What did you do to get ready for labor and giving birth? I'm mostly curious about the mental part of preparing.
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I read InaMay's guide to childbirth and took a Lamaze-based natural birth class. I felt very prepared.
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I second Ina may gaskin's Guide to Childbirth!
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I read a million birth stories and watched videos on YouTube of natural births. I also read the Birth Partner. We didn't take any classes. I felt very prepared and had the med-free birth I wanted.
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I read a million birth stories. That was the biggest thing. Also took a one day class but didn't find it all that helpful. I also had complete faith in my midwife practice and hospital. I felt prepare enough and had the med free birth I wanted.
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10 more votes for reading birth stories and Ina May especially. My first birth was an induction that went really badly, and my daughter was born with an APGAR of 1. I knew that many babies needed resuscitation, so while I was worried, it was not the terrifying experience it might have been otherwise (she was fine). That really, really helped.
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I took a 12 week Bradley class. It was overkill but we did feel very prepared! We also really bonded with the other people on our class (since we spent so much time with them), so I had a pre-established mom group, which was awesome.
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I read the Bradley book out loud to DH. Got us through a three day labor!
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I took natural childbirth classes, read a ton of books (including Bradley and Ina May Gaskin) and birth stories, followed Birth Without Fear and other birth-positive pages on Facebook, and did a lot of prenatal yoga.
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I took a class through the hospital that I thought was helpful.
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Lots of birth stories and Ina May books here too. I also made sure I was really familiar with where I was giving birth. I feel much more comfortable when I know where to go and what to expect.
The biggest thing for me was the hypnobabies class. It has tracks to listen to, you listen to two each day and it's incredibly calming and centering. Between the tracks and the book I felt very comfortable about going into labor and it was an immense help during my delivery.
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I read a million birth stories and I took a one-day Bradley method class with DH. We also had a couple of prenatal meetings (at 30 and 35 weeks) with our doula, which was awesome because they were 1:1. (Well, technically 1:2, but you get the gist.)
I honestly didn't think too much about MY birth other than that. I knew I could spin myself out of control if I tried to picture it too much, so I didn't. DH used to say "I can't believe that baby's going to come OUT of you!" and I wouldn't even really respond.
Really, I tried to be educated but not over prepared. For me (I'm a huge worrier) that was the best balance. Good luck!
ETA: I also made a high-level birth plan and talk to my midwives about what I'd want to happen in the event of a c-section. Because of some medical history, I'd have to get put under for the surgery, so having everyone on the same page about my wishes for DH and baby if that happened really took the weight off for me, too.
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I was induced, so I just asked for as many induction stories on HB as possible. For me, I just need to know ALL scenarios, and as much details as possible and that way I feel prepared.
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