QUESTION

Dear Doula,
I just found out last week that I am pregnant with my second child. Currently my daughter is just 1 month shy of being two years old.

My question is this...during my first pregnancy I became INSANELY jealous of every woman I saw my husband talking to. It didn't matter if we had worked with her for 5+ years, I couldn't help my feeling of rage and jealousy while I was pregnant. I was never that jealous before I was pregnant. After my daughter was born, my feelings subsided, and everything was back to normal again.

We, as women need to be very proactive in order to have the kind of gentle and serene birth that we dream of, taking responsibility for educating ourselves about choices, and informed consent while in labor. There is much to know about how to get what you want.

I make it very clear to my students that it is *wonderful* to have a doula as an advocate for you in the hospital, and to be a nurturing presence who knows so many ways to help labor progress if needed, etc., that they *must* be completely familiar with the philosophy, techniques, cue words, etc of your birth hypnosis program.

As pregnant women, we get so many negative messages about childbirth, and they take their toll, making us stay in a state of fear, producing adrenaline and other stress hormones, which cause constriction of the birthing muscles.

Hypnosis is very simply: Focused concentration. It is a natural state of mind in which the body and mind are very relaxed and yet the mind is also highly aware and focused. The pregnant woman can choose to enter, stay in, or come out of hypnosis at will.

We had our baby on September 8th. Events are as follows, pay attention because it went kinda fast. I wake up feeling pressure waves. Go to the bathroom and lay in bed for 20-30 minutes more to make sure they are not just feelings of having a big belly.

We had our baby last Sunday, Sept. 14 on my birthday! It's another boy. That makes three boys for us. Our hypnosis worked beautifully for us. I had headphones on listening to my Birth Guide CD while John rushed around trying to fill the birth pool.

Much to my surprise, my waters broke at 6:00 am, approximately 12 days before my son's "official" expected date of arrival. There was water, but not much else in the way of birthing waves for most of that day.