If you’re expecting for the first time and you’re curious about childbirth… but you’re also nervous about crossing over into the “dark side” of YouTube birth vlogs, I’ve got you covered!
Here’s a list of POSITIVE birth stories for first-time moms that I’ve put together for you:
- Epidural Hospital Birth
- Unmedicated Hospital Birth
- Planned C-Section
- Natural Home Birth
- Induced Hospital Birth
Here’s why I’m doing this:
At my very first doctor’s appointment to confirm my pregnancy with E, the OBGYN started throwing out all these strange terms. So naturally, when I left the office, I whipped out my cell and Googled all those strange terms.
BIG mistake. There’s a lot of scary stuff on the internet that a pregnant woman shouldn’t have to see! (I mean, come on. Aren’t we dealing with enough here already?!)
So, a pact was formed with my best friend: If I felt the need to Google anything, I would text her instead. She Googled it for me and texted back with links that she found helpful, not scary.
What an awesome friend, right?
Well, today I’m going to be that friend for you! I wish I had done this with birth vlogs. Curiosity won in the third trimester. As a first-time mom, I just wanted to know what to expect. Unfortunately, I ran into more than a few birth vlogs that did nothing but stress me out.
Below are 5 positive birth vlogs and stories for first-time moms from 5 awesome mommy bloggers (who you should probably be following, by the way!)
Skip Ahead:
1) Epidural Hospital Birth (Vlog)
Arlyne and husband Weston vlog about the birth of their first baby girl. The cute, funny banter between them makes this a fun watch while they’re waiting to go to the hospital.
Weston does most of the camera work, which adds a little humor to the hospital experience. They’re both so excited and upbeat and Arlyne is careful to describe what the contractions feel like at each stage of the process for those mamas who are curious. (I sure was!)
She’s talking through delivery, laughing with nurses, and finally enjoying that new baby girl!
In our minds, we’re going to a tropical vacation.
Arlyne & Weston
- 14:50 Epidural
- 17:40 Hospital Room Tour
- 20:00 Starts Pushing
2) Unmedicated Hospital Birth (Vlog & Story)
If you’re considering an unmedicated birth, Nancy is a must-see for motivation! Having delivered naturally myself, I’m so impressed by her positivity between contractions! You can just feel how much she is focusing on how excited and grateful she is to become a mom.
She is such an awesome example of how a positive and healthy mindset can dramatically change your birth experience.
The mindset I had going into labor was just to go with the flow to see how things would progress before making any decisions like getting an epidural or not.
Nancy
- 4:00 Arrives at Hospital
- 6:00 Contractions
- 8:45 Hospital Room Tour
- 9:35 Starts Pushing
- 12:35 Birth
- 14:20 Recovery Room Tour
Nancy also has a sit-down video where she talks through what happened that day. She gives advice for mindset, which essential oils were helpful, and even links the YouTube videos where she learned her breathing techniques.
I just took it one contraction at a time, versus looking at the whole entire marathon.
nancy
- 1:00 Early labor symptoms
- 6:10 Heading to the hospital
- 8:35 Arrive at Hospital
- 9:15 Mentality around the Epidural
- 9:45 Essential Oils She Used
- 11:30 Pushing Starts
- 14:45 Birth
- 16:00 Dealing with Pain
- 19:25 Recovery
3) Planned C-Section Hospital Birth (Story)
Bryannah Kay from Healthy Little Mama
A very emotional story of a mother’s planned C-Section in a letter written to her baby girl. This sweet letter had me tearing up immediately!
Bryannah gives all the hospital prep details for those who are curious about the procedure. She’s honest about feeling nervous and strange- but also includes what comforted her in those moments.
She does include some weird side effects that caught her off-guard but it’s nothing concerning for her or the baby.
Sweet girl, you were born to Gone by Phillip Phillips. And it was the most beautiful 3 minutes and 29 seconds of my life.
Bryannah
Read her story here:
4) Natural Home Birth (Story)
Lisa describes her second home birth with her fifth baby in a sit-down style video. It goes without saying, she’s a complete pro at childbirth!
What’s really interesting about this video is that Lisa explains how she used the Bradley Method of childbirth to have a nearly pain-free birth experience!
I stumbled upon this birth story just a few months after my son was born and I really wish I had seen it before. I find this concept so interesting. In my experience, I definitely noticed an increase in labor pains whenever I started feeling extra stressed or tense, so I have a lot of confidence that this could work! And to be honest, just knowing that there are women who experience painless contractions is really encouraging.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Bradley Method of childbirth, Lisa links a few books she recommends reading.
With total and complete relaxation, the contractions are extremely powerful but not painful. You let them happen, instead of fighting them.
Lisa
- 3:10 Bradley Method for Contractions
- 6:40 Pushing Starts
- 7:40 Birth
- 8:35 Bradley Method
- 8:50 Tips for Home Birth
5) Induced Hospital Birth (Vlog & Story)
A short and sweet birth vlog! Brianna explains that she was induced because Baby #2 was long overdue.
If you’re not already following Brianna K on YouTube or her Bits of Bri blog, you should be! She is one of my all-time favorite mommy bloggers. I stumbled upon her new motivational podcast for moms and loved it so much that I had to start following her on all the socials!
She has a real gift with words and with homemaking, always taking a positive and refreshing perspective on issues and never losing faith in God. This labor video is very fitting for her personality. It’s sweet and positive!
I think I got a fast labor because I waited 41 weeks and 6 days for this girl!
Brianna
- 0:45 Heading to the Hospital
- 1:55 Contractions Start
- 2:30 Epidural
- 3:00 Pushing Starts
- 3:35 Birth
Watch Brianna’s sit-down video where she explains the labor here:
*Disclaimer: She does mention her less-than-favorable first labor recovery at around 18 minutes if you want to skip ahead to 19:20.
- 7:10 Gets induced
- 8:35 Contractions
- 12:10 Epidural
- 14:40 Birth
- 18:10-19:20 Mentions previous birth
BONUS VIDEO:
Just for fun! It’s not a birth vlog but it’s a 3-minute video where Brianna is just enjoying all the skin-to-skin baby snuggles with her son immediately postpartum.
It’s THE BEST feeling in the world and what you’re probably looking forward to most. 🙂
I’m so excited for you to experience the immense joy of motherhood! You got this, mama!
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