Better Birth Blog

Information & Inspiration for Pregnancy, Birth & Parenting

Brain Waves in Labor

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Natural birth (any birth!) is much easier when you can find your relaxation zone and brainwaves--with this handout! Relaxation for labor and birth, the whole mediation thing, makes so much more sense when you explain about brainwaves.This handout on relaxation for labor and birth explains the way our brains enter different states, optimal for different [...]

Uncontrollable Birth: A Checklist for Thinkers and Planners

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Having a baby is notoriously unpredictable. You don't know when he or she is coming. You don't know how long it will take. You don't know how you or the baby will respond to labor. You don't know when your water will break. You don't know how long you'll need to push. You don't even [...]

Fear-Tension-Pain Teaching Tool

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Inspired by the fear-tension-pain cycle, meditation, Brené Brown, and the concept of holding space, I plotted three aspects of labor experience. Everyone feels each cycle at some point in their labor. The goal, of course, is to spend as much time as possible in labor (and life!) feeling at peace. A high level of fear means more tension, which [...]

Stages of Labor Handout

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Can't do birth class or doula work without covering the stages of labor! Here's a handy stages of labor handout that details all the parts of stage one: dilation. The stages of labor were definitely defined and named by a man. Getting to 10 centimeters feels like three or four distinct phases. I have here so named [...]
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