IT'S OKAY TO HAVE
childbirth anxiety
Keep a journal!
Keeping a journal of all your fears, anxiety and positive thoughts. This will be a vent for you and allow you to discuss these things with you partner...though they will never understand what you are going through, even when they say they do. Writing down your feelings will give you a chance to deal with this anxiety head on. You could avoid it and pretend it doesn't exist and I promise you it will only increase the close you get to the big day. Though normal for the fears and anxiety to increase the closer you get to the birthday it is important to keep this from consuming you. It will make things much more difficult for you in the labor/delivery process. The more relaxed you are the easier the process will be. Our bodies are brilliant and when in distress they don't do the things necessary for delivery which makes labor more intense than it could be.
Visualize the big day!
If you take a moment each day to sit down, close your eyes, and picture yourself holding you beautiful, pink, perfect baby boy or girl this will help you focus on the positives of childbirth rather than the negative. Because of the way we are programmed, most of us immediately dive into the negative thoughts instead of turning them to the positive. Really take time everyday to visualize any positive you can with childbirth. Even if the positive for you is the anesthisiologist coming in to give you the epidural! Whatever works!
Talk to your baby!
You want to try and make sure you can really connect with you baby no matter what stage of pregnancy you are in. It is crucial to spend time throughout the day talking to your tummy. It felt very strange for me at first talking to my tummy because there was no response; however, from the day I found out I was pregnanct at 7 weeks I played music for the baby, sang to him and told him who I am so he got used to my voice. The more you connect with the baby the better for you and the baby.
Connect with other mommas!
We now have so much media which is a blessing and a curse. In this instance I am so thankful we have social media. Here is the link to one page I found most helpful https://www.facebook.com/birthwithoutfear. It will give you an oppurtunity to connect with other mommies-to-be and share experiences with them. Having a support is so important. I remember at first feeling like no one understood what I was going through until I connected with some of my girlfriends who were also pregnant or just had a child. Don't be afraid to reach out to other mommas! I would wager that 9 times out of 10 they are having the same fears and anxiety you are.