork Stories” series where local moms discuss the many ways to birth a baby.

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