During pregnancy, we spent months imagining what our baby will be like, stroking our belly that grows every day and waiting for the great moment of childbirth, in which we can finally have it in our arms.
But what if it isn't? Although it is always an illusion to meet the baby, many pregnant women fear the moment of birth. We talk to you about fear of childbirth: when instead of being excited, you feel terrified.
Childbirth: an unknown experience
For many women, childbirth is something exciting and they look forward to it, but for others it is something that causes them a lot of fear. And it is that if we see it as it is, and with everything that involves giving birth, of course it can be something that causes us many feelings, including nerves, fear and doubts.
In Babies and more Five fears you will have about childbirthThis happens mainly in the case of first-time mothers, being the first time they will live a totally unknown experience, which will result in the birth of your baby, and in a great transformation of your body and your life.
On the other hand, there is the case of who already had a first birth, but it was a very negative or traumatic experience, which left them with a bad taste in the mouth and zero desire to go through the same situation again.
Also, there are very extreme cases (although rare) where fear becomes phobia, and there we would be talking about tocophobia, an irrational fear of pregnancy and childbirth. In this situation, it is advisable to seek professional help with a psychologist to guide us to overcome it.
Why are we afraid of childbirth?
As I mentioned, the main reason why women are afraid of childbirth is because it is an unknown experience, but above all, for being unpredictable and not knowing what exactly will happen during it.
Within the "fear of childbirth", there are several usual fears that may go through the mother's mind: How long will it last? Will it hurt me a lot? Will my baby be ok? I will be able to do it? What if something goes wrong? How will i feel later? Will I be able to take care of you while I recover?
In the case of those who will be mothers for the second or third time (or whatever), The main fear that usually occurs is related to your birth or previous birthsWell, if you had a bad experience, you are afraid to go through the same thing, or if it was regular, there is a fear that it is worse than the previous one.
In both cases, There is a common factor: the fear of the unknown. The truth is that although the birth is unpredictable and there is no infallible way of being totally sure that everything will go as expected, we should not allow our imagination to go on the negative side.
Why shouldn't we give birth with fear
While it is "normal" to feel some fear about the moment when our baby will finally be born, giving birth with fear is not recommended, as this emotion is usually something that does not stop, paralyzes us. And that It is not something that can help during childbirth, If not the opposite.
The problem with feeling fear is that our body tenses, making our muscles stiff and hindering the birth of our baby, making even more painful and less easy delivery than it could be if we felt relaxed.
How to overcome the fear of childbirth
One of the best weapons against fear is information. Attend childbirth preparation classes or Check all the questions you have with your gynecologist, it will help you to get a clear idea of what you can expect during childbirth and also, they can give you some tips to make you feel calmer.
In addition to informing you to reach your delivery with a realistic mentality and open expectations, something that also helps a lot to control or reduce the fear of childbirth, is learn relaxation techniques that you can use during this.
For example, something that helps a lot to calm the nerves during childbirth is feel accompanied, either from your partner or from someone you trust who you have chosen to be by your side.
Learn certain relaxation techniques, such as controlling breathing to help us better manage the pain of contractions, practice muscle relaxation techniques and listen to relaxing music, too they will be useful to feel less fear and nerves during childbirth. In the case of fear of pain, fortunately today there are several ways to help control it, such as epidural anesthesia.
Remember: not all births are the same
In addition to being a natural feeling when facing something unknown that will change our lives, it often happens that the fear of childbirth increases after hearing "horror stories" of births in which something did not go as expected or turned out to be traumatic experiences.
In Babies and more When a bad birth cancels your desire to have more childrenHowever, we must remember that Just as every pregnancy is unique, so is every birth. Just as there are women who had painful or traumatic births, there are also others who had wonderful births. The fact that someone else or yourself has had a bad birth does not mean that the same will happen on this occasion.
In my personal experience, feeling afraid of childbirth is normal (unless it becomes a phobia or something that alters us too much), but we must remember that, in addition to millions of women have done it, in the end it will give us the best gift: our baby.
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