How do pregnancy affirmations work?

Affirmations (meaning statements said with confidence about a perceived truth) have helped thousands of people make significant changes in their lives. We use affirmations in pregnancy and labour to help feel more positive about the upcoming experience.

An affirmation can work because it has the ability to program your mind into believing the stated concept. This is because the mind doesn't know the difference between what is real or what is fantasy. There are both positive and negative types of affirmations. I'm sure many of you have been told certain things about labour; how it is or how it might feel. But why does this have to be that way for you? Any unwholesome statements that we have heard can stay with us in the conscious or unconscious mind, which we then reinforce throughout our pregnancy.

If an unwholesome belief is deeply rooted in our unconscious mind, then it has the ability to override a positive affirmation, even if we aren't aware of it. So how can we add more muscle to an affirmation, so that it has the power to triumph over our negative thinking?

Here are some suggestions on how to make them work for you.

1. Go through the list of affirmations that we have provided for you and pick out a few (however many feels right to you).
2. Speak the affirmations out loud for about five minutes twice a day, morning and evening. An ideal time to do this is when you're getting dressed / undressed so that you can look at yourself in the mirror as you repeat the positive statement.
3. Reinforce the new beliefs by writing out your chosen affirmation several times in a notebook.
4. Anchor the affirmation in your body as you are repeating it by placing your hand on you bump.
5. Also, "breathe" into the affirmation while you are saying or writing it. As you reprogram your mind, you want to move from the concept of the affirmation to a real, positive belief.

Affirmations can be a powerful tool to help you change your mood, state of mind, and manifest the type of birth experience that you are seeking. Try it to see how you can change your thoughts about pregnancy, labour and birth.
​