Preparing for Baby: 8 Tips for the Final Days Pregnancy

Those final days waiting for baby to arrive can in some ways be the most challenging. You are on maternity leave and there is nothing else really to do other than wait for labour to begin!

It can be hard to know what to do with yourself and how to be. There can be a mixture of discomfort, boredom, impatience along with excitement, hope, fear and anticipation. Here are some of my tips I share with clients about managing those final days:

The main thing now for you to focus on here is letting go:

Let go of control

Let go of a schedule

Let go of expectations

Let go of tension

Let go of analysing and planning

Let go of the due date

Trust your instinct and go with the flow

This of course is much easier said than done. If you have spent your pregnancy building that relationship with your body, listening to signals and responding accordingly, it will be much easier to continue doing that in these late stages. For some women it is something that just comes naturally anyway, for others it may be an internal power struggle between head and instinct!

1.       Protect your space In nature mammals go into nesting mode where they retreat form normal life and hide away until their babies are born. As mammals, we also need this space, quiet and privacy. An important role that dads and partners can play is to hold the boundary of your space. They can be the gatekeeper of visits, calls and messages so that you are not inundated with check-ups on whether baby is here or not yet – its very counter-productive! Between you both you can decide what you feel comfortable with and then have your partner inform close friends and family.

2.       At this stage I find it helpful to let go of an idea of a normal daily routine. Labour often starts at night and you are about to enter a phase where there is no normal routine. What is more important now is to listen extra closely to what your needs and desires are. Eating, sleeping and activity may come at unusual times but this is normal for late pregnancy as your body prepares for labour.

3.       Follow your gut. This is a time to be really connected to your instinctive self, your intellectual mind is not super helpful here. You cannot think your way into labour or decide to give birth – it is a deep primal force that passes through us. We have to get our minds out of the way! Rather than thinking about what you need to do, try to feel what you need in the moment.

4.       Allow yourself to be ‘unreasonable’. What I mean here is, whatever it takes for you to feel calm, happy, safe, comfortable and prepared is absolutely necessary and allowed. This might be a sudden desire to deep clean the kitchen (possibly at midnight!), cancelling a social engagement, sleeping several times a day, only eating fruit, needing your partner to be home more.

5.       Clear unfinished business. You may have some unfinished jobs or unresolved issues you need to clear before you can let go. It can be useful to have some quiet time to check in and see if there is anything holding you back.

 Take a few minutes to get yourself into a comfortable position sitting or lying, allow the body and breath to relax. Allow the breath to be easy and then simply ask is there anything else required for you to be able to let go and move into labour. Don’t think about the answer, just see if something spontaneously arises. Sometimes it is surprising what comes when we take our analytical mind out of the equation. If no answer arises it may mean everything is ready. In any case, resting for a few minutes at this stage is never wasted!

6.       Let go of your due date! This is a medical intervention in itself and is often unhelpful in creating an expectation of when baby will arrive. A normal healthy range for human pregnancy is 37-43 weeks, with the majority falling in the 39-41 week range. Really a due month would be a more realistic guide than a single day. You can read more about this on my blog post about due dates. Try to think of it more as a rough guide rather than a fixed deadline and avoid putting pressure on yourself as this is counterproductive. Generally, babies come when they are ready!  

7.       Stay as relaxed as possible. If you are feeling stressed or anxious, you could practise your breathing techniques for labour (which is always useful anyway) or listen to a guided relaxation. Alternatively, some gentle activity such as going for a walk or swaying to music you love can help shift the energy.

8.       Try some pregnancy reflexology. Of course, reflexology can be very helpful at this stage, both to help you get in to deep relaxation mentally and physically, and to gently encourage labour. I find many women come to me at this stage having been recommended to try reflexology by their midwives.

You can find out more about pregnancy reflexology here. If you’d like a session with me you can book online for clinic appointments or contact me direct for home visits.

My e-book on birth preparation is also available on the Books & Resources page.