What Does it Mean to Build a Mindset of Coping?

What does it mean to build a mindset of coping?

There are so many sensations involved in birth. While it’s true that not everyone experiences birth as painful, it is true that birth is always intense, emotionally and/or physically. And while someone may experience pain/intensity in labor, that does not mean they have to suffer. While pain and/or intensity has to do with the sensations (physical or emotional) one is experiencing, suffering has to do with what is happening in the mind, or what they are telling themselves about the situation.

Birthing from Within pain coping practices not only help parents explore sensation, and their responses to it, they also bring awareness to the inner dialog they have about what is happening within. As parents begin to tune in to their mental script, they can assess what is helpful, and what is not so helpful, and begin to use breath to calm the mind and access their inner resources for coping. When we help parents prepare for the intensity of birth by exploring sensation and their mental and physical response to it, we begin to help them build a mindset of coping.

Building a coping mindset is not simply a trick or a technique to try once, it is a practice. Just like we may do repetitions at the gym to build muscles in our body, this practice is aimed at training the mind and body to orient towards coping, and strengthening those mental muscle.

Coping doesn't always have to mean we like what's happening, but it does mean we are finding a way through it, one breath at a time.

Gain confidence in supporting parents to build a mindset of coping!