Labor Preparation

At some point during her pregnancy, almost every woman will be worried about what labor and delivery will be like. She may wonder if she will be able to cope with the demands or she may wonder if her husband will be able to cope. The truth is that the vast majority of women and their husbands cope just fine with labor and delivery.

Preparation for Labor and Delivery

Labor and childbirth are very demanding physically for a woman. The event is sometimes referred to as similar to running a marathon. Because of this, many women choose to exercise in preparation for the event. Walking, swimming and yoga can all help to prepare you physically for the birth.

Your body also prepares itself for contractions and delivery. During your pregnancy, you may notice your stomach tightening up periodically. This event is called a Braxton Hicks contraction. These contractions are actually practice contractions that prepare your uterine muscles for the labor and delivery process. When you have a Braxton Hicks contraction, you may not feel anything, but sometimes you may feel slightly uncomfortable.

My Experience

When I was pregnant for the first time, labor and delivery scared me to death - almost. I read a lot of books and watched some videos so I would know what to expect. That helped me out a lot.

With that pregnancy, I also learned that walking is a good way to prepare for labor and delivery. So, with each pregnancy, I have walked and walked and walked to try to stay in shape to be able to deal with the rigors of labor and delivery.

Unfortunately, during my current pregnancy, my doctor has ordered me to stay off of my feet a lot and take it easy. This has definitely affected my walking time. The good news is that with pregnancy, I have had plenty of Braxton Hicks contractions to compensate (I hope) for the lack of walking.

The Braxton Hicks contractions started at around 22 weeks. At that time, they were barely noticeable. Now, I am 32 weeks pregnant and the Braxton Hicks contractions are sometimes strong and pretty uncomfortable. When I have them now, I have to lay down, drink water and rest to try to get them to stop. Afterward, I am pretty sore from them.

Only time will tell how I cope with labor and delivery since I can't walk like I usually do when I am pregnant.