pregnancy

Pregnancy is one of the most intimate and transformative journeys a woman can take. Yet, too often, women feel sidelined during their birth experiences—unprepared, unheard, or overwhelmed by decisions made around them. With intentional preparation and the right resources, women can reclaim ownership of their birth journey and shape it into something deeply aligned with their values and goals and reduce the chances of being caught off-guard or having an unfulfilling birth experience.

Whether you envision a quiet home birth or a hospital birth with low intervention, the steps below can help you stay informed, confident, and connected to what matters most to you.

1. Define Your Birth Vision: Know What Matters Most

Before diving into logistics, take time to reflect on what kind of birth experience you hope for:

• Do you want a natural, unmedicated labor? A water birth? A flexible approach?
  
• Is emotional support, low intervention, or a sense of spiritual grounding important?
  
• How do you want to feel—empowered, respected, calm, connected?
  
• What kind of support do you want and who would you like providing that support?
• Consider watching the film The Business of Being Born, often considered a prerequisite to natural birth.

Start with your why. This clarity will guide your decisions and shape your experience.

2. Build Your Support Team Intentionally

Support can change everything. Whether it’s a birth partner, doula, midwife, or holistic practitioner, having people around you who respect and uplift your choices is essential. Partners need support too! Take a childbirth class that offers partner support techniques to help you and your partner connect during labor.

In fact, continuous support from a trained doula has been shown to:

• Reduce cesarean risk by 39%
  
• Shorten labor
  
• Increase satisfaction with the birth experience (Cochrane Review, 2017)
  

3. Take a Comprehensive Birth Course

Knowledge is power—and peace of mind. You can’t be prepared if you don’t know what to prepare for! A high-quality birth class goes far beyond breathing techniques. It teaches you what to expect during labor, how to navigate medical interventions, and how to advocate for yourself confidently.

Our Comprehensive Natural Birth Coursewas created over 17 years ago by Courtney, who is a certified birth doula.

This course covers:

• The physiology of natural birth
  
• How to prepare your body and mind for labor
  
• Pain-coping techniques rooted in natural health
  
• Informed decision-making for birth interventions
  

When women take the time to learn and prepare, outcomes reflect it. A 2020 study published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth found that women who took childbirth education classes were:

• 25% more likely to feel in control during birth
• Significantly more likely to achieve vaginal birth
• Less likely to feel fear or confusion during labor

4. Consider Homeopathy and Holistic Tools for Birth

Holistic tools like homeopathy can provide gentle, natural support through labor, postpartum recovery, and emotional wellness.

For mothers interested in learning how to safely use homeopathy, the
HomeoMama Virtual Class is a wonderful resource. It walks you through:

• The top homeopathic remedies for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum
  
• How to dose properly and build your own homeopathic birth kit
  
• Empowering yourself with holistic tools for common pregnancy discomforts
  

5. Use a Birth Plan to Communicate Clearly

Especially if you are planning to birth in the hospital, a birth plan is essential. Think of a birth plan as your communication tool—not a script or demand. It can outline:

• Your pain management preferences
  
• Interventions you’d like to avoid unless medically necessary
  
• Immediate postpartum requests (like skin-to-skin, delayed cord clamping)
  
• Your preferences in case of emergency or C-section
  

A well-communicated birth plan creates alignment between you and your team, especially during intense moments when decisions happen quickly. Most childbirth ed classes offer support for drafting a birth plan.

6. Be An Informed Consumer

Our favorite resource for being legally empowered during birth is Mother Informed,
a resource that helps women become legally empowered throughout their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. It’s filled with support, insight, and community-rooted empowerment. Listen to our recent podcast with founder, Brooke Hartman.

Why It All Matters: Prepared Births Lead to Better Outcomes

Women who prepare for birth—physically, emotionally, and educationally—report far more positive experiences. According to the 2021 Birth Satisfaction Survey from Childbirth Connection:

• 89% of prepared women described their birth as positive or very positive
  
• Only 46% of unprepared women reported the same
  
• Prepared women were 40% less likely to experience postpartum depression symptoms
  

Preparation doesn’t guarantee a perfect birth—but it deeply increases your odds of feeling empowered, respected, and satisfied with your experience—no matter how your story unfolds.

Empower Your Birth Journey: Trusted Resources

• Get ready for birth and post partum with our Comprehensive Natural Birth Course (Real Vitality) that offers a full-spectrum of support for new moms and their birth partners
  
• Get the homeopathic tools to handle the most common pregnancy, birth and post partum symptoms with our HomeoMama Virtual Class
  
• Be an informed consumer and take the Mother Informed course
  
• What common newborn procedures should you be aware of? Get an evidence-based prospective of 4 Common Newborn Procedures with our Newborn Procedures Download
  
• Have questions? Register for a birth consult with Courtney
  
• For a one-page summary of these tips, get our free Empowered Birth download
• Listen to our interview with Brooke Harman, founder of Mother Informed