Your First Pregnancy is Not a Trial Run
Back in 2015, my husband and I began to intentionally prepare for parenthood. At the time, as I was beginning to specialize in fertility and pregnancy work in my nutrition practice, I was already aware of the immense importance of preconception preparation to support a healthy pregnancy, smooth birth and a restorative postpartum period.
At the same time, I was aware that both my brother and I had been born via C-section and that my mom experienced an extremely under supported postpartum time.
I wasn't willing to allow that to be my story.
And deep down, I knew that I had the innate and intentional power to change this narrative for my lineage.
With passion fueled by a desire to change my trajectory, I knew I wanted to do everything in my power to achieve an optimal outcome-a healthy, enjoyable, physiologically normal conception, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and breastfeeding experience AND a healthy baby.
But the cultural expectation is that your whole experience of the motherhood transition is up to chance. Many women were surprised when I would tell them I was planning a homebirth saying things like,
“Wow you’re brave to have a homebirth for your first birth.”
Or
“I want to have my first birth in the hospital then maybe I’ll do a home birth if I find I can handle it without drugs.”
As women, we have been conditioned – through media, medical influence and even through hearing disheartening birth stories – to believe that our entire motherhood journey is left to fate.
Our culture has painted a bleak picture of pregnancy, insisting that:
Pregnancy is a miserable experience that justifies eating donuts on the couch for 9 months,
that labor is excruciating and necessitates anesthetics,
that postpartum depression is inevitable,
and "as long as the baby is healthy" that's all that matters.
However, a healthy baby should be the *bare minimum* expectation, and even that is not always guaranteed. Many second-time mothers seek to redeem their previous experience and avoid the same complications and trauma during their second pregnancy.
SO many of the women I work with are drawn to my work (and are drawn to out-of-hospital birth) because they experienced challenges and complications in their prior pregnancy and birth experiences that led them to saying
“I wish I prepared for pregnancy the first time”
Don’t be THAT person wishing you prepared for pregnancy the first time. You deserve to have a *perfect* pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience the FIRST TIME. And so does your baby.
While it's important to prioritize the health of your second child, it's equally important to remember that your first child deserves the same level of resilient health.
In this episode you’ll learn:
Why the cultural norms you hear about surrounding pregnancy, birth and motherhood do not have to be YOUR story
What you should expect of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum experiences.
How I achieved my dream pregnancies and births
What’s *actually* important to focus on when you’re preparing for your birth
How you can approach your preconception period so you can enter into motherhood nourished and confident
