Labour's a marathon, not a sprint - so start training, yeah?

'I am not a marathon runner, just to be clear about my physical abilities from the get go.   Stamina, endurance, commitment and physical pain haven't traditionally held much attraction for me to be honest, so you can imagine how much I was looking forward to giving birth.  Yes, that much.   I mean I knew I could use acupuncture and acupressure in labour to help, but still, my feelings about childbirth were similar to those about running a long distance race where you take your poos by the roadside.  Really not my bag.  I didn't have much faith in my body, or my own ability to deal with physical pain and I really, really didn't want to have to poo in front of people.  

But here's the thing; when I thought about it I realised that I wanted to enjoy it.  It took so much effort, and so many years, to get pregnant that I kind of wanted to make the most of my one shot at labour.  You know, become one of those women who smile serenely while popping out a ten pounder.  So I decided I needed to start training.   And as a member of the London Hypnobirthing team, I started by picking the brains of my inspiring colleagues about what I needed to do.  

Now it's not often you get the chance to test drive your colleagues, and its a huge relief (though really I was in no doubt) that they did indeed take me over the finish line, euphoric and triumphant.   So if you have never given birth, or are determined to do it differently the next time, and would like some first hand insight into the different ways you can think about training for labour, I'm your gal. 

Personally I can't stand really long blog posts (and I haven't got time to write them) so I will be rolling out my 'training programme' over the next few posts, rather than bore on here.  

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