Posted on January 12, 2026 by Aileen
Congratulations, you’re pregnant! Whether you’ve been longing and trying for a baby for a while or not, expecting a baby is transformative.
Just as your body is changing as it’s growing your baby, your mindset should also be changing. After all, you are going to become a different person. A person that will be more resilient. A person that will experience love on a whole new level. A person who will put her needs after her baby’s for years to come. A person who might not be interested in her career as much as before pregnancy.
I hope that you are taking the time during your pregnancy to slow down and connect with the little human you are growing inside. It’s the time the building of the bond begins. Your body needs looking after as it is working harder than ever before.
Anthropologist Herman Pontzert says that pregnancy pushes the mother’s body into some extreme metabolic level. At peak you are burning energy 2.5X the normal rate and pump 50% more blood than normal.Your immune system rewires itself. Your body pulls calcium from your bones and iron from your blood for example. Once your baby is born, your body will take about a year to rebuild bone density, restore iron and reset your metabolism.
I also hope you are considering attending a Childbirth Education Class whilst you’re pregnant as it is known to increase positive birth outcomes, increase vaginal birth rate and decrease C-section rate. Childbirth Education Classes teach you on choices, informed consent, pain management option, sets expectations, often prepare you for newborn care, postpartum care and breastfeeding.
After attending a few births as a birth doula it surprised me how little mindset was considered for giving birth. During my prenatal meetings I always spent a good amount of time diving into the parent’s mindset. Why? Because it will determine the success of your birth. If you don’t have a strong mindset you’ll be pushed into interventions, inductions and early epidurals. You’ll even cope with pain differently.
Every mom I worked with, had the same experience (regardless of providers) towards the end of their pregnancy.
Around 37 weeks they start the “induction talk”. Some providers will point blank won’t let you leave the office without scheduling an induction for 39 weeks. If you don’t have a strong mindset and trusting your body and your intuition, you’ll likely cave in and go along with what they suggest. Some people are totally fine with that and some are not. Some still have a good birth experience and some will not.
Of course I’m not saying that you are guaranteed to have a positive birthing experience with a strong mindset and intuition. After all, birth is mysterious and often even with the best intention things might not go as planned.
But think about this for a second. You are starting a new job. A job you’ve been wanting for a long time. You’re excited to work with this company. You have high hopes. You turn up the first day and someone shows you your desk and leaves you there. You are waiting for a manager to come, show you around, introduce you to your coworkers, set your expectations and talk about your immediate tasks. Instead, nothing. By lunchtime he finally finds you and expresses his dislike that you didn’t figure out things alone. He now bombards you with a long list of things and every hour he’ll swing by to check on you and put more pressure on you because you are still behind. You are panicking and questioning your choices.
Early in my career as a birth doula I attended a hospital birth with midwives. The client went in to be induced. She okayed starting the induction with pitocin (which I never recommend) and sure enough within a few hours she was having so much pain that she asked for an epidural. When I joined her she was comfortable enough from the epi. A few hours later we found out she was only 4cm! My heart sank. After 1.5 days of laboring, at 1am she got to 10cm and was ready to push, but she was exhausted. The midwife pushed a few not so ideal suggestions onto her, which she sadly agreed to. About 2 hours of pushing the baby wasn’t making much of a progress and they called in the OB to vacuum the baby out. With the OB came about another 10 staff. Without any consent this OB violated her in front of all the staff for about half an hour. The baby was still not nudging, so they called for an emergency C- section. I’ll never forget what I saw, nor will she. I cried in the car after I left the hospital. I cried for hours in my husband’s arms the next day. After all this time, writing about it is hard. It still chokes me up. I changed how I was preparing any clients for birth from that day on.
This my friend often happens in a normal hospital setting. If you don’t know what to expect, how to ask the right questions and get your point across you might be in for an unpleasant ride. I really don’t wish such experience on anyone. Because it will stay with you. How could it not?
You want a Holistic Childbirth Education Class where the value exceeds its cost, don’t you? Most Childbirth Education Classes discuss generic information on: How to know you’re in labor, How to time your contractions, Stages of labor, Interventions and Inductions, Natural Pain Management, Epidurals, C -Sections and maybe Postpartum Recovery. If you think about it, these classes are only talking about literal delivery.
You want a class where they go beyond giving birth. A class that also covers the 5 steps to creating a positive mindset for labor and beyond, Pelvic/core specific movements to prep you for labor, How to prepare for a smoother postpartum period (your needs, partner responsibilities, healing, mental health, visitor boundaries). Understanding the importance and differences of science-based nutrition for labor, breastfeeding and postpartum period.
Of course the basics of Breastfeeding (feed frequency, encouraging milk supply, expressing, etc.), Newborn care 101 (diaper changing, burping, soothing) and Identifying the 5 Cry Sounds and what they mean.
I’m glad you asked! I teach an in person, group class (max 6 couples) in my own, cozy home in Bushwick. The class is run monthly and we’ll even feed you a delicious, nutritious lunch on the day, plus you’ll walk away with super useful handouts, because we know that you can only retain so much. For more information, click here. I hope to see you there!
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