What the World Cup can teach you about giving birth

England have won on penalties (OMG!) in the World Cup against Colombia ending nearly 20 years of penalty heartbreak. But how can the way that the England team prepared for their big day can help you prepare for yours?

So first of all, don’t worry – I’m not about to tell you that you need to embark upon any kind of grueling physical regime or master the art of keepy-uppies (although I do think it’s pretty impressive if you can do those).

Instead, it’s all about the mental preparation. The England manager, Gareth Southgate, is known for bringing a focus on sports psychology to the England team. He often talks about telling players to “own the process” and “write your own stories”. So, if you’re due to be having a little one soon then do bear Gareth’s words in mind as they apply equally well to your little one’s birth….

“Own the process”

“Write your own stories”

The second piece of Gareth Southgate’s advice to his team is equally valuable for pregnant mamas too. “Write your own stories” he says to players, meaning that how other players’ previous penalty shoot-outs have gone have no bearing on yours. And, in a culture where it somehow seems to be socially acceptable for pregnant women to be bombarded with negative birth stories it’s important that you remember that…

⚽ other people’s bad birth stories are just that – other people’s stories

⚽ getting into a positive frame of mind about birth will help you write the best birth story possible for you and your baby (I give you techniques to help you do this on my hypnobirthing course)

⚽ there are lots of positive birth stories out there…  www.tellmeagoodbirthstory.com is a great starting point and I have some positive birth videos on my website.

So, if you’re expecting a little one soon then maybe heed some of Gareth Southgate’s wise words…  because what works to prepare the England squad for their big day can also help you prepare for yours.

PS. Go England!