The Birth Laine x OVRY: The Mental & Practical Birth Preparation That Makes a Difference

PregnancyBirthCollabsChildbirth Education

Mar 16

This post is a companion article to a blog I wrote for OVRY on preparing for birth before labour begins.

If you’re pregnant, chances are you’ve already started thinking about labour and birth.

Maybe you’ve packed (or started packing) your hospital bag.
Maybe the car seat is installed (or unboxed…baby steps!).
Maybe you’ve been attending a prenatal yoga class, or researching labour positions.

All of those things can absolutely be helpful.

But as a Birth Doula and Childbirth Educator, I often remind my clients that the most meaningful birth preparation often happens long before labour actually begins.

Recently, I had the opportunity to collaborate with the team at OVRY on a blog post about preparing for birth before labour starts. If you’d like to read the full article, you can find it here:

👉 How to Prepare for Birth Before Labour Starts: What a Doula wants you to know (OVRY)

In that post, I talk about the importance of understanding how labour works and preparing both mentally and physically for the experience ahead. Here on my blog, I wanted to expand on a few additional ideas that I often share with my doula clients as they get closer to their due dates.

Birth Preparation Is About Knowing your Body

Much like learning to understand your menstrual cycle or fertility signals, preparing for birth is really about learning how your body works.

Labour is a powerful physiological process driven by hormones, muscle contractions, and your nervous system working together. Understanding what’s happening in your body during labour can help replace fear with familiarity.

For many first-time parents, simply learning about:

the phases of labour
what contractions actually feel like
how labour hormones work
and what the “normal” progression of labour can look like

can make a huge difference in how they experience birth.

Research and experience both show that feeling informed and supported can reduce fear and increase confidence heading into labour.

Confidence and feeling informed matters.

When you understand what your body is doing, you’re often better able to work with the process instead of feeling like it’s happening to you.

Mental Preparation Often Matters More Than Physical Preparation

Most birth prep conversations tend to focus on the physical:

pelvic floor exercises
stretching
perineal massage
optimal fetal positioning
labour positions

These are all really valuable tools. However, the piece that many folks overlook is the mental preparation.

Labour can be intense, and the images and narratives we’re exposed to reinforce that sense of intensity (and sometimes fear). Labour asks a lot of your body and mind. Practicing a mindset that allows you to stay calm, flexible, and centred can make an enormous difference in how you experience labour.

Mental preparation might include:

Learning what different phases of labour typically feel like
Talking through fears or previous birth experiences
Practicing breathing or relaxation techniques
Listening to birth stories or taking a childbirth education class
Visualizing how you want to feel supported during labour
Building a birth team you trust

No amount of preparation can guarantee a specific birth outcome. But feeling mentally prepared can help you approach labour with confidence instead of fear.

Early Labour Can Be Longer Than People Expect

One of the biggest surprises for first-time parents is that early labour can take a while…

Contractions might start irregularly and slowly build in intensity over hours (or sometimes days). This phase is often best spent at home, resting, eating, hydrating, and conserving energy for active labour.

When you know this ahead of time, it can help you avoid the common urge to rush to the hospital too early.

Instead, many families benefit from:

staying in a familiar environment
using comfort measures like showers, baths, or movement
resting when possible
keeping distractions nearby

Try to remember that your body is doing important work during early labour, even if things feel slow or inconsistent

Build Your Birth Support Team

Another important part of preparing for birth is thinking about who will support you during labour.

Your support team might include:

your partner
a midwife, family doctor, or OB
nurses
a birth doula
trusted family members or friends

Each person plays a different role.

As a doula, my focus is on providing continuous emotional, informational, and physical support throughout pregnancy, labour, and the early postpartum period.

When I support Clients, we focus our prenatal visits on:

helping you create a birth plan
practicing comfort measures together
supporting your partner in supporting you
providing information and resources to make informed, evidence-based decisions about your care
helping you navigate unexpected changes, if they occur

The goal isn’t to control birth - because birth is inherently unpredictable. My goal is always to help you feel supported, informed, and confident, whatever direction your birth takes.

Practical Things You Can Do Before Labour Starts

In the final weeks and months of pregnancy, there are also a few practical things that can help you feel more prepared:

1. Take a Childbirth Education Class
Understanding labour physiology and common interventions can reduce anxiety and help you make informed decisions.

2. Practice comfort measures
Breathing techniques, position changes, and relaxation exercises are skills you can practice ahead of time.

3. Pack your birth bag early
Most people begin labour between 37-41 weeks, so having things ready ahead of time can reduce stress when contractions start.

4. Talk through your Birth Preferences
Discuss your preferences (and care decisions) with your provider and support people so everyone is on the same page.

5. Prepare your home for your postpartum recovery
Set up a comfortable recovery space with prepared meals, personal care items, baby supplies, and anything that makes you feel comforted in those early days.

Final Thoughts

Preparing for birth isn’t about creating the “perfect” birth plan. It’s about building knowledge, confidence, and support so that when labour begins, you feel ready to meet the experience with trust in your body and mind.

Your body already knows how to do this. Preparation simply helps you feel more at-ease when labour begins.

If you'd like to read the article I wrote with OVRY about preparing for birth before labour begins, you can find it here:

👉 How to Prepare for Birth Before Labour Starts: What a Doula wants you to know (OVRY)