Aloha Pete,
My wife actually gave a presentation on this topic at the SFQ Women's Conference this winter. It was a really good presentation, but the turn out was low since most of those attending were past that stage in their life.
Here are a couple general tid bits that may be helpful from both of our experiences
Having you and her starting SFQ before getting pregnant can help in a lot of different ways.
The best would be your wife doing the active exercises an sitting mediations for herself and the baby. Each person is different, so she may feel like doing some and not others (or just the sitting meditations). In the Level One manual Chunyi recommends the pregnant Mom not do 7-steps f New Life, or the heel raises at the end of the Harvesting of Qi.
Conceive at a time that is not an eclipse,thunderstorm, or a date that is not a positive one from either of your past.
Warm up and take your time - stay away from quickies.
When pregnant, he mother's emotions and well being are important during the pregnancy. Have her feel safe, relaxed, happy, and not in the middle of loud construction or jarring noise throughout the day.
If she is not doing the exercises or mediations and you want to work on her. Visualize the baby happy and content in the light, then do the Level Two healing steps on your wife. You can do this formally, or when she;s lying there beside you in bed.
and speaking of in bed...tapping her tail bone/sacrum area with a loose fist for 30-60 minutes (yes, there were times when I'd fall asleep times during it, but even 15 minutes can be
very helpful in opening and keeping the lower body open.
There are some really good pregnancy/childbirth programs out there for both parents to keep them well informed on everythign from birth plans, nutrition, the use of doulas, water births, at home births, birthing positions, what meditations may be offered-when-and what the pros/cons of them may be, etc. A lot of times these aren't covered by the child birthing class offered at you hospital, so you may want to check out Bradly classes and other similar offerening.
Chunyi will talk about not using cold compresses during or after the birth. It gets to be so much of a custom for the staff, that they are surprised with how well a warm compress does in the same situation, and keeps that sacrum/tail bone area open (why waste all that earlier tapping!
) and keeps cold out of that area that can affect her health later.
Like I said, there is a little to get you started.
Much Love,
Shawn
