The Affirmations and Bible Verses I Took With Me Into Labor, Birth, Emergency Transfer, and the Loss of My Baby

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I was a little bit “extra” with my approach to collecting birth affirmations and encouragements for myself to use during labor. As you will see below, there are lists within my list.

My childbirth coursework, my personal research into everything imaginable, and my preparatory projects and checklists were similarly robust.

But the list below in many ways represents a lot of Bible study and emotional work I did during the last half of my pregnancy.

The funny thing is that I only remembered and repeated one of those affirmations during my 24 hours of labor with Ioannes. It was inspired by something I learned in my childbirth studies:

The sooner a laboring woman surrenders to the realization and understanding that she is not in control of the birthing process, that she must let it unfold on its own and carry her in its waves, the better labor progresses.

The one sentence I repeated to myself over and over was… I am not in control.

I am not in control. But I am in the hands of the One who is.

I am not in control. But I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I am not in control. And that’s a good thing.

I remember when labor first started to wear down my willpower, and I would sigh with something akin to annoyance: I am not in control.

I remember when I hit transition and I could feel myself crumbling and coming back together for the last part of labor, and I would sometimes wail, sometimes whimper: I am not in control.

I remember when I held Ioannes’s hand in the emergency room, praying for him to breathe, and thinking: I am not in control.

I remember holding Ioannes in my arms in the big-city NICU, looking over at my husband with tears in my eyes, and whispering: I’m still not in control, am I?

It’s amazingly beautiful and perfect to me how the one affirmation, the one reminder I needed, was engraved into my mind at every stage. Nevertheless, I’m so thankful for the existence of this whole list. I’m thankful for everything that was right here waiting for me when I came back home from the hospital, without Ioannes. I’m thankful for the scripture searching I still had to do just this week, to finish my goal of having four Bible verses for each affirmation I curated for myself.

And so, here’s my list. (Verses in italics are the ones I added this week.)

I choose peace.

You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with shouts of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7)

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5-7)

You keep her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because she trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3-4)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

I am allowed to be scared, broken, and messy.

I am precious in His eyes, and honored, and He loves me. (Isaiah 43:4)

When you go through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. (Isaiah 43:2)

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

But you…My servant…whom I have chosen…My friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are My servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:8-10)

Surrender. / Give it to God. (In the moment, this became “I am not in control.”)

The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still. (Exodus 14:14)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:1-2)

Each contraction brings Liebling closer to my arms.

Perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18)

My beloved…be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 113:9) ¹

The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother He named my name. (Isaiah 49:1)

I was made to do this.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. … And it was so. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:27-28, 30-31)

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

Fear is a liar.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8)

Fear not…let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:16-17)

This is the day I’ve been waiting for…I’m ready.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:5)

He gently leads those with young. (Isaiah 40:11)

And my God will supply every need…according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

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1. This might seem like an odd one to include after losing my son two days after he was born. For some context on why I did, read my post But I’m Still a Mama.