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I mentioned how I felt that visualizations had helped me prepare for Galen’s birth in my post reflecting on his birth.  I wanted to go into more detail on this because I feel it was a very important preparation.  Many books on birth (including the Pink Kit materials) recommend visualizing the birth experience you’d like to have.

I chose to visualize the experience I most wanted to have in a lot of detail.  I tried to do all of my imagining from a first-person perspective – so that I was actually in my body, rather than just observing from the outside as if I were watching myself on screen.  I did this because during birth you are of course actually going to be in your body, having the baby yourself – not watching!

I also visualized several other scenarios I thought could possibly happen, just to feel more comfortable if they actually arose (for instance, we planned a water birth but I pictured birthing in our bedroom as well).  I also did some work with my own fears and as part of overcoming that fear I visualized and analyzed the “what if” situation (you can read more about my work through my fears, including c-section, in this post)

So I did imagine quite a few different ways of giving birth to my baby.  But the one I wanted most of all I spent the most time picturing (I tried to make time every day, usually during my afternoon rest time) and pictured in the most detail.  It’s important to let go of feeling foolish, or too optimistic – just let yourself imagine your very “best case” birth, your “ideal” birth so to speak.  You can explore other situations, as I did, but spend time picturing how you really want it to go.

This is a really powerful way to help your mind get ready for the birth.  It can become almost like a rehearsal for the birth, leaving you with the feeling that you’ve been through this before.

I’ve visualized before each of births because I believe it helps.  But I do really think that our minds are a powerful thing.  And I think Galen’s birth is one of the proofs of that.  When I visualized Galen’s birth, I always pictured the birth tub, myself, and Scott.  I pictured Galen coming into the world and being brought from the water in my hands and in Scott’s hands.

Now, in the back of my mind I always thought “the midwives are there somewhere, in the background” and also I generally thought the children would be there somewhere in the background too.  But I found myself unable to picture them actually right there, by the tub – I wanted Galen’s first moments to be for me and Scott, so I didn’t picture anyone else right there.

If you’ve read Galen’s birth story, you know that we ended up with an unassisted birth – in fact, my labor picked up almost as soon as our midwives left (because I was only 3cm).  As I reflect back over this I keep thinking about all the visualizing I did and how I always pictured just Scott and I there, and the midwives were just “somewhere” and never actually in the scene in my mind.  Almost everything was as I’d pictured it over and over again – the tub in the corner, the low light, the position I birthed in.  The only difference was that I always imagined Scott in the tub, and he didn’t have time to get in with me before Galen was born.  He was supporting me and holding my hands from the outside of the tub.

So I do think that what you picture in your mind – condition your mind to expect, so to speak – can have a powerful influence on your birth.  It’s why I think it’s very important to work through and let go of fears, so you can allow yourself to visualize the experience you’d like without fears creeping in.  But that visualization will help you explore possibilities and prepare for your birth in the closest way to actually being able to “practice” birth that you can.  Enjoy!

I’ve put my visualization and journaling exercises together in an easy-to-use workbook. Discover more about how Fearless Birth can help you: