First time mom - FAST, easy labor

Oct 30, 2021

This is HypnoActive Birth mama Meg.

She happens to be our first ever homestudy student to give birth using the HypnoActive Birth method...

And WHAT a birth it was!

During my 11+ years of teaching, I have helped guide thousands of expecting parents through the journey of birth. Our homestudy course is brand new in 2021, and Meg was the first to complete it.

And she wants to shout this out to the world...

Your first birth can be everything you want it to be!

It can be quick, smooth, exciting, joyful, empowering, astonishing, peaceful, and even pleasurable. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

There is an ugly myth in our culture, and you might believe it:

The first birth is the worst birth

Guess what? It's a lie. There is no biological reason why your first birth should be more difficult than any other. Your body is young, strong and healthy. The passageway through which the baby travels is the same for the first birth as it is for the last. Your body isn't somehow "stretched out" by the first baby, and therefore "looser" for your subsequent babies. That is a big fat MYTH. Let that sink in for a minute.

Your uterus expands from the size of a kiwi to the size of a watermelon during pregnancy, and after the birth it shrinks back down to kiwi size. It isn't stretched out; it's supposed to be able to change significantly in size.

Cervixes and vaginas dilate to 10 cm during labor, and they un-dilate back to their original size in a matter of weeks afterwards. Bodies expand. Cervixes open. Vaginas dilate. Babies come out.

It's our toxic cultural belief that "the first birth is the worst birth" which is creating a SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY for birthing mothers!

If you've taken my childbirth education course, you know exactly how fear affects the progress and safety of labor. First-time moms have so much negativity heaped upon them by family, friends, and medical providers. If you've ever been to a baby shower, you know it can feel like a summercamp ghost-story bonfire: campers seated in a circle, passing around the flashlight, telling their horror stories, each trying to outdo the other in an effort to scare the newbies as much as possible.

That negativity manifests itself in longer labors, more pain, a higher incidence of complications, and an even stronger cultural belief that first births are awful. Do you see the negative feedback loop? Well, I'm trying to break it.

About 70% of my students are first-time birthers, and they have fantastic births. Their labors tend to be much faster than you would expect, often less that 3 to 6 hours from start to finish. They have a lower incidence of all medical interventions, including induction and cesarean section. And they tend to become lifelong birth junkies who can't stop talking about how amazing labor can be.

Meg's active labor was 45 minutes. 45 MINUTES!!!
"Active labor" means your uterine contractions are long and strong enough to cause progressive changes to your cervix. It only took 45 minutes for Meg's cervix to efface and dilate completely.

Then her body pushed instinctively, no more than twice, and the labor was over.

Meg was sitting on the toilet when the urge to push came. She stood up, pushed involuntarily and her precious baby girl slid out, into her daddy's arms. And folks... you gotta see this. I'm sharing the remarkable birth photo below with Meg's consent, so that you can witness the power of birth. I hope you will view it with the respect and maturity that Meg deserves.

A few things you should know first, because many people misunderstand birth. We are conditioned to view it as a dangerous medical emergency, when in fact, it's a normal function of a healthy body.

1. This was an accidental unassisted birth – She planned a home birth, but her labor progressed so quickly that the midwife didn't make it in time. She wasn't scared, it wasn't traumatic, her body knew what to do, and the birth was smooth and uncomplicated.

2. The baby is perfectly fine – She transitioned to life outside the womb quickly and normally, with no problems whatsoever.

3. Meg is perfectly fine – Yes, you're seeing some blood, but it's not her blood, it's from the placenta. She didn't tear a bit. She didn't hemorrhage. Her post-birth bleeding was normal.

4. It's totally safe to give birth standing up – It's not risky for the birther or the baby. It might not be what you're used to seeing, but women birthing unassisted often deliver in a standing position.