Coping
Methods for the Childbirth Year
Here's what most childbirth education misses:
Labor isn't the only challenge you'll face this year.
Those third-trimester back aches?
That's your body asking you to learn coping skills.
The intensity of waves / contractions?
That's when you'll rely on the techniques you've practiced all through your pregnancy.
Those exhausting hours caring for a newborn, when you're running on empty?
That's when these same methods will calm you and regulate your nervous system.
Here's what most childbirth education misses:
Labor isn't the only challenge you'll face this year.
Those third-trimester back aches?
That's your body asking you to learn coping skills.
The intensity of waves / contractions?
That's when you'll rely on the techniques you've practiced all through your pregnancy.
Those exhausting hours caring for a newborn, when you're running on empty?
That's when these same methods will calm you and regulate your nervous system.
Can you imagine?
- feeling Confident, Capable, and Calm while you're pregnant and when you're giving birth
- using positioning, breath and other techniques to ease your daily pregnancy discomforts while simultaneously training your body for birth
- being with every wave/contraction, with purpose and confidence, always having a technique to use
- working with your body in labor, not fighting against it.
- staying grounded and present, even during the most intense moments of your labor —because your body and mind remembers these coping practices
- drawing upon these same coping practices during those overwhelming early newborn days, when everything feels hard: as your body heals, your hormones shift, and you adjust to life with your newborn.
Can you imagine?
- feeling Confident, Capable, and Calm while you're pregnant and when you're giving birth
- using positioning, breath and other techniques to ease your daily pregnancy discomforts while simultaneously training your body for birth
- being with every wave/contraction, with purpose and confidence, always having a technique to use
- working with your body in labor, not fighting against it.
- staying grounded and present, even during the most intense moments of your labor —because your body and mind remembers these coping practices
- drawing upon these same coping practices during those overwhelming early newborn days, when everything feels hard: as your body heals, your hormones shift, and you adjust to life with your newborn.
And gradually each morning, when you wake up,
you begin to look forward to
Birthing your Baby!
Are you not feeling confident?
Maybe you're lying awake at night wondering:
Will I be able to handle the pain?
What if nothing I try actually works?
Are you feeling the weight of the possible unknowns?
What if I lose control and can't get it back?
What if I'm so anxious that I can't even think of any ways to cope?
And contemplaing even more "what ifs"?
What if my body doesn't know what to do?
What if I'm completely unprepared when the moment comes?
Hearing conflicting advice?
Thinking 'what if what worked for my friend doesn't work for me?'
Are there techniques out there that I can learn —and then when I'm in labor use what's working for me then?
Working with Rava in her birth prep course was such a gift for us! Her attention to detail and her compassion and love truly made this course a memorable experience. She provided us with essential tools for the unknown laborland experience.
—Amber Hanlon
BE READY FOR WHAT WILL BE ASKED OF YOU
Birth asks you to use your whole self —body, mind, emotion, and spirit.
When you have coping practices that truly equip you to meet that demand, everything shifts. You’re not overwhelmed. You’re not guessing.
BE READY FOR WHAT WILL BE ASKED OF YOU
Birth asks you to use your whole self — body, mind, emotion, and spirit.
When you have coping practices that truly equip you to meet that demand, everything shifts. You’re not overwhelmed. You’re not guessing.
introducing
Your Way Forward
to Knowing You Can Do This!
We can't, of course, promise that it will be easy, short or pain-free. No one would tempt the birth gods like that! But we can promise that you will be armed with tools and practices that actually work.
NOT JUST FOR LABOR
Master the Skills That Will Carry You Through Pregnancy, Labor, Birth, and Beyond
The childbirth year is a marathon, not a sprint. And you need a toolkit that works for the entire journey. The techniques you learn here won't just get you through labor—they'll transform how you handle every challenge in the childbirth year (and for years to come).
Comprehensive
Not just a 10-minute overview essentially saying "focusing on your breathing in labor is helpful" —that's what you hear in just about every hospital prenatal class!
Not here. Here you get an in-depth exploration of numerous techniques with everything you need —to be able to actually use them.
Not only for using when you're in labor
You can start using these techniques immediately and continue using them long after birth. Every pregnancy discomfort becomes a training opportunity, and every postpartum challenge becomes more manageable. You're investing in skills that serve you for your whole life, not just for a single day.
Practical, not theoretical
Every method includes clear instructions for how to practice and implement it, not just descriptions of what it is. You'll see how it's done, understand why it works, and practice it until it becomes second nature. And in labor you'll know exactly what to do.
The prep work we did with you, Rava, set us up to be open and grounded.
When I was in labour it was like a meditation, but at one point I was picking up on what was going down. I could feel the midwife's fear. I would've freaked out had we not done the work we did.
—Leisha Laird
AS IN LABOR, AS IN LIFE
These Aren't Just "Labor Techniques"—They're Life Skills
Use these techniques in your pregnancy for:
- Lower back pain and pelvic discomfort
- Difficulty sleeping
- Stress or overwhelm
- Use each opportunity to practice, each time you have: Braxton-Hicks, round ligament pain, "lightning-crotch", pressure sensations & more
Use them postpartum for:
- Managing afterpains and physical recovery
- Coping with breastfeeding discomfort you may have
- Calming your nervous system during sleep deprivation
- Regulating your emotions during hormonal shifts
- Soothing yourself during overwhelming moments
Use them for life, in these situations, to name just a few:
- Dealing with your toddler lol
- Stress management in daily life
- Mindfulness and presence
- Regulating emotions
- Techniques to teach your children as they grow
- Pain management in other situations
FOR EVERY BIRTH PATH
Whatever your preferences are for your birth, these tools aren't optional. They're ESSENTIAL. Here's why:
Whatever path your labor takes: unmedicated, medicated, surgical, vaginal, assisted vaginal... you will move through part of your labor where medication isn’t yet available or isn’t yet recommended. And if an epidural becomes a part of your birth experience or if you give birth by cesarean, you will always need skills to stay grounded, steady, and connected to yourself.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Coping Methods for the Childbirth Year
is for you, if:
- you want to know how to cope with the intensity.
- you don’t want to “wing it”. You want to understand what impacts how much pain you may, or may not, feel.
- you want to have an undisturbed birth. And you know you need strong inner resources for endurance, and to stay grounded and present.
- you're considering, or planning, an epidural. Understand there’s a whole part of labor that happens before getting an epidural is an option, and you want tools for that time.
- you are preparing for an induction. You need coping skills that help you manage waves that feel very different from spontaneous labor. Because most induced labors feel very different it is statistically true that most people opt to get an epidural. But, being able to hold off on that epidural as long as possible may mean all the difference in your induced labor needing more interventions, as time goes on. These coping skills can get you "there".
- you had a difficult first birth. You’re ready for it to be different this time, and you know - from experience - that better coping skills and better understanding can change everything.
- you value education that tells the truth. You don’t want sugar-coating. You want clear, honest guidance that respects you as the decision-maker.
- you want practical tools you can use now. You’re looking for ways to manage pregnancy discomfort, stress, sleeplessness, and the emotional load of preparing for birth.
- you want inner resources for the postpartum period. You know - or have heard - the early weeks and months with a newborn are vulnerable, and you want coping skills that help you get through this huge adjustment period.
If you see yourself in any of these, you’re in the right place. These coping skills are designed for parents like you — parents who want to meet the childbirth year with strength, clarity, and real inner resources.
BUT I DON'T NEED ANY COPING TECHNIQUES BECAUSE I'LL BE GETTING AN EPIDURAL
The bottom line: every birth requires coping skills. Every single one.
Before your epidural, you'll go through early labor—the phase when it's too soon for an epidural to be placed. Depending on how long your early labor phase is (and there's no one with a crystal ball who can tell you that) this means it could be anywhere from a few hours to a day or more where you are coping at home.
Ask any mama who's had an epidural, getting one put in isn't a walk in the park. Far from it. So during the epidural placement, staying calm and very very still is crucial. Breathing and focus techniques are essential for this.
Sometimes, unfortunately, the epidural only provides partial relief (which happens more often than people realize). In this situation, you'll need to blend pharmacological (the epidural) and non-pharmacological methods.
Get ready for what’s next
Most women only realize after they give birth the first time what they wish they had known. But you don’t have to be one of them!
Does your partner know less than you do at this point? Yet you're both heading toward one of life's biggest experiences —unprepared.
Start preparing now to birth with confidence, and have the birth experience you deserve!
This is the only course you'll need for the biggest day of your life. You wouldn’t run a marathon without training, so why would you go into birth less prepared than that? Join us to train and prep.
© RavaWomb 1995
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