Guide to preparing for childbirth

Claire Andréewitch, founder of Ad CAELIA, shares her advice on how to best prepare for this unique moment in a woman's life that is childbirth.

How to approach it calmly and how to prepare your suitcase for the maternity ward?

The months go by, and each day that passes brings us closer to the arrival of our boy. Giving birth is a unique moment in a woman's life, so here are some practices to approach it in the most serene way possible, as well as some practical advice for preparing your maternity suitcase.

1. Work on your breathing by reducing your stress

The apprehension of this event is legitimate, and requires even more than usual to refocus. Breathing is indeed key at the time of childbirth, because it will allow you to go through the cycle of contractions more serenely. It is worked on upstream throughout your pregnancy by meditating, practicing cardiac coherence for example, positive visualization with sophrology, a gentle yoga , in meditating , or simply walking in nature.

These practices can also be accompanied by infusions of lemon balm (sedative, it also acts on uterine spasms) or passionflower if your sleep is very impacted (1 teaspoon per cup, 3 to 4 times a day, or 1 in the evening 1 hour before bedtime). Diffusing essential oil when you feel the need can also help you create a relaxed atmosphere at home, by choosing lavender or bitter orange petitgrain, which both soothe the nervous system. They are both “safe” during the last trimester, but of course always respect the dosage and use organic quality.

2. Organize a “blessing way”

This ceremony, from the Navajo tradition, consists of celebrating the future mother from the 7th month, allowing her to welcome this new status, but also to support her and give her confidence by creating a benevolent circle around her. The activities revolve around strengthening the bond and awakening the senses, and will allow you to create memories, collect written words that you can take with you during childbirth! A slightly more spiritual type of “baby shower”.

3. Establish a birth plan

In which you list your wishes for your delivery. This allows you to best prepare for this moment while mentally relieving yourself of all these parameters. This list will serve as a common thread for the medical teams, and will help create a better relationship of trust between the medical team and the future parents.

4. Prepare your oxytocin bubble

Nicknamed the "bonding hormone", it is secreted during childbirth and promotes uterine contractions. Also linked to the notion of pleasure, it is a good idea to start preparing this bubble by thinking of a piece of music that you particularly like, a perfume, a memory or photo, or anything that fulfills you and that you can remember at the time of childbirth to soothe your mind and boost the secretion of this hormone. Also make sure to keep warm to boost this hormone: cover yourself well from the start of labor and drink something warm, for example.

5. Food

Many studies highlight certain foods that pregnant women should favor as labor approaches (raspberry leaves or pineapple, which help trigger labor, or the virtues of dates and evening primrose oil to soften the cervix.) However, there is currently no consensus on any of these… The important thing is to ensure that you maintain a balanced, varied and seasonal diet in order to provide your body with as many vitamins, minerals and good fatty acids as possible. This optimizes the good health of your microbiota that you will pass on to your baby at birth. We often talk about it in the postpartum period, but bone broth (the recipe for which I shared with you in one of my posts on Instagram recently) is a star food, to be consumed daily if desired from the 35th week, and postpartum!

The maternity suitcase: when and how to prepare it?

When ?

From the eighth month of pregnancy, in case the baby arrives a little early. This way, everything will be ready when the time comes, and it will be one less thing to worry about for your delivery!

For baby:

• 5 or 6 soft cotton bodysuits (depending on the size of the baby, plan on some newborn size and others one month)
• 5 or 6 warm pajamas
• Warm socks/slippers
• 1 or 2 caps
• A warm suit for going out
• A bath cape or bath towel (I love the ones from @cocoeko!)
• A sleeping bag
• Some bibs and swaddling clothes, and diapers (if these are not provided by the maternity hospital)
• Liniment and large squares of ultra soft cotton
• Possibly a pacifier and a special newborn bottle
• A comfort blanket

For mom:

In addition to the basics (comfortable clothes, towels, slippers, nightgowns, toiletry bag, special extra thick sanitary towels, administrative documents: medical file, health card, mutual insurance, family record book, health record book, etc.) indicated by the maternity ward, here are some essentials to put in your suitcase:

• A light nightie, to be comfortable, because it is often hot in maternity wards.
• A mineral water spray to refresh you during labor before delivery, moisturize your skin, but also clean your nipples after breastfeeding if you are concerned.
• A skin-to-skin headband so you can slip baby in and have him against you without having to hold him.
• A night light so you are not bothered by bright lights when you wake up at night to look after your baby.
• A nursing pillow, very useful even for mothers who do not breastfeed, to find a good position to sleep after giving birth where it is often a little painful, and very practical for mothers who breastfeed to be able to support your baby
• Healthy snacks and herbal teas to regain strength and what's more promote lactation for those who want to breastfeed: you can prepare energy balls (recipes on my blog), or simply plan oilseeds and other dried fruits to nibble on as snacks (the products from @jollymamafrance are also great in this context!). You can also slip in a preparation of herbal tea promoting lactation and remineralizing, based on fennel seeds, hops, cumin and nettle (there are ready-made preparations in organic stores)
• For breastfeeding mothers: a few nursing bras, suitable outfits, nursing pads, as well as nipple creams, based on lanolin (Be careful to only use non-allergenic products for babies!) + pads to slip into the bra.
• Finally, also think about other accessories that will allow you to recreate a familiar and serene setting within the maternity ward (photos, personal objects, etc.) but also a camera to immortalize the first moments with baby, a phone charger, and a few books and magazines to keep you busy if necessary during baby's naps...
• Your toiletry bag with the essentials: think about a rich moisturizer too, the skin often dehydrates more quickly with fatigue.

A little later we will talk about the postpartum period and the famous “golden month”!

Love, C