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​Preparing for a baby is one of the happiest times of your life. It’s also, if we’re being honest, a little scary. 

Birth is the same — so much of what we talk about with it is about transformation, and joy, and becoming a brand new person. But the scary parts are still there. 

If you are looking for a way to manage your perspective on birth and keep it happy and positive (or to support a pregnant loved one!), read on for birth affirmations and a free birth affirmations printable PDF!

What are affirmations?

Affirmations are positive statements that you use to keep yourself in the right mindset. 

Our thoughts can go everywhere — they can be influenced by other people, they can reflect our fears back to us, and they don’t always align with our values. 

And the second that belly starts to show, we all know that everyone wants to tell you their opinions, their decisions, and (unfortunately) their horror stories. 

So  birth affirmations are a powerful tool that you can use to control your subconscious mind. They help you drown out all those outside opinions (like the woman from work who keeps telling you the worst thing that could possibly happen) and focus yourself on positive thinking and positive outcomes, helping you to have a more positive experience in your actual birth. 

I use affirmations in all areas of my life, but birth affirmations are so important because birth is so important! These affirmations are a powerful way to maintain confident thoughts and ensure birth positivity and the best possible finish to your pregnancy. 

Why do I need positive birth affirmations?

(Is it possible to write a blog post about birth without parts of your own birth story? Seems like no.)

So, I’ve had two kids, both vaginal births. 

​During my first pregnancy, I was very focused on the external things, like a lot of first time moms. You have a baby shower, a lot of opinions from other people who seem to know what they’re talking about, and so many books. I read soooo many books. 

What I wasn’t connected to, at all, was my own intuition and the wisdom of my own body. I don’t think I would have even understood those phrases at that time. 

And I was blessed with an uncomplicated birth! But I was not prepared for the mental strength that was going to be required — when the labor pain started to get more significant, I was not super prepared and I started to struggle with negative thoughts. I was lucky to have my husband with me as a support person and a wonderful and experienced birth support team in the nurses, so I had a lot of emotional support. But I wasn’t connected to my own inner strength, and when I think of that first birth I remember so much fear. 

I don’t think of it as trauma, exactly, but I wasn’t in my power. 

Adding Affirmations and trying again

My second child was born only a year later. I came into my pregnancy determined to have a positive birth experience. I wrote my own affirmations to serve as birth mantras, and I started saying them weeks before my due date. (People said that second babies come early…not for me!) I was determined to bring a positive mindset into the experience. A hospital birth was necessary for me, but I was more assertive in making the delivery room into my own calm environment to the degree possible, bringing family photos and things from home.  It was a powerful way to make this experience mine and to fill it with positive thoughts. 

I also brought my affirmations with me and kept them by the bedside. At first I felt a little silly about what the nurses might think, but they put me at ease. Labor and delivery nurses have seen it all. During the peak intensity, one nurse was even directing my back to my affirmations and repeating them back to me. She was an angel. 

In some ways that was a more difficult birth than my first. It was nearly precipitous, and I was missing my older child so much!  But the birth of my baby was much easier overall because I was constantly reaffirming to myself that my body knew what to do and that I was experiencing an extraordinary gift. 

Are affirmations only for first-time moms?

Definitely not. 

Everyone who gives birth, in every way, is going to benefit from from these free birth affirmations. Positive thoughts are going to help in every setting or delivery method. 

If you are a first-time mom, you might benefit from the certainty of repeated affirmations. But for me, my second birth had an added challenge. I was away from my older child in a way that I never had been before. That was a whole different emotional challenge. 

Whether you choose a hospital room, a birth center, or a home birth, you can benefit. Every birthing space comes with its own challenges. You can find a favorite way to maintain positivity through these affirmations. 

Some affirmations online are only written for “natural birth” or unmedicated birth, and I was uncomfortable with that. My best friend had an emergency c-section a few years back in her second pregnancy, and she had a lot of trauma from the emergency and also a lot of shame from the people around her. For her first unmedicated vaginal birth, there was a lot of praise that she was a ‘warrior mama’. Then, after the c-section that saved her baby’s life, those people were silent. The online birth space can be a little shaming.

I want to say specifically that

• there are different ways to have a baby,
• any kind of birth can use affirmations,
• and every type of birth takes strength!

I think that positive thoughts will help everyone in every type of birth process. Whether a mom-to-be is planning on a vaginal birth or c-section, epidural or no epidural, positive affirmations are going to give her the strength to show up to that experience completely and in her power. There are different ways to reach your beautiful baby, and every birthing process is right for some woman. 

When do I use my birth affirmations?

Wherever you are in your pregnancy, you can start using this birth affirmations printable! I think you get the best results starting in the first half of your pregnancy, but you can start whenever. 

During Pregnancy

First trimester? Use the affirmations to knuckle through the morning sickness. I think they’ll also make the pregnancy feel more ‘real’ when you aren’t seeing or feeling physical changes yet. This is especially true if you haven’t told anyone yet.

Second trimester? As you watch your body change, use affirmations to reconnect to the wisdom of your body and remind yourself that your body knows what it is doing in these changes. 

Third trimester? Run off an extra copy to tuck in your hospital bag. If you haven’t been using the affirmations daily, this would be a great place to start.

(I also think these affirmation printables make a great addition to a baby shower gift!)

Before and During Delivery

In the weeks leading up to your due date, making a daily practice of these affirmations can help a lot. Setting a time each day (I did before bed) to take some deep breaths and work through the affirmations can ensure you go into your birth with the best possible mindset and the focused inner strength to deliver your baby. This is also a great time to share the affirmations with your support person, so they’re familiar before you get to the hospital. 

And when you get to the hospital — try to rest as much as you can before it’s time to deliver, but turn to your affirmations when you feel uncertainty creeping in. Sometimes when we’re trying to rest is when we are most inclined to go negative, so be watchful for those negative thoughts and turn to your affirmations whenever you need. During your active birthing process, whatever it looks like, your affirmations are there and your support person can guide you through them. 

Before you know it, the affirmations will be cast aside and your baby will be in your arms. 

Best positive birth affirmations for childbirth

If you want to write your own birth affirmations to add to the ones in my birth affirmations printable, here are some tips:

• Affirmations for birth are a super effective tool as long as you keep them focused on the best case scenario. Skip sentences that talk about what won’t happen (“I won’t struggle”, “I can’t fail”) because the subconscious doesn’t understand them. Focus on what will happen.
• ​Use positive language where you can, and neutral language for the hard stuff. You can’t talk about birth without acknowledging the pain, but calling it ‘sensation’ in your affirmations keeps the focus neutral. 
• ​All my favorite birth affirmations talk about the fact that the body knows how to do this. My phrasing of this in the printable birth affirmations below is about the ‘wisdom of the body’, which might be a little too woo for some people. You can phrase it however you want, but focusing on the truth that this has been done for generations upon generations, and your body knows how to do it even if your brain feels like it should go read another book or six, can be really affirming. 
• Focusing on the baby is a great tool. Everything is bringing you closer to baby; you’re doing all this for baby. 
• ​Affirmations about inner strength can help focus your mental energy on the strength that you already have. Sometimes it feels like birth is a whole separate side of ourselves, but strength is strength. If you have the power to get through the other parts of your life, you can get through your birth. Strength and power affirmations are a great addition to your birth affirmations. 

Now, you can use my birth affirmation printables below, or use mine and add some more of your own!

Free printable birth affirmations PDF

Here is a link to a digital download of my favorite free printable birth affirmations.  I sincerely hope it brings you comfort, strength, confidence, and positivity as you prepare to welcome your baby. 

This file is an instant download of a digital product — no physical item will be mailed to you. PDF files are easy to print. You can open this digital file and print it from your home printer on standard printer settings, or send it to a local print shop. I have kept the design quite minimal so it’ll be inexpensive to print and you can make multiple copies.

It will look fine on regular printer paper, but if you want, quality card stock will make it last longer for a small extra cost.

Downloadable PDF documents like this set of printable birthing affirmations can be saved to your computer for reprints later — however, this document is only for personal use and should not be shared elsewhere or reuploaded to any other websites. 

If you plan to use these affirmations, or you write your own, let me know in the comments!

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