Into The Unknown - How Elsa would make a great Winnipeg Doula
Ok guys, I’m going to dive into some hardcore cheese right here. I hope you can handle it.
I was listening to some amazing, award winning music the other day, and was struck by how applicable the lyrics were to birth. Ok Frozen. I was listening to Frozen II music. It still counts guys.
Honestly though, have you ever stopped to listen to the lyrics of Into The Unknown? Poor Elsa is struggling with this thing that she knows she’s going to have to do, eventually. It’s calling to her. It’s exciting. It’s mysterious. It’s also intimidating and she’s not sure exactly what she’s getting into or how she’s going to handle it.
See what I mean? Birth, people. It’s just like she’s talking about birth. And you know what, Elsa’s a pretty good doula! In my prenatal meetings, I always tell my clients that my biggest reccomendation to them is that in early labour, they ignore it as long as they can. Birth is a long journey. It’s exciting, and amazing, and thrilling. But it’s best not to push your body into it— or to spend all of your energy on it, until you really can’t avoid it.
When labour is in those early pains, little whispers, nagging feeling kind of stage— push it to the side. Tell it you won’t let it distract you- Yet. Like Elsa, you know that eventually you’re going to have to give into this big overwhelming urge, but wait until it builds- let it build peacefully.
You see, the same way that Elsa is excited for this thing that is calling to her- she knows that it’s just not time to make a big deal out of it yet. Which is exactly what I encourage my clients to remember- Give these feelings a moment of acknowledgement. Hear them. And then push them aside for as long as you can.
You're not a voice, you're just a ringing in my ear
And if I heard you, which I don't, I'm spoken for, I fear
Everyone I've ever loved is here within these walls
I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls
Labour and birth is usually more of a marathon than a sprint. I know you’ve heard this before. But think about it- if you spent the first half of your marathon getting to walk around with a really close friend, wearing cozy clothing, drinking and eating as you go and getting to point out all the cool scenery, the marathon would feel a lot shorter wouldn’t it? You’d go into the really hard second half feeling relaxed, hydrated, confident and ready to kill it. You wouldn’t have wasted needless energy on that easy first half, thinking I’M IN A MARATHON! Instead, you were just “doing life”. You kept doing all those calming, encouraging things until you couldn’t anymore, and then you started the hard work.
And look, even Elsa eventually got to a point where that power grew and she knew it was time to move to the next stage.
What do you want? 'Cause you've been keeping me awake
Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake?
Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me?
Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be?
Every day's a little harder as I feel your power grow
Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go
Into the unknown
This is what we want for birth- we want you to sail through that early labour period by taking care of yourself, protecting your oxytocin and then when you really need to bring it- you’ll be ready. Like Elsa.