My Experience with Daisy Birthing Part One

"If you fill your space and time with guilt and regret there won't be room for all the love." 

-Be More With Less

Those of you who have the privilege/misfortune of truly knowing me are fully aware that I research everything to the point of exhaustion. When I become interested in a topic, or my life takes a new direction, I pour over books, blogs and articles which often leads to me spending hours, if not weeks, learning new skills and ways of living. Some would say I become obsessive.

When I found out I was pregnant with Cyril it was easy for me to research everything about how he was developing and my body was changing. I read dozens of books on baby care, sleep, feeding and creating the perfect nursery. I made curtains, photo collages, painted changing tables and shelves, and found the perfect crib after hours of reading reviews.

However, when it came to labour I did the opposite of what was right for me and avoided the topic. If I saw even a hint of someone telling their labour story I immediately closed the web browser or skipped to the next chapter. I decided my body would know what it was doing, I had a very high pain tolerance, and my mother had quick labours so everything would be fine. I created my strict no intervention birth plan, made 3 photocopies and tucked them into my hospital bag which was packed and in the truck when I was 35 weeks pregnant, just as all the articles suggested.

What I didn't know was that everyone labours differently and the brief chapter I did read on how long each stage of labour should last are textbook definitions which might help midwives pass exams but don't necessarily help expecting mothers understand what their bodies are designed to do.

Fast forward 2 years to my second pregnancy. Although I've been through labour, and delivered Cyril naturally, the entire birth experience didn't really give me anymore information then I had before I gave birth. Yes I know what a contraction feels like, and that gas and air makes me sick, but until 5 weeks ago I was still clueless as to why the midwives insisted I get up and walk around and why different breathing techniques are beneficial at different stages of labour. I hired a doula but very nearly made the same mistake I did with Cyril when I hot-headedly announced I was having a water birth and didn't need to do any research on labour because my doula would be there to assist me. Wrong.  Knowledge is king. Being king means you're in control and for me feeling in control, even if I'm not, is everything.

When Katherine approached me about doing the Daisy Birthing course at The Happy Mums Foundation I was very enthusiastic. I meant to sign up for it earlier but in-between nappy changes, vomit, nursery and swimming schedules, it had slipped my mind. I wasn't sure if it would benefit me because I'd already had a baby, and thought I knew everything about birth already, but decided it was better to over educate then under educate myself this time.

After the first class I quickly realised I knew very little about how my body was designed to give birth. My head was full of new information and it felt both exciting and exhilarating, two things I would have never used to describe birth before that moment. All of a sudden everything that happened in my first labour made sense, the new information not only helped me to understand what the midwives were talking about when they tried to get me into a better position to give birth, but it made me realise that although my labour with Cyril didn't go as I had intended it to, it was not actually as traumatic as I made it out to be. I should have spent these past 2 years celebrating how efficient my body was at delivering such a large baby rather then feeling guilty and full of regret. I left class that day not feeling sad about my previous birthing experience but full of positivity about the future, I was instantly hooked and couldn't wait to learn more.

I now have one class left before my journey with Katherine and the other expecting mothers comes to an end but I already feel ready to start the next journey when Baby Girl decides to make her debut. I'd like to share a bit more about what I've learned these past 5 weeks but seeing as how this post is longer then I intended I'm going to break it into 3 parts. Next week I'll share some of the strategies and techniques that make this class worthwhile and when the little lady decides to come I'll be doing a follow up post on how helpful it was to have this knowledge in my back pocket.

If you're eager to learn more, or get started on your own journey, Katherine will be starting a new class on the 10th of August at the Happy Mums Foundation in Carlisle from 7-830pm. If you click on this Daisy Birthing Link it will give you all the information you need to get started.

All opinions are my own and are not affiliated with Daisy Birthing. Thank you for supporting my blog.