You can never have enough support. And there’s a wealth of it out there.
Netmums, Facebook groups, NCT classes, friends, I could go on…

My most favourite support group in recent times is the Positive Birth Movement. A non-judgmental grassroots movement. The group aim is to enable free to access to support. An organisation aiming for all women to have a positive birth outcome, despite the mode of delivery.

I wished that every woman had support from a dedicated named midwife of their choice, and a loving doula support alongside.
A partner who feels educated and supported to be able to be there for you.

Often best intentions about “going with the flow” don’t bode well.
Education and knowledge is the best thing you can do to help yourself. Then you are making informed choices.

I highly recommend Doula support through your pregnancy, no matter whether you are having a home birth, hospital birth, even for a planned caesarean. Your Doula is an emotional care provider/a dedicated supporter through pregnancy, birth and the early post-natal days.

Working with mind-body therapies is a great way to release any fears and anxieties about pregnancy, birth or the early days.
EFT is a fantastic self help tool. Guided meditations and self hypnosis are great for clearing things that you didn’t even know were concerning you! Also to clear out other people’s fear stories. Remember they aren’t your stories.

Have a look at the pages on Doulas and birth partners for more information on creating your tailored support team.
Take a look on the Hypnotherapy, guided meditations and ebooks page. See what stands out for you.

Using a self hypnosis and EFT program to help you keep calm, emotionally and physically, through the journey will no doubt have an effect on how you feel about the time spent trying to create your family, and hopefully a significant effect on the outcome.

One of the most basic things that you can do to help yourself is to remember how to breathe properly.

Breathing properly and deeply, all the way down to the diaphragm is an important part of diluting the stress hormones. Despite all the stressors we have going on in life, it can’t be helped by the fact that so many people only breath into the top section of their lungs.

Stress is a chronic state of being for most people in most western walks of life nowadays. We live in an odd society full of demands, endless expectations, non-stop never switching off ever, bad news ridden, drama all around us kind of world… if you spend any time watching tv, reading mainstream internet or magazines/papers.

It’s hard to avoid.

Working hours don’t switch off when you leave the office for lots of people.

People are often frowned upon by businesses if you are not on call to respond to messages at all kinds of hours.

Those that don’t work, don’t necessarily have any easy time either.

We have to remember that stress is all relative, and we can carry stress for others.

That’s all hard enough as it is, but then add in the emotions felt when conceiving isn’t going as easily as hoped.

Life has lots of stress triggers, some we can try to avoid, others not so easy to. But how we react to the stress is something we can influence.

And a huge bug bear of mine right now is the “Keep calm and carry on” attitude. Not all situations call for that attitude. So what can you do to park that stress response at such an intense time?
Take up a new gentle hobby (or rekindle an old one); so maybe art, woodland walking, yoga, join a choir, find some easy reading fiction to get lost in (forget the thrillers, ok?!) the list goes on. It doesn’t need to be costly or too time consuming.

Form some new habits. Earlier nights, rise 10 minutes earlier to sit and meditate before starting your day, take up a particular mindful breathing exercise, listen to regular guided meditations, take up EFT (Tapping) as a new self-help tool… the options also go on!

If you have a partner, don’t forget to keep connected with them. A date night doesn’t have to be a costly meal. Don’t forget to hug (great for releasing Oxytocin, which is amazing at reducing adrenaline and stress hormones). Stroke animals (if you like them). Do a good deed and random acts of kindness… they make us feel great.

Or simply do nothing different, but be happy with that. Above all, please be kind to yourself.

Pregnancy yoga is a lovely way to connect with other women, preparing their bodies, and gently nurturing their souls.

Try Baby Alchemy’s online Birth Preparation for size… release the stress whilst not adding to the stress of another place to get to!