How You Can Have An Empowered Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Transition
When you enter into the rite of passage of pregnancy, you need to understand that your life is going to completely change on all levels whether you are ready or not. In my current book, I share with you how you can prepare yourself on all levels to meet this rite of passage from an empowered and more conscious place while birthing in a system that doesn’t prepare you mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually, for what you are about to experience. Here is the introduction to my current book that is written to help you and your partner navigate the twists and turns of your unique conception and pregnancy path. In the meantime, if you are curious about how you can more fully prepare for the journey ahead, whether you are planning to conceive or are already pregnant, please check out my offerings through the Therakneads website(located in Eldersburg, Md.) or Mother-touch.com and schedule an appointment with me to see how I can support you where you are on your journey. My intention is that you will receive powerful, simple, and effective tools, strategies, and exercises from the bodywork , childbirth and postpartum preparation classes we do together that will support you in feeling strengthened, prepared, and looking forward to having a healthy, fulfilling pregnancy, birth, baby, and postpartum transition.
Introduction
I have spent the last 30 years gathering stories and experiences from my prenatal clients, so that I can share with you how birthing women and their partners have taken the journey of pregnancy and birth back into their own hands, where it belongs, and how you too can do the same. The bottom line is that this is your pregnancy, baby, birth, and postpartum parenthood, not the doctors’, nurses’, hospitals’, well- meaning friends, and family members. This is your own unique journey! Becoming clear about what you want to experience and learning how to create what you really want is a critical part of your experience going forward.
If you want to have an empowering, confident, healthy pregnancy, birth, and postpartum transition then you are in the right place. When you implement the tools hundreds of my clients have used during their pregnancies and births, you will not only be able to prevent having an unnecessary cesarean, if that is your intention, but you will ultimately give yourself the opportunity to experience the fulfillment of your potential power as a pregnant and birthing person. How you prepare physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually, will strongly influence what happens during your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum transition.
Woven throughout this book are birthing stories from the clients I have interviewed, as well as my own. Each story carries its own unique message, teaching, or healing. May you be uplifted, inspired, empowered, and healed by the imprints they leave in your heart about what is possible in birth. May they remind you that you are not alone, and we are all faced with similar challenges in modern day birthing. If you birth again, may you reflect on these stories, and may they broaden and deepen your lens about what is possible for you in birth and as you step into parenthood. It is my heartfelt intention that these stories make an impact on how we as a collective approach this sacred rite of passage and make the changes that need to be made to bring the sacred and true support back to birthing and motherhood, not just for the sake of our children, but for the sake of the mothers and couples who are birthing and raising them.[1] [2] [M3]
If you and your partner are ready and willing to approach your preconception, pregnancy, and birth with curiosity, an open mind, conscious intention, and as active, empowered participants, during all phases of your birth journey, then this book is for you.
The couples that I work with in my birthing practice seek to learn simple, yet effective ways they can feel confident, calm, supported, empowered, and prepared during their birth journey. When my clients have implemented the strategies and lifestyle changes they have either learned or revisited during our time together they have calmer pregnancies, births, babies, and better birth outcomes.
Who Can Benefit
You will benefit from implementing the mindfulness tools and lifestyle changes in this book if you or your partner think you may want to have a child at some point in your future, are currently planning to conceive, or are already pregnant. You may want to learn effective ways you can prevent unnecessary birth outcomes or just feel more empowered and aware during your birth journey. You may also be the birth partner and want to explore ways you can be healthy, informed, confident, and supported, while learning effective ways to support your birthing partner throughout their birth journey. You may both want to learn about and explore effective mindfulness approaches and tools which will help you build a solid foundation for parenthood. I have included what I have learned from my own pregnancies and births, as well as from hundreds of pregnant couples I have worked with over the last 30 years.
In the chapters below, I will share with you how you can intentionally create the pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience that is possible for you, along with five of the most common and effective ways you can prevent having an unwanted or unnecessary Cesarean. I invite you to explore what speaks to your heart as you sift through the hidden jewels shared by the countless women, I have had the joy and privilege of witnessing while they navigated the uncertain terrain of their unique birth journeys.
While hearing my clients birth stories in my holistic practice, the most pressing questions that arise in me are:
-What are the most common challenges women face that frequently lead to unnecessary Cesarean or traumatic birth outcomes?
-What can be done to prevent the common catalysts /circumstances that frequently lead to unnecessary Cesarean or traumatic birth outcomes in order to support a more empowered, connected birth experience for mother and baby?
-How can I support each and every one of you in having your own, unique, and empowering pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience, regardless of your birth outcome?
To be clear, what I mean by unnecessary, is not an actual emergency, such as placenta privea, placental abruption, or a prolapsed cord. These are actual emergencies that require medical intervention and are essentially not in your immediate control. What I’m referring to are choices that a woman or couple make, both prior to or during your pregnancy, that could either lead to a healthier, easier pregnancy, baby, and birth, or one that is fraught with health challenges and poorer birthing outcomes for both you and your baby. I believe that you have more authority in how your experience unfolds than you may think. This book serves to fill in the gaps within the current “birthing system” for those couples and single mothers who want to know how to access their power more fully during this sacred time. My intention is that you receive value from and implement the wisdom contained within the pages of this book shared by birthing women throughout the country, for the sake of shedding more light on what is possible for you and your baby during your pregnancy and birth.