Confidence.

According to most doulas, including me, this is the secret key to being an amazing parent.

During pregnancy, while giving birth, and especially in those first few weeks after your baby is born you MUST be confident, right?

Um, what if you feel anything BUT confident? You are clearly doing it all wrong, right?

Wrong.

Guess what? You can be, and are, a great and competent parent even if you feel like you don’t have a clue what you’re doing.

Let’s be real. Pregnancy might be a pretty natural process for most people but it doesn’t feel that way a lot of the time. 

Every day a new symptom appears and your body changes in some weird and uncomfortable way. Maybe you don’t feel like the glowing and gorgeous person you expected to be. That’s okay. You can’t fail at pregnancy confidence. (Phew, right?)

Giving birth is also a pretty wild and crazy adventure. It doesn’t matter how much you know and prepare, you may still not feel completely at ease or confident about birthing a child from your body. And that’s okay! Stop comparing yourself to those You Tube birth videos. Do what you need to alleviate your fears and put anxiety to rest. Whether that’s from hiring an awesome doula (shameless plug!) or taking some prenatal classes, or just reading some books or chatting with trusted friends, find a way to get comfortable with what’s coming.

Accept yourself exactly as you are. Know that NOBODY has it figured it out. First time parents, 5th time parents, you’re all in the same boat. Taking it one step at a time, one day at a time and doing the absolute best that you can for your baby.

Like they say, fake it ’til you make it!

Plus, your baby won’t know the difference, so they won’t be judging you too harshly. At least not for the first couple of years anyway.