The #1 Tip to Prepare for Birth

Dear Mama,

You’re doing everything right. You’re taking the prenatal vitamins, making it to every appointment, reading the books, and preparing the nursery. And yet, if you’re honest with yourself, you might notice that you’re white-knuckling your way through pregnancy. Your shoulders stay tense. Your jaw is clenched. Your mind rarely rests. And no one seems to be addressing the stress you’re carrying in your body every single day.

You deserve more than generic advice to “just relax.” You deserve to understand what’s really happening in your body — and your baby’s — and what you can actually do about it.

Two Very Different Birth Stories

Let me paint two pictures.

Birth Story #1: Mom arrives at the hospital already exhausted from weeks of poor sleep and chronic stress. Labor doesn’t progress “fast enough,” so Pitocin is started. Contractions intensify quickly. An epidural follows. Hours pass. Baby’s heart rate dips. The room fills with urgency. A vacuum is used. Maybe a C-section. Baby is taken for evaluation. When they’re finally reunited, baby struggles to latch. The crying doesn’t stop. Everyone’s nervous system is overwhelmed.

Birth Story #2: Mom has spent her pregnancy learning how to regulate her nervous system. She arrives at the birth center breathing deeply, moving intuitively, grounded in her body. Labor progresses steadily. She flows between rest and active pushing. Baby is born alert and calm, placed immediately on her chest. Within minutes, baby finds the breast. The room is quiet except for soft coos. Everyone’s nervous system is in sync.

What’s the difference?

It’s not just the birth setting or the provider — though those absolutely matter. The foundational difference is the state of mom and baby’s nervous system.

Your Nervous System Is Running the Show

Think of your nervous system as the air-traffic controller for your entire body. It coordinates your heart rate, digestion, sleep, immune response, and stress reactions — all without conscious effort.

Your autonomic nervous system has two main branches:

• The Sympathetic System (Gas Pedal): Activates when you need to respond to stress, urgency, or excitement. Heart rate increases. Muscles tense. Focus sharpens.

• The Parasympathetic System (Brake Pedal): Supports rest, digestion, healing, bonding, and recovery. It slows the body down and restores balance.

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In an ideal state, you move fluidly between gas and brake. But chronic stress — so common during pregnancy — disrupts that flow. You may be stuck pressing the gas pedal nonstop, or unable to fully access the brake. Either way, regulation is lost.

Your Baby Is Learning From You Right Now

Here’s something most prenatal care never explains: your baby’s nervous system is being shaped by yours — every single day. When you’re under chronic stress, your body releases cortisol and adrenaline. These stress hormones cross the placenta. Your baby’s rapidly developing brain is exposed to them continuously. This isn’t about guilt — it’s about empowerment.

Your nervous system is your baby’s first teacher. Before their first breath. Before their first sound. They are learning regulation from you. Are they learning that the world is safe?Or that they must stay on high alert?

Birth Isn’t Just Physical — It’s a Nervous System Event

Birth actually begins in a parasympathetic-dominant state — meaning your brake pedal needs to be engaged. Oxytocin, the hormone that initiates and sustains labor, is released most effectively when you feel safe and calm. This is why dim lighting, quiet environments, and supportive people are so powerful. Your body cannot fully release oxytocin while stuck in fight-or-flight.

As labor progresses into pushing, your nervous system naturally shifts into sympathetic activation — but only at the right moment and in the right way. This coordinated flow between gas and brake is essential.

When a mother enters birth already stuck in stress mode — or unable to shift between states — the entire sequence can become disrupted. Research consistently shows that mothers who feel safe experience shorter labors, increased oxytocin release, and lower pain levels. This isn’t just emotional — it’s physiological.

After birth, your baby’s regulation comes through co-regulation with you. Skin-to-skin contact, eye contact, the rhythm of your heartbeat — these moments teach your baby how to regulate by syncing with your nervous system. If your nervous system is dysregulated, establishing that loop becomes harder. This can influence breastfeeding, sleep, and your baby’s ability to be soothed.

The Missing Piece of Prenatal Care

Standard prenatal care is vital. Your provider monitors growth, screens for complications, checks vitals, and tracks development. But rarely is your nervous system function assessed. You may be told to “reduce stress,” without any objective way to measure whether your body is actually regulated or stuck in survival mode.

This is where Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care comes in — and what we offer at Bright Futures Chiropractic Using advanced technology like INSiGHT Scans — including thermal imaging, surface EMG, and heart-rate variability — we can objectively assess how your nervous system is functioning.

These scans show us:

• Whether your sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are balanced

• Where stress and tension are being stored

• How well your body adapts to stress

• Whether you’re stuck in fight-or-flight or able to access rest-and-digest

  
  

Through gentle, specific adjustments, we help restore balance. We’re not treating symptoms — we’re helping your nervous system remember how to flow. And when your nervous system learns regulation, your baby’s developing system learns it too.

When Should You Start?

Earlier is better. The more time we have before birth, the deeper the support we can provide for both you and your baby. But it’s never too late. We’ve seen powerful shifts happen in the third trimester — even in the final weeks. Your nervous system has an incredible capacity for healing when given the right support.

What You Can Control

You can’t control every variable of pregnancy or birth. Sometimes interventions are necessary, and we are grateful for modern medicine when those moments arise.

But even with interventions, your nervous system still matters. A regulated nervous system supports smoother recovery, stronger bonding, and greater postpartum resilience. Before birth arrives, you can choose to support the one system that influences everything else. You can prepare not just physically — but neurologically.

Your Next Step

You can do all the traditional birth prep — miles circuit, raspberry leaf tea, dates, and birth positions — and those tools are wonderful. But if we could offer just one tip for preparing for birth, it would be this: nervous system regulation and repair.

Your baby’s nervous system is being shaped right now. Every day of pregnancy is an opportunity to teach safety, calm, and regulation.If you’re ready for real answers about your nervous system — not just reassurance that “everything looks fine” — we’d love to support you. Reach out to Bright Futures Chiropractic to schedule a consultation.

Our Neurological INSiGHT Scans will show you exactly what’s happening in your nervous system. And our care can help restore the balance and flow you deserve — for the birth you’ve been preparing for all along.

818 W 18th St, Chicago, Il 60608

and

914 S Arthur Ave, Arlington Heights, IL 60005

Phone: 224.764.1644