Tricking the Mind: Mantras to Get Through a Natural, Unmedicated Childbirth

by Lauren Kay Weber

I’ve posted previously about my experience reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (you can read about it here).  Ina May repeatedly shares stories in which a mantra makes all of the difference for the birthing mama.  From a mother whose cervix dilates to mammoth proportions while repeating to herself “I’m gonna get HUGE.  I’m gonna get HUGE.” to a woman who just needed to remember that childbirth is a natural, healthy experience, I became convinced that I needed to craft some mantras for myself in preparation for Asher’s birth.  When we took our childbirth class, which was focused primarily on having a natural, unmedicated childbirth, the instructor recommended some to use in nightly and morning meditation (more on that later).  Unfortunately, not too many of those really resonated with me.  So, I decided to write my own.

I did some research on mantras and also adapted some from Ina May’s book, but I also spent some time writing some that came from a kind of unknown space within me.  In the end, I came up with twenty, which – granted – is quite a few.  My theory is that I’m not quite sure what will resonate with me when I’m actually in the moment, so I better over prepare.  I designed them all pretty-like in a soothing color palette, printed them, cut them out and laminated them (since we’re planning on a water birth).

Since I had them all ready to use for myself, I thought that I would share them with you guys, since I actually know quite a few people who are expecting here within the next couple of months.  You can download the PDFs below.  Or, if you’re a wiz with Photoshop (the program in which I created them), I’m happy to send the PSD files to you directly if you would like to customize them for yourself on the template that I’ve created… Just leave me a comment below with your email address.

PDF Downloads:  Birthing Mantras Page 1, Birthing Mantras Page 2

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