I’m a big believer in the mind-body connection. What are some of your favorite mantras, words of affirmation, or visualizations that help women in labor?

Here are some of mine …

~I open like a flower, gently, steadily, in tune with the pressures I am feeling.
~My breathing is slow and even. Inhale peace, exhale tension.
~My job is to simply relax and allow the birth to happen.

The Candle
Imagine that your pelvis is a candle with a flame in the middle
As my contractions come, the flame burns brighter.
My body is the wax of the candle, warming and yielding to the flame.
The more I breathe, the brighter the candle burns.
The wax melts and drips with each contraction.
My body becomes looser and opens to the flame.
I see my pelvis becoming soft and warm and pliable.
I breathe. With each contraction, the candle becomes softer.
I melt with the candle.
My breath helps the candle burn brighter, melting quicker.
I remain soft, warm, and yielding.
~ Barbara Harper “Gentle Birth Choices”

The Rose
My cervix is like a rosebud
Ready to Open
I am nurtured by those around me as the rose is nurtured by the soil
The rosebud gradually, ever so softly, opens and blossoms.
I open and blossom.
My cervix is soft and ripe like a rosebud.
I see the outer petals of te rose falling away
I see my cervix yielding like the outer petals of the rose.
Every contraction opens another petal of my rosebud cervix.
I welcome each contraction, which helps me open my rosebud cervix.
I welcome and receive all the nurturing around me, which helps me open.
Just like the warm sun opens the rose, the warmth I receive opens my cervix.
I yield and open.
The rose does not resist.
I open and blossom.
~ Barbara Harper “Gentle Birth Choices”

I also like this Magical Waters relaxation script… http://www.naturalchildbirth.org/natural/resources/relaxation/magicalwaters.pdf

Thanks for posting this. My affirmations are written down... somewhere. But I love this site:

birth affirmations