Fear of Labor

I’m in my third trimester and really scared about labor. How did you make it through?

Our Mommy MD Guide’s reply: I had 24-hour long labors with both of my children. During one labor, I chatted a lot with the nice young nurse. She was obviously hanging out with me just to help me pass the time. Eventually, the nice young nurse went off duty from her 8-hour shift. I remember thinking gloomily as she walked out of the room, “Uh oh! Now things are going to fall apart for sure!”

I was right.

Breathing exercises and all that stuff might help somebody out there, but I found that a really distracting conversation was the best thing.

—Elizabeth Berger, MD, a mom of two, child psychiatrist, and author of Raising Kids with Character