Rannva, originally from the Faroe Islands, moved from Sydney to Tokyo when she was 8 months pregnant. See how she managed to organize everything and how she had a positive birth experiences although having to move in late pregnancy to Japan. On top of that COVID19 restrictions in the hospitals changed just 2 days before she gave birth, so her husband could not attend:
"It was absolutely super stressful to move late in pregnancy but what was important for me to keep cool and focus on me and my baby and take a day at the time. I had to plan ahead and do so much research. Because I have relocated before I knew what it was to find a new network. I knew I had to find a new network of women / friends that I could lean on and share my experience with.
I quickly found this Tokyo Mothers Group https://tokyomothersgroup.com// Tokyo pregnancy group http://tokyopregnancygroup.blogspot.com/), which is huge and it calmed me down. I saw I am not going to be the only foreign woman giving birth in Tokyo. There were so many activities: like group meetings , cafes etc.
It's golden to find these groups. There was so much information (recommendation of doctors, hospitals..) I just felt so relieved.
Because of COVID all the policies changed and my husband could not attend the birth of my son. It was very stressful. I felt because I have kept so calm during all my whole pregnancy I have never felt scared of giving birth. I have taken calm birth courses and I just felt super empowered. I was not nervous at all and I discussed my plan with my doctor and my husband was aligned with the plan: we are ready for this. And two days before my contractions started everything just came apart with my plan (State of Emergency in Japan). They tell you this at the birth classes: even when you have a plan be prepared that it can be completely abolished because anything can happen. So I just went into myself at that point and that was all that mattered and that was what got my through!
You just go with a flow and let your body take over the process.
I was thinking about my mother, I was thinking about my aunts, I was thinking about my sister and all the women in my life who gave birth before and I just felt super empowered.
Now I feel really touched."
For a calm and positive birth experience she recommends: https://calmbirth.com.au/
Rannva remembers one of the best takeaways from her calm birth course: “Pain is power”