A post for the Birth Partners...

As the birth partner, YOU CAN make a huge difference in the process of your partner's pregnancy, by dedicating yourself. Here are some ways I think birth partners can really help with their partner's pregnancy:

-Protect the pregnant mom: Don't allow negative comments from well-meaning friends, relatives, or co-workers to enter into her world when you are with her. Encourage her and keep the scary stories away from her. She has enough to worry about. Don't tell her those kind of stories yourself when you hear them.

-YOU be the one to help her shop for food: Help plan the meals and keep an eye on what she eats to make sure she is getting enough protein for your baby to grow healthily. This can help her stay focused and will assure her of your interest and dedication in the pregnancy. But also remember to give her a little space if she does decide to indulge in a cookie or two. Just don't let her eat an entire box on her own.

-Help remind her to do her daily pregnancy exercises, and see that she's doing them correctly, so that she can tone and condition the parts of her body that will give birth to this baby. Some good excercizes to do? Kegels, pelvic tilts, and squats. You can even exercise with her!

-Be extremely patient and understanding of your partner - as her pregnancy progresses, she has another person inside of her that is taking up quite a bit of space, displacing the internal organs, sapping her of energy, kicking madly, keeping her awake at night, making her urinate 20+ times a day, creating puffiness and swelling where once there was none, and causing her to have hormonal fluctuations that rival menopause. Remember that the sweet girl you fell in love with is still in there, and do anything you can to help her at this time. Appreciate the wonderful gift she is about to present to you.

-Remember to help your partner prepare for the type of birthing she wants to experience, especially if she is preparing for an unmedicated, natural birth. You can encourage her in this way by beginning to think and act in a more natural way this time. Eat well with her, no smoking around her, give her back massages, warm bath, and tender loving care if she has aches and pains instead of telling her to get a tylenol if she starts complaining about them.

-Please take some time to sit down with your partner at least once a week to talk about the pregnancy and how she is feeling about it. Share your own feelings. A lot of times we get caught up in life, work, the other kids, etc. Make sure that you take time to express your feelings about where you are at with the pregnancy and let each other know how you're feeling.