A Doula’s Guide to Using Birth Affirmations

As you move through your pregnancy, you’re probably looking for ways to prepare your body and mind for your labor and delivery experience. 

As a doula, I help pregnant people identify and practice the tools and coping techniques that they want to use during their labor. Birth affirmations are often at the top of the list along with breathing exercises, counter pressure, and positioning (think Spinning Babies). 

Why are these comfort measures so popular? They are super flexible, require little or no special equipment, and can be used in a variety of different environments (think home, hospital, birth center, or even an uncomfortable elevator ride or long drive in the car.) 

Ok, so now that you know a little more about birth affirmations, how can you actually go about using them? 

Here are my top doula tips for using birth affirmations:

• Bring your whole heart. Focus when practicing your affirmations, the more you believe in these statements, the more powerful they will become. 
• Practice, practice, practice. Create a plan to practice your birth affirmations daily or a few times a week leading up to your birth. Find an affirmation meditation you enjoy, write them in a journal, practice with your partner, doula or support person, you can even record your own voice memo practicing your affirmations to listen back. Practicing during your pregnancy will make using these affirmations during labor more effective.   
• It’s not all or nothing. There’s a common misconception that affirmations or hypnobirthing tracks are only helpful for people planning for an unmedicated birth experience. Plus affirmations are a great tool to complement other forms of pain management in your plan (think about that long drive to the hospital before you get an epidural).
• Eyes on the prize. Once your contractions pick up, channeling your focus on affirmations will be more challenging. Print out a copy of your affirmations, save them to your phone, or packing affirmation cards in your bag will give you a visual point of reference to help keep your focus on your affirmations as you ride the waves of your labor. 

Now that you’ve got a sense of how affirmations work, where can you find the right positive messages for you? If you are new to using affirmations, don’t worry we’ve got you covered. 

I asked Kristen Rose Hanna, mom of two, an Expectful Meditation Guide and Yoga instructor who leads a live Birth Affirmation class each month as part of our Community Events to share some of her favorite affirmations to build your birthing confidence and use during labor. 

Here’s what she had to share….

Birth affirmations for your body & baby:

I am designed to birth my baby. 

My body knows how to give birth

My body is intuitive and wise. 

My baby is intuitive and wise. 

I trust my body and my baby.

Birth affirmations for confidence:

I release fear and worry. 

I trust that my baby’s birth will happen at the aligned time. 

I accept the path my baby’s birth takes with love, peace and ease

I trust you, baby. 

Birth affirmations for relaxation:

I will flow through birth, allowing my body to unfold organically. 

I will accept all sensations as they come. 

I know each sensation is going to bring me closer to meeting my precious baby. 

I relax and my baby relaxes with me.

Birth affirmations for strength and resilience:

I am fierce and flexible.

I am strong and capable.

Birth is powerful so I will allow it to empower me.

I breathe deeply and I am calm.

I surrender effortlessly.

Want more affirmations for birth? Check out our Birth Support library in the Expectful app! Plus, your Expectful membership gives you access to our on-demand hypnobirthing course and all our live Community Events, including Kristen’s monthly Birth Affirmations class. 

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