How I Prepared for an Intervention- Free Hospital Birth

photography by Katie Kohlbecker

Long before I was ever pregnant, I was fascinated by the idea of one day having an intervention-free, unmedicated delivery. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the capacity and capability of a woman’s body.

Once I got pregnant, my husband and I had a lot of conversations about what we envisioned labor looking like and what our hopes and goals were. As much as I wanted an unmedicated, intervention-free birth, it was far second to wanting a healthy delivery for both myself and our baby. With that in mind, we decided we would be most comfortable with me laboring at home for as long as possible, before going to the local hospital to deliver.

Let’s start at the beginning…

When I first found out I was pregnant, I got a referral from my primary care provider to an AMAZING obstetrician that advocates for physiologic, intervention-free births as much as medically safe. The whole office truly supported me and encouraged me throughout my entire pregnancy and gave me great recommendations to support and prepare my body.

But beyond that, I really struggled finding anything online that had a similar point of view that I did. I felt like so much of the content around intervention-free births is along the lines of- “if you have a hospital birth, you will have complications and interventions” and seemed to be “anti- medical providers”.

But I was hoping for more information on the middle ground- women that trusted in the capability of their body, but also trusted and respected the skillset of medical providers. I do not believe that it has to be one or the other.

My hope for this blog post…

My hope is only to offer inspiration and encouragement to the woman that envisions an intervention-free hospital birth, similarly to what I hoped for.

That is why I wanted to create this list of things that I believe truly helped me to go into birth feeling empowered and knowledgeable about what decisions were best for me and my baby. As well as the things that I believe helped my body physiologically.

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How I Prepared for a Natural Delivery as a First Time Mom

1. Walk

   I tried to walk at least a mile 4-5 times per week. Sitting and laying down was pretty uncomfortable for my hips, so walking actually gave me a lot of relief.

   Not only is walking great for your physical health, but psychological and emotional as well. It also helps to balance your blood sugar, and is a great way to soak up that vitamin D from the sun!

2. Birth ball

   If I was sitting down, 90% of the time it was on a birth ball (basically a large yoga ball). I would do a gentle bounce or rock my hips back and forth and it relieved a lot of the tension in my hips, especially later on in my pregnancy.

   Most of my early and active labor was spent doing those same moves through contractions.

3. Dates and red raspberry leaf tea

   These are two recommendations my OB gave me when I entered my third trimester.

   Red raspberry leaf tea is believed to be a uterine tonic, making your contractions in labor stronger and more effective. There isn’t a ton of research on this, but I still tried to drink a cup or two a day as I got closer to delivery. I love tea and drink it regularly anyway, so this wasn’t a big deal for me. If nothing more, it is packed with antioxidants and minerals that your body needs more of during pregnancy.

   Dates on the other hand are really well researched and show to shorten the length of early and active labor, and women who have eaten dates regularly tend to need oxytocin administered less often. Here and here are some articles about their benefits and efficacy.

   I didn't love eating dates, so I wasn’t religious about it, but I did have a couple 3-4 times per week. Dates are very sweet, so I would eat them with almond butter or a slice of cheese to help balance the sweetness a little bit. With them being so high in sugar, they are not recommended for people with diabetes. As always, chat with your own medical provider about what is best for YOU and YOUR pregnancy.

4. Mindfulness

   About halfway through my pregnancy I started noticing anxiety around labor start to creep up. I began to doubt that I would be able to handle the discomfort, and I was nervous of being disappointed if the outcome of my delivery wasn't what I was hoping for.

   I gave myself equal parts grace and tough love- grace to feel nervous about something so unknown, and tough love to not continue to dwell in those negative thoughts.

   I found sayings, bible verses, and mantras that I found comfort in and I would repeat in my head when these feelings arose. By the time I was in labor and felt myself getting stressed or nervous, I had repeated those lines in my head so often that it was a natural response.

5. Chiropractor and massage

   I mentioned before, but during pregnancy my only real complaint was hip pain. It turns out that my hips are a little uneven, and pregnancy just exacerbated it. Seeing a chiropractor a couple times a month really helped me with this!

   There was also an in-house masseuse at the office that specialized in prenatal massage. I went about once a month and loved it. I really tried to be aware of how much my body was doing during pregnancy, and treat it accordingly. Getting regular massages is definitely something I consider a luxury and not something I usually do, but I really think prioritizing my body and making sure it felt good helped me to enjoy my pregnancy so much.

6. Breath work

   Back in 2017 I went to India for a month and studied yoga, meditation, and breath work. One of the tools I learned that has most stuck with me since that trip was breath work.

   The basis of breath work is intentionally controlling the breath, which then becomes an anchor point for meditation and mindfulness.

   Breathing techniques are an incredible tool for labor and can help with stress relief, pain management, increased oxygenation for both mom and baby, and create a point of focus during contractions. (I found this article really helpful on different techniques and their benefits during labor.)

   One in particular that I used regularly both before pregnancy, and during active labor, was ‘box breathing’. It is when you inhale over the course of 4 seconds, hold it for 4 seconds, exhale that breath over the course of 4 seconds, and then hold it for 4 seconds before inhaling and repeating the ‘box’.

7. Birth class

   I was pregnant during the pandemic so we were not able to do a birth class in person. Instead, my husband and I found an online course that we could watch on our own time. While I was pretty comfortable with the process and physiology of birth from nursing school and clinicals, it was really helpful for my husband and I to be on the same page.

   Since we were not allowed any additional visitors or birth support, the course helped facilitate a lot of conversations about how he would best support me and what my hopes were for labor.

8. Nourishment

   I think this was truly one of the BEST things I did for my physical and mental health during pregnancy.

   I focused on eating high-quality, nutrient-dense foods as much as possible throughout my pregnancy. I knew that this would help strengthen my body for labor, but also set up my baby with the nutrients and minerals needed to grow and develop.

   I tried eating a lot of high-quality animal proteins, bone broth, seasonal fruits and veggies, organ meats, and mineral rich teas.

   The only problem was my first trimester was spent so tired and nauseated. And I didn’t have a huge appetite for much of anything, so getting any sort of nutrients into my diet was tricky so it was important that I found something to supplement. I ended up finding two different high-quality prenatal supplements that I loved.

   Between my two pregnancies, I have tried several different prenatal supplements. And there are so many great ones beyond what I have listed here. I would just make sure to look for something with optimal nutrient levels in usable forms.

   • Raw Prenatal

   • Needed - I love that this brand is formulated with optimal nutrient levels, rather than just the minimum recommendation.

   • Healthy Baby

   • Mary Ruth

9. Birth videos and stories

   I was obsessed with birth stories and videos while I was pregnant. Nearly every night I would lay in bed and watch them on youtube, or listen to a podcast, or read a birth story blog post (it’s on my to do list to write out my own birth story here).

   The key point here, is to make sure you are watching a positive birth story.

   I was really adamant about protecting my mental health and peace going into labor. This sometimes meant asking people to wait to share their traumatic, or scary birth stories until after I delivered. I would instead ask them what their favorite part of labor and delivery was, or what it was like getting to meet their baby.

   It is human nature for people to try and dramatize stories, but sometimes they don’t realize the fear and anxiousness that can trigger in others.

So, did all this work?

At the end of March 2022, five days before my due date, I went into labor after going on a walk with my husband. I slept through the majority of early labor and woke up at 5 am with consistent contractions. By the time we made it to the hospital around noon, I was 7 cm dilated.

Two hours later, our sweet baby was born. (We waited until birth to find out the gender and finding out we had a daughter was the sweetest surprise)

My labor was a dream come true. The only intervention I received was an IV infusion of Pitocin after I delivered to help stop some postpartum bleeding.

I had wonderful nurses during my time at the hospital and I felt confident in the care we received. The only thing that did not go according to plan was that the OB I had seen throughout my pregnancy was not able to deliver my daughter. Instead, the hospital’s on-call doctor delivered her.

I think my biggest take away from my pregnancy and labor, was that for the first time in my life, I was more impressed with what my body could do, instead of just how it looked. It showed me the incredible way our bodies were created, and how they were designed with such intention and attention to detail.

One day I will follow this post up with my full birth story, but until then i’d love to hear from you-

What do you think helped your labor and delivery? What was your favorite part of having your baby? Or if you are not a parent yet, what is your dream birth?

-Kaelyn

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