Birth Affirmations

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A few weeks ago I was visiting with my lovely midwife, and we were discussing mental preparation for birth. She suggested to me that I think of, and write down a list of positive ideas about labor and giving birth -- making sure to write them in the present tense, as if I am experiencing those things at that moment. I am to go back and read them everyday, as part of my preparation. The idea behind this activity being that a person's mind, conscious and subconscious alike, will attach to those thoughts a the person fixates on, and make them a reality. This goes for negative thoughts, as well as positive. Our goal specifically then is to help make a positive birth experience by believing it will happen; by repeating the positive desires I have for my birth, as if they are happening in that moment.

I latched onto this idea, but didn't immediately write my positive thoughts down, (mostly I just forget to do things these days... my brain has temporarily checked out I think). Just a few days ago as I was reading my scriptures I decided it was time to get to making this list. I said a prayer, and began writing. As I did I felt so much power and love from God. He really does love his daughters, and wants us to have good experiences.

I thought it might be a good idea to contact my sisters and ask them what their favorite positive affirmations would be. Their thoughts have been wonderful, and have been added to my own. I thought that I might share my list of birth affirmations here.

My Birth Affirmations:

• I am full of grace from my Savior
• My baby is healthy, strong, and wise
• My body is strong, and knows how to birth my baby
• My mothers and grandmothers are with me while I am laboring. They support and strengthen me.
• My body is wise, and knows how to birth my baby
• I am relaxed and open
• My uterus is strong and healthy, and is functioning as God intended
• My uterus continues to stay in my body, where it belongs (I had a slight uterine prolapse with the birth of my son.)
• My uterus births my children with grace and ease
• I am holding my new baby
• Contractions are good, I yield to their strength
• I am huge

I stole the last one from Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, p.248. She tells of a first time mother who was incredulous that a baby could exit the mother's body through such a small opening. Ina May told her, "You're going to get huge."

I will quote Ina May here (pardon the weird formatting):

"One week later, her son's bottom was just coming into view after seventeen hours of labor. Before his butt pushed directly against her perineum, her vagina enlarged and opened to an extent that astounded me. I had seen this phenomenon in women who had already had seven or eight children, but never before in a first time mother. Judy's vagina would easily have allowed the passage of a baby considerably bigger than her seven-pound eight-ounce sone without a tear.
Some days later when Judy and I were talking about her birth, I told her how surprised I had been to see how open her vagina became without direct pressure on her perineum. (I was still amazed.) Judy said, "I used that mantra you gave me."
"Mantra?" I repeated, uncertain of what she meant.
"I kept thinking while I was pushing, I'm going to get huge. I'm going to get huge!" she said."

Isn't that amazing?

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As I was writing my list of affirmations I began having contractions, good strong contractions. They came about every 3 minutes, and though I am only 32 weeks along, I was not frightened. I know my body was reacting to the positive thoughts I was focusing on about birth, and that gives me tremendous joy and hope at the thought of giving birth again. It was a very lovely spiritual experience for me.

Do you have any positive thoughts to add to my list?