Believe in yourself, believe in birth.

I read a message by someone else this morning on believing in yourself. She wrote that as children we believe with absolute ease and certainty, but then over time our belief is drowned out by voices of fear.These voices of fear then replace loving belief with the louder voice of doubt.

So over breakfast I spoke to my 5 year old about it, I wanted to hear his response, which was more profound than I had expected.He finds is difficult to communicate sometimes but clear as a bell he said “ I believe in myself, and I believe in you”.That small affirmation sent a warm glow through my body, a little burst of endorphins. Does he really know what he believes in?Does it matter? He takes each moment as it comes and lives, mostly happily, to the next without fear, or doubt of something which may never happen, clouding his happiness and self-belief.

As women birthing we lose our belief in what we are capable of, often doubting the birth, and doubting in the amazing ability of our body to deliver our babies to us.We often teach trust in nature’s way, but what about trusting in our way? Your body knows how to birth your baby better than anyone else. Yes nature is amazing, yes we should trust nature and believe in its power to shape and create life, but we should also believe in ourselves. We should recognize and trust our own role in nature and our contribution to life in this beautiful world that we share with other animals and plants, all recreating as we do.

The television documentaries we watch, the books we read, the stories we are told, those voices of doubt, all take us one step further away from that belief and understanding, they are the dissenting voices in nature and in our belief about birth.

Once we lose our self-belief, our focus shifts from what we are capable of, to what we are not capable of.Couples very often focus on what may go wrong, instead of what will go right. When this happens, we begin to live in fear and our actions become fear based.

For just one day turn off those dissenting voices.How would it feel for a day if you just focused on what can go right, let thoughts come into your mind about how amazing your body is in creating new life, how each kick is a part of a playful game between you and your baby, how each time you listen to your baby’s heartbeat it’s an affirmation of your amazing ability to grow life within you.

Focus on how capable you are, how strong you are, how you are designed to give birth.Read some positive stories and articles about birth (have a look at our Facebook page) there are lots of them out there.

Then over the next few weeks see how sowing a seed of self-belief may start you off on a different path and create a more gentle, kind, loving and compassionate journey towards birth for you and your baby