It's funny that we spend so much time talking about the surges.

As if that is all that will be happening.

We never mention the pauses. The rest and be thankful pauses that make up the vast majority of your time in labour.

The moments to connect with your birth partner, to eat, to sleep, to doze.

The surges themselves can easily be defined into two stages.

The upstage where the longitudinal muscles lift to open the cervix and the downstage, when the space has been made for baby to drop down into your birth canal and be born.

Using breathing and visualisation techniques allow you to remain calm, objective and in your birthing, mammal brain. They allow you to release tension and trust your body and your natural instinct to birth. They are very much worth learning.

If you can get to a hypnobirthing class fantastic. It is a beautiful and effective method to use to remain calm and in control of your birth experience. Better Birth Stories teaches group classes in SW11, London (with free parking if you wish to drive from further afield 👍 ). If a class is too expensive or you just do not have the time available then do take a look at our YouTube videos on which we talk through the up and down breath in detail. Every little bit helps.

Birth is pretty straightforward for the majority of mums to be. Breathe, rest, repeat until your little baby is in your arms.