Labor And Delivery - Are Your Ready?

By Angela Kendrick

Labor and Delivery is the goal waiting for you at the end of your pregnancy. Everything you have done for nine months and beyond is not preparing you for this moment.

Most women will agree that going through labor is the most painful thing that they have ever endured. It is certainly at the top of the list, but it can be endured, with proper preparation and staying focused upon the joy that awaits. . If you are pregnant and just a little bit afraid about whether you want to go through with the delivery or not, you are very likely looking for some ways that you can alleviate the pain of labor or at least to somehow reduce the pain in order to have your baby.

There are various opinions and methods for getting through labor and delivery. Some of them are medical and some mental. The most important thing is for you and your husband to be able to come up with a plan of action that you can use while at the hospital. Having a plan is about 25% of the battle. Another 25% is training and preparing for the battle. And the final 50% is actually going through the labory and delivery itself.

The first and most apparent choice you will need to make is whether to take pain medication while having your baby. This is usually standard in well-baby clinics, and makes expecting a baby a little more manageable. I don't really classify the use of medications as "non-natural," however, the more purest of women will state that the natural route is Lamaze only and not meds. They say a natural childbirth does not use drugs of any kind.

However, "going natural" during labor isn’t just for expecting mothers who eat granola and don't shave under their arms. Many women are choosing to go through labor undering natural childbirth methods because of health benefits for both the newborn baby and the mother. Studies have shown that it is good for the baby in those first few hours, days, and weeks, and the mom will be able to recoup from child birth at a much faster rate.

Research the different methods. You can use breathing procedures, mental "escape" systems, or any number of other methods to reduce the pain during labor. Go to your nearby library and look for books on being pregnant. They will give you several assorted suggestions, and you will just have to make a choice what you believe will work. Your best resource is to go to the hospital where you are going to have the baby and investigate the different labor and delivery classes that are offered. There, is where you will learn the most.

Don't leave out talking with a few moms that have already gone through everything. Learn what they used to cope with not just with the pain, but also with the anxiety. The more help you can get from others, the more you will be ready when the time comes to head to the hospital.

Angela has served in several youth and children's ministries, educating children and moms and dads through all stages of life.

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