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Distractions like breathing, visualising or fixing on one point can take your mind off the pain.

Breathing reflects the activity in your body and, of all the body’s involuntary unconscious physical responses, breathing is the easiest to control. 

The Pros

• Offers immediate relief.

• Decreases tension and offers good pain relief.

Make sure you have everything you need for your baby's arrival with our checklist. Get organized and feel confident for the big day.

*Check whether the maternity ward has a list of the items you will need.

Items for hospital stay

Clothing

The experience of childbirth and parenthood is an unknown adventure, which results in major changes to your life. 

If you are ever concerned about your baby’s health, behaviour or development, consult your doctor or clinic sister. It is better to be safe than sorry.

A birth plan or wish list is not a set of commands and demands, and certainly not a contract.

A Caesarean birth is the delivery of your baby through an abdominal uterine incision, instead of vaginally.

Birth weight depends on several factors, including the mother’s nutritional status and genetic disposition. The average weight for a newborn is around 3,3 kg.

Each woman’s labour is unique and unpredictable. It is important therefore that you are prepared for all the possible eventualities and you keep an open mind.

In most instances, the baby’s head is the presenting part that moves into your pelvis before labour begins.

All parents worry about the possibility of complications such as prematurity, abnormality, stillbirth and neonatal death.

Enjoying finger food

The uterus

As labour starts, a mother’s mood changes and she becomes less aware of what is happening outside her body, and more aware of what is happening inside her body.

The following signs of labour may occur in any order.
1. Progressive contractions

During the first stage, also known as the dilation stage, your cervix will dilate and efface from 0–10 cm.

Pregnant women will tell you they experience almost irrepressible cravings for certain foods – salty, sweet, spicy or fatty foods. Some think it’s the body signaling what the growing baby needs.

Your pregnancy: weeks 1-4 – the start of your first trimester. The first signs of pregnancy may be very visible… or not at all.

There are many things you can do to prepare for the delivery of a healthy baby. One of the most important things is eating right to gain the extra weight you’ll need to support another life.

Your pregnancy: weeks 14-17.

Your pregnancy: weeks 23-27. Your baby develops movements that will later help it take its first whiff of air in the world, inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid.

Your pregnancy: weeks 28-31. The changes in your body continue to take place as you enter your third trimester! As baby prepares for its future exit: its eyelids are uncovered and eyelash

Your pregnancy: weeks 36-40. It’s time for the final preparations before the big day.