Try massage, acupuncture or yoga. Staffers in most hospitals won't mind. Try candles, soothing music, aromatherapy and little white Christmas lights. They can hardly say no. At Northwest Hospital's birth center in Seattle, director Barbara Ringhouse reports that 80 percent of 1,200 pregnant patients each year come in with birth plans like Andrea McGee's.
Some women meditate.
Whatever works, that's always been my motto. As long as it's within the bounds of safety. These days, women are also surrounding themselves with a flock of family members, Ringhouse adds. Back in the olden days, it was hard even for a husband to be allowed in the delivery room. Now they bring their husband, mother, sisters, kids.