Preparing for Labor

As I entered the 31 weeks of pregnancy, I started to gain information as much as I could about what will happen in labor and what I should prepare for it. Unfortunately, the hospital in Copenhagen don't have the antenatal classes for first time mother, like we have back there in Jakarta. They only hold a class where the midwife tells you about what will happen in the labor and things you should be aware of beforehand. My general practitioner assigned me to deliver the baby in Hvidovre Hospital but when I asked the midwife and doctors in the hospital, they said that the hospital only has the birth classes in Danish.

Then a friend told me that she was going to attend an English birth class preparation, which was held by her assigned hospital. So we decided to join the class with her and her husband. The midwife basically explained about what are the stages in normal delivery, what is the symptoms, what we should do in every stages and what complications need a caesar section or induction.

As we all know, the procedure of labor in Denmark is quite different than in Indonesia. In our hometown, when the water broke or the contraction is starting to occur, pregnant mother is sent directly to the hospital and stay overnight until the labor is finished. While in here, they tend to avoid keeping the mother too long in the birth unit. Hence, if everything is normal, they wouldn't ask you to stay at the hospital before the dilation is about 4 cm. They might even ask you to come to the hospital so they could check the baby's position and heartbeat and they check the amniotic fluid and the dilation, but then you would be sent home again and you are asked to come again the next morning. It sounds scary, right? But according to the midwife, because the mother would feel more relax if she stays at home than in the hospital.

The midwife also informs that if the amniotic fluid turns yellow or green, it is completely normal so we don't have to be stressed out and it doesn't mean a C-section is necessary to run as soon as possible, which is quite contrary with the situation I heard in hospital in Indonesia. However, if the amniotic fluid already changes color, they will definitely monitor the baby's condition regularly and we should stay at hospital by then.

The hospital facilitates many ways of delivery also, where we could ask for any of them when the first stage is started. You could have water birth, standing birth and normal birth. Perhaps you may already know about the water birth and normal birth, but standing birth is something new for me. I have read that standing position helps the baby to come out easier because there are no pressure to the perineum and the birth canal is wider than if you are in a sitting position.

Personally, I am interested in having a water birth, as it is more natural and known to be less painful. The warm water relax the body and also helps you to move around and also creates a less dramatical changes to the baby, which in consequence makes the baby more calm and serene. However, we still need to gain more information regarding the water birth in the hospital and the water birth is only possible when there is nothing wrong with the baby and myself during the first stages of labor.

Hopefully, everything is going smoothly so I could have the water birth or at least a normal delivery. Few more weeks to go, there are mixed feelings of excitement and nervous, I just couldn't wait to welcome our baby boy to the world. Pregnancy is surely an amazing journey for me and I'm pretty sure the labor experience would also be remarkable. Will definitely keep you updated with the progress :)

Cheers,
Indispensable Lady