“…I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he’s exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”

That is a quote from Vince Lombardi’s most famous speech in which he also said “I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline.”  Vince was a legendary coach who knew how to inspire and bring the best out of his players.

You can think of natural childbirth as a marathon.  The mother needs to train and prepare her body and mind in order to complete such a feat of endurance.  It takes dedication and perseverance but most athletes do have a person in their corner to help them win that race: their coach.  In natural childbirth, it is the dad’s job to take on the role of coach.  Dr. Bradley was famous for saying it is the husband’s responsibility to finish what he started and he was pioneer on getting dads back into the delivery room.  One of the key aspects of The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth is to have the dad act as a labor coach for the mother.  This job entails mental, emotional and physical support for the mother during her pregnancy, labor and delivery and most times the person that the mother to be is the most comfortable with is her spouse. 

Gone are the times of the fathers just pacing back and forth in the waiting room with cigars in their breast pockets.  Gone are the stereotypes of dads passing out when seeing the baby crowning.  Nowadays, dads are present at doctors appointments, planning on taking time off work, cutting the cord and maybe even catching the baby.

 A coach needs to be enthusiastic.  A coach needs to be committed and supportive.  A coach needs to be strong.  A coach needs to be understanding.  A coach needs to be prepared.

Enthusiasm is contagious.  Pregnant women get tired.  A coach can use loving encouragement to keep the mother doing her exercises and maintaining good nutrition.  This can be shown by helping mom do the exercises, doing them right along with her, or perhaps making her a favorite nutritious snack.  Constant words of support and compliments go a long way as well.  Enthusiasm should continue into the labor and delivery process as well where mom can again get tired or lose sight of the goal and having a loving coach next to her does wonders.

Commitment begins at conception.  Coaches need to show their support of the desires of the mother.  If she wants to have a natural birth, the coach should be right there at her side getting involved in all the preparation, learning and practice that it requires.  If coaches understand the importance of an unmedicated birth and that you too are responsible for the care of your baby, you will want to do all that you can to ensure a great, healthy start to your baby’s life.

A coach should recognize their strengths for birth.  Can you be an ambassador for your wife?  Can you sacrifice your own needs for the time?  Can you keep a positive outlook?  Are you confident in your knowledge?  A coach should also look for ways to improve on some weaknesses that could hamper the birth.

Understanding a pregnant woman can be challenging at times.  The hormonal changes are complex and variable.  The coach should try to understand what the mother is going through and to act accordingly.  There are always more ways you can help her from just taking on more housework that she would normally do to having good communication about the upcoming event and alleviating fears.

Preparation is never ending.  Take a natural childbirth class.  Read a lot of books.  Practice labor relaxation methods.  Work together to make decisions regarding the pregnancy, labor and birth.  Discover new things about your spouse in the process.  Grow your relationship.

I’m sure Vince Lombardi would say coaching is very rewarding but it’s also very challenging, physically and emotionally.  George Halas, another legendary coach said this of Vince: “You might reduce Lombardi’s coaching philosophy to a single sentence: In any game, you do the things you do best and you do them over and over and over.”  Dads as coaches should take heed to these words.