Now that I’m firmly in my third trimester, I’m noticing a trend.

It seems whenever the topic of birthing comes up with soon-to-be or new moms, women tend to fall squarely in one camp or another. Either: “They offer the drugs for a reason, I’ll take whatever I can get!” or: “I want a natural childbirth at all costs.”

I’m much more of a pragmatist. I’d love to have a natural childbirth – I’m not crazy about possible drug side effects on the baby or myself. Plus, this is a natural event, right? But I also have no idea what I’m getting into, what I’ll feel at the time of delivery, or what complications might arise that would benefit from medical intervention.

A few months ago my prenatal yoga teacher announced her upcoming hypnobirthing workshop. Since I was still on the fence about drugs, I asked if hypnobirthing was compatible with both natural and drug-aided childbirth. “Absolutely,” she said without hesitation. “The whole point of hypnobirthing is to condition you for the most relaxed, enjoyable childbirth possible, period.”

The hypnobirthing philosophy is based on relaxation and letting go, mostly of the fear that western culture has built around childbirth – what should be a natural event and not something to be “labored” through. The idea is that the more relaxed you are, the less tense your muscles are, and the easier it is for your baby to move down the birth path and into the world.

Joey and I took the workshop, and for the past six weeks have been practicing regularly. He leads me through breathing exercises and visualizations, all with the purpose of training myself to go into a self-induced trance (another word for what is simply deep relaxation).

Someone from our workshop shared the recent hypnobirthing story of a friend: She began to focus in a dimly lit room as soon as she arrived at the hospital. 90 minutes later, her baby was born! I’m not expecting labor that brief, but it’s still quite inspiring.

We’ll see what path our little one decides to take when joining us in the world, and if medical involvement is absolutely necessary, we won’t hesitate to take it. I feel like what we’ve practiced will be invaluable with or without drugs, and really, in many situations in life.

As a side note, I finally found someone with the same pragmatism around childbirth. Jennie (new friend from yoga) is expecting in just four weeks, has gone through a hypnobirthing workshop, and as a former nurse feels “I might very well go for the drugs once I’m there!”

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