I attended the 10 week pregnancy yoga class from approximately 26 weeks into my pregnancy and my husband and I attended a birthing class on a Saturday morning. This was my first pregnancy and I recall feeling very excited but this was tinged with a mild occasional panic at the thought of the actual birth.
As the weeks went on I felt more and more relaxed about the prospect of labour because of the preparation the classes gave (I viewed it almost as a form of hypnosis during the relaxations) and the support from the other mums to be.
When I gave birth to my baby girl I had no pain relief (not through any heroism - it just did not occur to me to have any). Through breathing, humming and rocking plus my husband breathing and humming with me I gave birth in a relatively calm way (and found out later that the baby had been back to back for a lot of it!). During the second stage I spoke to my bump/baby which helped to remind me that it wasn't just my labour, it was hers as well.
It was painful, but it was also beautiful and I could not have been in that head space had I not have had the mental and physical preparation from the yoga classes.
Lucia and daughter Alysia.