10 things to do when you start maternity leave - to help you prepare for birth
The weeks and days running up to your due date are more important than you might think. There are things that you can be doing to help prepare your mind and body for labour. Here, I share 10 things to do when you start your maternity leave.
Whilst, we can never predict when a baby will be born, you might want to think about doing some of the following things in the run up to your due date. Here’s why…
We know that there are certain hormones that we want lots of during labour, they help us to feel good, distort our perception of time and build our body’s natural stores of pain relief. All things that we want in the bucket load when it comes to giving birth. I teach all of the families that work with me how to increase these hormones during labour using hypnobirthing. However, they do take time to increase, it’s not as simple as “turning them on”.
Here’s the good news - You can start working on these wonderful birthing hormones before you go into labour.
The 10 things to do when you start maternity leave are all good things too #winning
1/ Go for nice walks
If you feel up to it, get outside and go for a nice walk. Fresh air, daylight and movement are all great for your birthing hormones.
2/ Listen to your hypnobirthing tracks more often
Now that you have more time on your hands, pop on those tracks throughout the day and build your confidence for birth. The tracks that I give out on my hypnobirthing courses are designed to help you feel calm, practising this skill of deep relaxation during pregnancy will help to prepare you for labour.
3/ If the nursery is ready, go in there and start thinking about bringing your baby home
Visualisation is a really great way to trick your mind into thinking you already have your baby with you, this will boost that feel-good hormone, perfect for labour.
4/ Eat lots of yummy food
If you enjoy cooking then this is an added extra as you will produce these wonderful hormones when you do something you love. Eating yummy food will provide you with lots of energy (just in case you go into labour any time soon) but the nice food will also help you to feel good. You could even book to go to your favourite restaurant.
5/ Watch your favourite film (the funnier the better)
We know that endorphins (the hormone that helps increase our own natural pain relief) are activated when we laugh. Make a list of your favourite comedies and watch them all.
6/ Go through your birth plan
Talk with your birth partner about your birth plan and really build that confidence for birth. Start thinking about the moment that you will meet your baby, this is a great way to boost them birthing hormones.
7/ Relax - Think baths, books, candles, comfy clothes and lots of rest
The more relaxed you are for labour, the better (find out why here). Do lots of lovely things for yourself to help you relax, perhaps run some nice baths, light a candle, read a book, whatever helps you to relax, carve some time out to do it. Never underestimate the power of rest either. Sleep and nap when you need to (if possible) this is so valuable for you, especially if you go into labour at any point soon. You won’t ever regret a nap.
8/ Plan some days out (including beyond your due date)
Plan to do some things with family and friends. You might want to stay local but having some nice plans in the diary will help distract you. I would even plan things beyond your due date to take the pressure off if you do go beyond 40 weeks.
9/ Sing, dance and listen to feel-good music
Get some tunes on, have a little dance and sing if you feel up to it. Music is so powerful at making us feel good and increasing our birthing hormones.
10/ Read some positive birth stories
Fill your mind with positivity and confidence and really start to feel excited about giving birth. There are 24 positive birth stories that you can read now - here.
Create a list of all the things that you love to do and treat this time as a chance to look after yourself and really prepare for the moment that you meet your baby.