How to prepare for the birth of your second baby

What can you do to prepare for the birth of your second/subsequent baby?

When you are pregnant with your second/ subsequent baby, you rarely even know how many week pregnant you are, let alone are able to find time to actually PREPARE for their arrival! So here are some simple, QUICK things you can do to find focus and prioritise your new addition.

I’ve shared below what helped ME prepare for the birth of my second baby and some ideas of what you might like to do too!

Evening routine (Epsom Salt Bath, Epi-no, Colostrum Harvesting, Guided Relaxation). 
In the final few weeks of pregnancy, I had a lovely evening routine that just enabled me to focus on the baby and preparing for birth for half an hour or so each night. You can pretty much include anything you want in an evening routine- whatever feels good to go- I've detailed some of the things I chose to do below.

Epsom Salt Baths
I was super achey during my second pregnancy and often woke with awful restless legs! Magnesium (or Epsom Salts) is great for this, so most evenings I had a deep bath with epsom salts! (You could use aromatherapy too if you wanted!)

Epi-no
I chose to try out a device called the 'Epi-no' ahead of my second birth. (For research purposes if nothing else!). There is some (quite low quality) research that suggests perineal message may reduce the risk of tearing in birth and an epi-no is device used to gently stretch the perineum in a similar way. The risk of tearing is already significantly reduced in subsequent births and the jury is out on whether perineal massage/epi-no would make a difference- but I did actually find it helpful to remember what the sensation of birth feels like and to practice connecting breath with the feeling of stretching.

Colostrum Harvesting
I was very keen to breastfeed my second baby, but all too familiar with some of the unexpected difficulties that can be thrown at your postnatally, even though I had an 'easy' experience first time. I chose to collect some of my colostrum (breastmilk) antenatally to pop in the freezer and have as a back up if needed. You can find out more about this including my 'how to' video here.

Guided Relaxation
There are several guided relaxation MP3s included on our courses. These are perfect to listen to when you're drifting off to sleep. I didn't really want to listen to my own voice, so I can also recommend the 'Expectful', Headspace and Calm Apps if you want some more options (not all are pregnancy specific though).

Pregnancy Yoga
I was actually very unwell when I was pregnant, so I didn't do much of the yoga! But I appreciated the chat and connection at the start, and the 'nap' at the end! When I was pregnant we were well in the throes of COVID still, so I joined an online class. But if you have a local option, it can be a great opportunity to meet other mums to be too!

Osteopathy

I saw an osteopath every few weeks during my pregnancy. I had awful Pelvic Pain and this provided enormous relief! It’s also great for encouraging baby into a good position.

Course/Birth Prep
Believe it or not, I did some 'birth prep' sessions ahead of the birth of my second baby. YES, I know it's my JOB, but my husband felt like he had forgotten everything- and didn't want ME to teach him, so we had a couple of sessions with our doula to recap our options, considerations and what to expect (more for him than me, but it was really valuable to have some protected time to talk about what I wanted for this birth too). Our online or one to one course options are perfect for this too.

Birth Plan
I put this together myself, and then made sure my husband was well versed on what it included! It felt much easier to do this second time round as I was SO clear on what I felt was important. I made our 'plan A' (which was actually pretty short and mainly consisted of- 'Trust me, leave me alone and don't touch us until I ask') and my 'Plan B' which encompassed transfers from home, induction, instrumental birth, caesarean birth etc. THESE plans were incredibly detailed, but fortunately not needed in the end).

That was everything I did in preparation! But I wanted to add these too-

Birth Debrief 
If you have unanswered questions about your first birth, feel that you experienced trauma or are feeling particularly anxious about giving birth again- you may benefit from a 'birth de-brief' either with a midwife at the hospital or independently.

Podcast
We have a fantastic podcast episode all about second babies! How to prepare, how birth might unfold differently and how to manage postnatally with 2+ kids! You can listen to it here