PREPARATION FOR LABOUR
During labour, it is of great help that you feel at ease, and that you trust your environment and the people around you. Each woman is different, each birth is different, so being open to what comes and what happens is a good attitude to help labour along. In his book Birth and Breastfeeding, Michel Odent suggests that privacy and a calm, gentle environment are an ideal setting, where the mother can let the natural hormonal process take over, rather than be stimulated by rational conversation and interruptions which can inhibit this process. The hormonal physiology of labour and birth are best served when a woman is in a trusted environment, surrounded by trusted people and given the least medical interventions possible.[1] In Spiritual Midwifery, Ina May Gaskin describes the importance of the mother having a positive, loving attitude, as well as everyone else at the birth. This allows for an easier, faster birth and is a better environment and warmer welcome for a new baby. [2]
