Birth Affirmations: How to Use Them

Birth can be a scary thought when you’re a first time mom. You’ve seen all the movies, you know it’s going to be painful and you’re not sure how you’re going to know what to do. Luckily, a woman’s body is an incredible machine and instinctively knows exactly what to do. However, your mind and its anxieties can often disrupt that natural process. This is where birth affirmations come in.

What Are They?

What are birth affirmations? Simply put, they are mantras that help center your mind and move it out of the way of your body and what it was made to do. Examples of similar exercises would be meditation, yoga or mentally preparing for a marathon. These birth affirmations can work wonders in helping speed up the process of birth, and can sometimes be used to take your mind off of the pain.

So how do birth affirmations work? You will create a set of affirmations that speak to you personally. It can be as simple as writing them on a piece of paper, or as some prefer, using them as artwork around your hospital/birthing room. Then, while in labor you can choose to recite these to yourself, or have your partner or doula read them to you through contractions. When done correctly, birth affirmations can be a very powerful tool.

Examples of Birth Affirmations

Here are some of our favorite birth affirmations to inspire the creation of your own!

• You can do anything for a minute.

• My body knows how to have this baby, just as my body knew how to grow this baby.

• This will not last forever.

• The pain that I’m feeling cannot compare to the joy that’s coming.

• I am prepared for whatever birth my body and my baby need.

• My contractions can never be stronger than me; they are me.

• I can do hard things.

• The knowledge of how to birth is deep within me.

• My job is to simply relax and allow the birth to happen.

Remember, the most important thing is to focus and do what is best for you!  This is your birth and you can handle it how you choose. Do some further research and decide if birth affirmations are for you. No matter what, you’ve got this.