Sara Lyon - Youve Got This: Your Guide to Getting Comfortable with Labor

Text copyright 2021 by Sara Lyon.

Illustrations copyright 2021 by Brittany Mash.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN: 978-1-951412-21-0

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-951412-39-5

LCCN: 2020915632

Manufactured in China.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The Collective Book Studio

Oakland, California

www.thecollectivebook.studio

To BBC for the constant insipiration, and our kids who make me walk the talk. Its an honor to know you and love you. xxx

It is important to keep in mind that our bodies must work pretty well, or there wouldnt be so many humans on the planet.

Ina May Gaskin

Welcome to Youve Got This!

Im Sara, the author of Youve Got This: Your Guide to Getting Comfortable with Labor, and Im deeply honored that youve chosen my book as part of your journey to parenthood.

Whether this is your first birth or your fifth, youre about to unearth some absolute gems in your reading. Why? Because Ive been doing birth work all over the world since 2004, learning, teaching, and now collecting my favorite birth support techniques right here for you.

Through my work as a birth educator, doula, prenatal massage therapist, and author, Im committed to helping families feel comfortable with pregnancy and the birth process, replacing any fear and insecurity with genuine confidence and excitement.

Educating birth support partners is just as important as educating pregnant mamas. Study after study shows that continuous, informed, familiar support is great for birth outcomes and for mamas satisfaction in labor. As the support partner, you might have some learning to do, but dont worry, youve got this!

To educate the support partner, I wrote The Birth Deck: 50 Ways to Comfort a Woman in Labor. The deck is a comprehensive collection of effective support techniques that are simply illustrated and explained with very few words, just enough to get the point across.

These flashcards for labor solve a problem Ive seen over and over again: clients forgetting their birth education with the excitement of early labor. Since its publication in 2018, the deck has been adopted by expectant families, doulas, nurses, and midwives around the world, as well as by the state of California, which introduced them into more than 100 labor and delivery wards in an effort to reduce unnecessary caesarean procedures.

If The Birth Deck is simple and sweet, Youve Got This is your guide to everything. In this book, Ive included all the information from the deck plus much more, including expert tips, birth stories, activities, and fleshed-out instructions with detailed illustrations so you have a fuller and more functional view of comfort in labor.

Youve Got This is a detailed guide to 50 tried-and-true comfort measures for childbirth. Written for mama and her support partner, Youve Got This can be used solo or together as a team.

Youve Got This is organized into four primary categories of techniques:

SUPPORT

The foundational tools that support the overall birth experience

MOVE

The most productive positions for labor

MASSAGE

The best massage techniques for comfort

MIND

Scripts to encourage, calm, and emotionally support mama

S uggested techniques for approaching common labor challenges

S equences for layering techniques

Y our packing list for the birth center or hospital

A guide to finding the right doula

R esources for labor and postpartum

Read through Youve Got This in order and then revisit mamas favorite comfort techniques (see , below) as you further prepare for labor. The techniques build on one another, so youll have a well-rounded view of birth support by the end.

Practice the SUPPORT, MOVE, MASSAGE, and MIND techniques, using the exercises in Youve Got This to deepen your skills and build your confidence. Make this book your ownadd notes and highlights wherever you want to so you remember the details as you practice.

Youll find a blank heart on the bottom right corner of comfort technique pages. As you practice, note which pages you want to revisit in labor by filling in the hearts. This will provide easy reference for your support partner while youre focused on labor.

*Keep an open mind: Techniques you didnt love before labor may bring you comfort once labor starts.

Example:

Each technique can be used on its own, but I encourage you to layer the techniques for maximum effectiveness. When you layer techniques, you are addressing multiple sensory systems simultaneously, bringing ultimate comfort. Youll learn about mamas sensory systems when you read FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPTS in the coming pages.

Example:

Relaxed Crouch |

All Fours |

Use the SUPPORT section to pack your tool kit. Use the packing list and other resources at the end of the book to get ready for labor. If you have