7 Ways to Boost Natural Birth

1. Inform yourself. There are support groups for mothers who need help grieving about their previous cesarean and are adamant about doing everything within their power to avoid another one. Attend these meetings, and talk to other mothers who have delivered vaginally after a previous cesarean. Besides providing you with practical suggestions during your pregnancy and labor that will increase your chances of delivering vaginally, the information you obtain from this group can empower you to have an easier and more efficient labor.
2. Eat right. Overeating may cause you to gain too much weight and your blood sugar to be too high. Both of these factors increase your chances of having a baby too large to be delivered vaginally.
3. Exercise regularly. In-shape women have faster labors and lower weight gains than couch potatoes.
4. Employ a professional labor assistant. Studies show that mothers who use a professional labor assistant (PLA) are much less likely to have a surgical birth.
5. Be upright. Back lying is the position for surgical birth; the more time you spend on your back, the more likely you are to have one.
6. Get moving. Avoid spending most of your time lying in bed wired to monitors – like a surgical patient. When you get moving, your labor will, too.
7. Trust your body. Believe that your delivery system will work. Believe that your pelvic passages are designed to birth your baby. A fear that you can't go through with the delivery can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, since fear frightens the uterus into not working efficiently. Surround yourself with positive advisors. Even if your family tree or circle of friends is full of cesarean deliveries, know that you can beat these statistics.