I have been a health and bodywork practitioner and a birth coach for over 20 years and this combination of skills has meant that I have been privileged to help many women through their pregnancy and attended quite a few births.
The most joyful thing about this is that I have been privileged enough to have acted as my daughters birth coach and have seen all of my grandchildren born into this world.
Women often do not know how to prepare themselves to give birth these days, it seems that we have lost some skills in this modern age.
I have found that the thought of giving birth seems to create more fear now than in the past, so having someone around who knows what they're doing and can keep everyone calm is becoming a real trend.
Once upon a time, women gave birth surrounded by other women who had large families and attended by the local midwife, in those days birth seemed a much more natural act and did not make young women as nervous as it does today.
One of my favourite pieces of advice to my pregnant clients is to listen to their body, and the closer you get to giving birth the closer you need to listen.
Ignore all other advice and do not allow yourself to be 'shoulded' on by even the most well-meaning relative or friend.
What you should be doing is listening to your body and to your emotions and letting them guide you as to what you need to be doing.
There are some tips that can be given to anyone who is preparing to give birth, and no matter how close you are right now, one or more of the guidelines in this article will help you to be better prepared in body, mind and emotions.
Preparing Your Body 1.
One of the most important things I start my clients with is to learn to squat from as early in the pregnancy as possible.
This is an old fashioned flat footed squat:

• stand with your feet a little more than hip distance apart and hold onto something to give you stability.
  
• keeping your back as straight as possible slowly squat down only as far as you are able while keeping your feet flat on the floor.
  
• do this everyday for a couple of minutes a day until you are able to squat comfortably in what has come to be known as Annie's 'frog pose.
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This prepares the pelvis and sacrum by stretching and toning those muscles that come into play and helps the bones to learn to open wide enough for the babies head to come through.
I gave birth to one of my children while squatting as have many women in the past and who still do in native villages all over the world.
This is very natural and if you are standing during any of your contractions, one of the most natural things to do is to allow the contraction to pull you into a squat.
It seems to help with the pain and to help speed things up and it helps mentally and emotionally as well as you become engaged in the birth process in an active way.
2.
For back pain towards the end of your pregnancy I recommend doing the yoga pose known as "The Cat" where you are on all fours (knees and hands) and you allow your belly to dip down toward the floor and then arch it back up, while squeezing the buttocks, like a cat who is afraid.
Do this slowly over and over again for 5 to 10 minutes and watch your back pain disappear (at least for a while).
I also use this yoga exercise when the baby won't turn, and many times the baby has turned even before the doctor can do anything about it.
It can also take some manipulation with some body work, but even on its own doing this can help to turn a baby who is breech.
3.
Keep doing your pelvic floor exercises right through the pregnancy as this will not only prevent the pelvic floor muscles from weakening and causing incontinence later, it tones the muscles of the vagina and cervix ready for the birth.
The is another free article on pelvic floor exercises on the website.
Another great exercise for this is the perineal clench, lie comfortably on your back and cross your ankles.
Press the small of your back into the floor and exhale as you squeeze your thighs together and clench the buttocks and pull upward on the pelvic muscles.
Hold for a count of 5 and then relax and repeat.
Preparing Your Emotions and Mind As the birth itself gets closer, many of my clients have found themselves so focussed on the labour experience that they forget about the end result, the baby.
This focus can lead to feelings of anxiety and fear and these feelings can lead to a lengthy and more painful birth process.
Anxiety creates tension in the body and that tension can mean that your body feels tight, stressed and cannot do the work that it is meant to do.
In my experience it is fear that is one of the leading causes of delayed labour, long labour and overly painful labour.
So I teach my pregnant clients to have a conscious dream, similar to goal setting, where you consciously paint a picture of what it will be like after you have given birth and are holding your precious little bundle in your arms.
On a regular basis (daily if possible) the expectant mother is to spend a few minutes visualising this beautiful picture and putting as many real emotions into it as possible.
During the birth I also encourage the labouring mother-to-be to go through her visualisation procedure at least once and maybe more if I think she is getting too lost and focussed on her pain.
Do not doubt the efficacy of this practice it has created world class athletes, successful entrepreneurs and helped many women through their labouring.
If you follow these recommendations, perhaps add to them by finding someone like me who holds birth preparation classes, including guided visualisations or join a pregnancy yoga class or both, you will give yourself even more of an edge when it comes to being prepared to give birth to your baby.