What if preparing for birth was about more than learning how to manage contractions? What if pregnancy could become an invitation to heal, deepen your trust in your body, grow closer to God, and discover what surrender can look like in the birth space?
For Lauren Frazier, a former active duty Air Force officer turned social worker, doula, and mind-body practitioner, that transformation unfolded gradually across four very different births. Her first two births taught her about physiological birth, intervention, advocacy, and trusting her body. Her final two births took that trust somewhere she had never experienced before. Lauren describes both as completely supernatural, pain-free births marked by an overwhelming awareness of God’s presence.
During her third labor, Lauren arrived at the hospital already seven centimeters dilated, yet she could not feel the contractions appearing on the monitor. During her fourth birth, she was so peaceful at home that when the midwives arrived, one initially questioned whether she was even in labor. Twenty minutes later, Lauren was holding her daughter. Her testimony is about far more than experiencing birth without pain. It is a story of healing from sexual trauma, reclaiming trust in her body, learning to recognize fear, and discovering what happened when she stopped trying to walk through birth in her own strength and began intentionally inviting God into the process.
Reclaiming Trust in Her Body After Sexual Trauma
Long before Lauren became a mother, her relationship with her body had been shaped by trauma. She experienced sexual assault at 14 years old and again at 22 while serving in the Air Force. Those experiences understandably affected the way she viewed safety, sexuality, bodily autonomy, and what it meant to feel ownership over her own body. Lauren describes how sexual trauma can leave a woman feeling as though her body is no longer entirely hers, creating hypervigilance and uncertainty where safety and trust should exist.
Pregnancy began changing that relationship. As Lauren watched her body grow and transform during her first pregnancy, she began seeing it through a different lens. Her body was not simply something that had experienced violation. It was creating and sustaining life. Each day brought change, and Lauren found herself learning to adapt rather than control every part of the experience. She entered her first birth with an innate sense that this was her body and that she knew it deeply. Medical professionals could offer expertise and information, but she did not believe that meant surrendering her own intuition or autonomy to them.
Lauren also chose not to learn the sex of any of her babies during pregnancy. For her, waiting until birth helped keep her attention on the transformation happening within herself instead of focusing too heavily on expectations about the baby. She knew she would have a lifetime to know her child on the other side of birth. Pregnancy, however, was an opportunity to listen to her body, care for herself, and prepare for what was coming. That willingness to turn inward and trust what her body was doing became an important foundation for everything that followed.
A Peaceful First Labor That Changed After Intervention
Lauren’s first labor began much earlier than she expected. Her baby arrived two weeks and five days before his due date, and because she was a first-time mother, Lauren initially assumed she could not possibly be in labor. She had only recently had her baby shower and believed what she was feeling might be Braxton Hicks contractions. Even while returning a stroller at Target, she was still questioning whether anything significant was happening. Eventually, the sensations became strong enough that her husband suggested they go to the hospital.
When Lauren arrived, she discovered she was already six centimeters dilated. Her labor was so calm that she remembers asking whether this meant they were actually having a baby that day. Her contractions were still spaced far apart, and she was able to go home, shower, clean the house, and continue moving through labor without panic. When she returned to the hospital, she was eight centimeters dilated. Up to that point, Lauren remembers the experience as peaceful and manageable. She felt connected to herself and trusted what her body was doing.
After remaining at eight centimeters for several hours, however, her midwife suggested breaking her water. Lauren agreed, but the experience changed almost immediately. She describes feeling as though she went from being deeply inside her body and her own birth bubble to suddenly being pulled outside of it. When it came time to push, Lauren pushed because she was told to push rather than because her body was directing her to do so. She pushed for two and a half hours, straining so intensely that she broke blood vessels around her eyes and experienced significant tearing. Her baby weighed only five pounds, twelve ounces.
Looking back after four births, Lauren sees that moment as an important turning point. She would later discover that her waters naturally tend to remain intact until pushing and that spontaneous pushing felt completely different from being directed to push. Her first birth gave her a glimpse of how peaceful physiological labor could feel, while also showing her how quickly fear and intervention could change her internal experience.
Learning a Different Kind of Surrender in Her Second Birth
Lauren entered her second pregnancy with the lessons she had learned from her first. She still trusted her body and wanted another natural birth, but this time she wanted her care team to remain as hands-off as possible unless intervention became truly necessary. She also began to recognize pregnancy itself as an important part of birth preparation. Rather than thinking of pregnancy as simply waiting for labor, Lauren viewed those months as an opportunity to prepare her body, heart, and mind for a deeply transformational experience.
At 37 weeks and five days, Lauren began experiencing prodromal labor. Because her first baby had arrived at that exact gestation, she assumed her second baby would arrive early too. Instead, she spent the next two weeks experiencing contractions that would begin and then disappear. She describes feeling like the woman who cried wolf, repeatedly thinking labor was finally happening only to have everything settle down again. The experience stretched her mentally and became part of her spiritual growth as she began turning toward God more intentionally.
When active labor finally began at 39 weeks and five days, Lauren continued trusting her body. She cared for her older son, moved through the day, and eventually arrived at the hospital already nine centimeters dilated. Within an hour, her second son was born. This time, pushing was dramatically different. Instead of two and a half hours of forceful, coached pushing, Lauren allowed the process to unfold with the support of midwives who protected her space. She could feel her baby’s head as he descended, and she remained deeply inside her birth bubble even though birth photos later revealed that more people were in the room than she remembered.
For Lauren, surrender during this birth looked like trusting that she would make it to the other side. She knew she had birthed before, and she allowed herself to stay connected to the process rather than fighting it. The experience was not yet what she would later describe as supernatural, but another piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.
Discovering Supernatural Childbirth
During Lauren’s third pregnancy, her understanding of birth changed dramatically. Around 28 weeks, while completing a doula course, she was introduced to Jackie Mize’s book Supernatural Childbirth. The ideas resonated immediately with questions Lauren had already been asking about birth, faith, and what might be possible when a woman trusted God rather than automatically accepting fear as part of the experience.
Around this same season, Lauren began reading the Bible consistently. A close friend had encouraged her to spend more time in Scripture, and Lauren began realizing that knowing God relationally meant intentionally learning His Word. As she read, prayed, and spent more time with Him, she felt increasingly able to recognize His voice. She happened to be reading Romans during this season and repeatedly encountered imagery that connected with pregnancy and new life. For Lauren, it felt deeply personal.
She had already learned how to prepare physically for birth. She exercised, cared for her body, paid attention to nutrition, and trusted physiological birth. What changed in her third pregnancy was the depth of her spiritual preparation. Lauren became convinced that she was going to experience a pain-free birth. She told her husband what she believed, and after witnessing her first two births, he was understandably less certain. Lauren continued preparing anyway, not simply by focusing on the absence of pain, but by drawing closer to God.
Protecting Her Peace When Her Due Date Passed
Lauren’s first baby had arrived at 37 weeks and five days, and her second at 39 weeks and five days. Her third pregnancy continued all the way to 40 weeks and six days. Although that timing was still within the normal range her midwives were comfortable supporting, it felt dramatically different to Lauren after two earlier births. As the days passed, concern from other people began creeping into her environment. There were conversations about monitoring, questions about when the baby would arrive, and increasing attention on the due date.
Lauren had to become intentional about protecting her mental and spiritual space. She trusted her midwives, who were comfortable allowing more time, and continued returning to what she believed God had been teaching her throughout pregnancy. She also created a worship playlist filled with songs that reminded her of God’s presence and promises. Rather than filling her mind with anxiety about when labor would begin, she wanted the atmosphere around her to continually draw her back toward trust.
Labor finally began at night, following a pattern similar to her first two births. Lauren got up around midnight, watched movies, walked around, and listened for God’s direction. She was not frantically timing every sensation or trying to force the process forward. She continued moving through labor peacefully until she sensed it was time to call for support and eventually leave for the hospital.
Seven Centimeters Dilated and Unable to Feel Her Contractions
When Lauren arrived at the hospital around 7:30 in the morning, she was so relaxed that the staff questioned whether she was actually in labor. They placed her on a monitor, which clearly showed contractions occurring. Lauren continued carrying on a normal conversation. When the staff asked whether she could feel the contractions appearing on the monitor, her answer was no. She was already approximately seven centimeters dilated.
Karen asked Lauren whether she at least felt pressure or a tightening sensation, but Lauren struggled to describe anything physical at all. She knew she was in labor more through intuition and an internal awareness than through the sensations she had experienced during previous births. She felt as though God was guiding her from one step to the next, telling her when to call, when to leave, and when to wait.
Once Lauren moved into her birth room, the environment became part of protecting that experience. The lights were dimmed, a lamp provided soft lighting, worship music played, and the medical team largely stayed outside the room. Lauren remembers sensing that she should simply be with her husband. They held one another, rocked, listened to music, and remained in an intimate space while her body continued laboring.
The Intrusive Thought That Tried to Pull Her Out of the Birth Bubble
There was one moment when Lauren felt herself beginning to leave that peaceful state. A thought entered her mind that everyone was waiting on her and she needed to hurry. Rather than physical pain, she noticed anxiety developing in her chest and mind. She recognized that something had changed internally.
Instead of automatically accepting the thought, Lauren questioned it. She asked what she should do. The anxious voice had no answer. Then she turned her attention toward God and asked Him what He wanted her to do. Lauren describes sensing reassurance that He would tell her. Her job was simply to stay close, trust, and wait.
Eventually, Lauren sensed that it was time to get down on her hands and knees. She leaned over a support and continued waiting. She remembers staring at the tag on a blanket in front of her while repeatedly asking God what she should do next. She did not force anything. Then she sensed a clear direction: it was time.
Lauren pushed twice, and her son Owen was born. She describes the experience as though her brain stopped trying to manage birth and her body simply did what it knew how to do. There was no long pushing stage and none of the intense struggle she had experienced during her first birth. For Lauren, it felt supernatural.
“I Just Saw God”
After Owen was born, Lauren held him during the golden hour and soaked in what had just happened. Then she looked toward her husband and noticed tears in his eyes. He had been emotional after their previous births, but this felt different. When Lauren asked if he was okay, he initially struggled to speak.
Eventually, he told her that when she had said she was going to have a pain-free birth, he had not truly believed her. After witnessing what had just happened, he told her, “I just saw God.” Lauren understood him to mean that he had witnessed the power and presence of God in a way he had not expected. Even the midwife commented that she had never seen something quite like the birth she had just witnessed.
The experience transformed more than Lauren’s understanding of birth. Her husband had now seen what she had been believing and praying for throughout pregnancy. That shared experience would become especially significant when they prepared to welcome their fourth child.
A Second Supernatural Pain-Free Birth at Home
By Lauren’s fourth pregnancy, her family was living in Germany during the COVID era. Hospital restrictions had changed the birth landscape, and Lauren’s husband, who had previously preferred hospital births, was now open to home birth. They connected with a home birth midwife, and Lauren entered pregnancy carrying everything she had learned through her first three births.
When labor began, it again started at night. Lauren watched movies, walked around her home, prayed, and remained peaceful. This time, she did not need to leave the safety and familiarity of her own environment. Her care team came to her. When the midwives arrived, Lauren was so calm that the midwife-in-training initially remarked that she did not appear to be in labor. Twenty minutes later, the baby was born.
Lauren used a simple prayer rhythm throughout this birth: ask, thank, praise. She would ask God for what she needed, thank Him for His presence and help, and then praise Him. Instead of allowing her thoughts to spiral into fear, worry, and overwhelm, this pattern continually redirected her attention toward God.
At one point, Lauren stepped outside onto freezing pavers. The sudden cold immediately jolted her into physical awareness. When she stepped back inside onto the heated floors, she felt herself return to the peaceful state she had been experiencing. The moment stood out because it showed her just how deeply absorbed she had been in the birth process.
Two Pushes and the Daughter She Never Knew She Needed
Near the end of labor, Lauren sensed God directing her to go to the bathroom. She sat on the bathroom floor talking and smiling with her midwife. Looking back at the birth photographs, Lauren knows this was only about five minutes before her baby arrived. She sensed that things were changing even though she still was not focused on intense physical sensations.
Then, just as she had during Owen’s birth, Lauren sensed that it was time. She got onto all fours and focused her eyes on the loops of a green towel in front of her. Again, she pushed twice. Again, her baby was born. The midwife passed the baby through Lauren’s legs, and Lauren immediately realized something was different. After three sons, she was holding a daughter.
That moment opened an unexpected layer of healing. Lauren had always prayed for boys. As she reflected on her history of sexual trauma, she began recognizing that perhaps part of her desire for sons had been connected to the pain she associated with being a woman. She knew what it felt like to experience violation and disrespect, and somewhere inside her, raising boys may have felt safer.
God gave her a daughter anyway. Lauren now describes raising her little girl as one of the most beautiful parts of her healing. Watching her daughter delight in being a girl has awakened something in Lauren that trauma had caused her to deny in herself. Motherhood became another place where healing continued long after the birth itself was over.
From Doing Birth in Her Own Strength to Surrendering
Looking across Lauren’s four births, the progression is striking. She entered her first pregnancy already confident that her body belonged to her and that she could advocate for herself. She prepared physically, valued natural birth, and trusted her instincts. Yet over time, she came to see that trusting her body and relying entirely on her own strength were not necessarily the same thing.
Her first birth taught her how intervention could pull her out of her internal rhythm. Her second taught her more about surrender and spontaneous pushing. Her third brought her into a radically different experience of God’s presence. Her fourth reinforced everything she had learned while surrounding her with a husband and birth team who helped protect that peaceful space.
For Lauren, the greatest transformation was not becoming stronger or learning to tolerate more. It was learning to surrender more fully. Her pain-free births were not accomplishments she believes she achieved through willpower. She describes herself as a vessel, allowing her body to work while keeping her attention on God.
Birth Does Not Have to Become Another Performance
Lauren’s story offers an important perspective for women drawn to the idea of pain-free or supernatural childbirth. It can be tempting to hear a testimony like hers and immediately create another standard to achieve. A woman may begin wondering whether she prayed enough, believed enough, prepared correctly, or somehow failed if her birth included pain.
That is not where Lauren places the emphasis. During her final two births, she was not constantly checking whether contractions hurt. She was focused on God’s presence and listening for His voice. The absence of pain was part of her testimony, but it was not the center of her attention while she was laboring. Relationship was.
Lauren’s story also demonstrates the importance of preparing the whole person for birth. She cared for her physical body, learned about physiological birth, chose supportive providers, created a peaceful environment, paid attention to her thought patterns, and invested deeply in her spiritual life. Preparation and surrender were not opposites. Preparation gave her tools and awareness, while surrender allowed her to release the need to control every part of the experience.
A Story of Birth, Healing, and Knowing God More Deeply
Lauren once believed she did not want children at all. Today, she is a mother of four whose birth experiences became some of the places where she says she encountered God most intimately. Through pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and motherhood, she began seeing her body differently. The body that had once been associated with trauma became a place where she witnessed life, strength, nourishment, healing, and transformation.
Her story does not suggest that every woman’s birth will unfold exactly like hers. Instead, it invites women to question the assumption that birth must automatically be approached through fear. It shows what can happen when a woman learns about her body, surrounds herself with supportive care, examines the fears she carries, protects the intimacy of her birth space, and allows faith to become an active part of preparation rather than something she reaches for only when labor becomes difficult.
For the woman preparing for birth, Lauren’s story offers a different question than, “Will I be strong enough?” Perhaps the deeper questions are: What am I believing about my body? What fears am I carrying into this experience? Who am I allowing to speak into my birth? What would it look like to prepare intentionally and then release control? And, for the woman of faith, what could change if birth became another place to draw close to God rather than another challenge to conquer alone?
Lauren’s four births tell a story of progression, but they also tell a story of redemption. She moved from experiencing violation to reclaiming trust in her body. She moved from pushing because someone told her to push to allowing her body to lead. She moved from knowing about God to intentionally listening for His voice. She moved from believing she never wanted children to watching her daughter awaken a part of herself she did not know still needed healing.
Her two supernatural pain-free births are extraordinary parts of that testimony, but the deeper story is what happened through them. Birth became a place of surrender. It became a place of intimacy. It became a place where her husband witnessed something that changed him too. Most of all, Lauren says birth became one of the ways she came to understand just how deeply God knows and loves her.
More about Lauren:
I am originally from Hawaii and have lived in 7 different states, as well as another country. I have lived in Tampa for 1.5 years. I received my Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Colorado in Boulder and my Master’s Degree from Fordham University in New York. After my first career as an active duty officer in the Air Force for 8.5 years, I was medically retired. At the conclusion of my first career I pursued my Master’s in Social Work, feeling called to serve in another capacity. Along the way I have gained training in other mind/body related fields. Those trainings include 2.5 years teaching pre and post natal fitness, 200 hour ashtanga yoga (a specialization in one breath one movement), 30 hour yin yoga (a specialization in myofascial release), 30 hour pregnancy/birth/postpartum doula, and functional nutrition. It is my firm belief that healing happens through a collaboration of modalities. Our mind is the control center of the body, but body and mind work together is where the long lasting healing happens.
How can I help you: While I have many trainings and education under my belt, I also come with a wealth of lived experience. I have walked through sexual assault, family abandonment, divorced parents, blended families, PTSD from military service to name a few. I have been where you might be and have walked through and continue to walk on the healing journey. A journey rife with anxiety, depression, suicidal ideations, anger, resentment, loneliness, triggers and so much more. I can not only sympathize, but also empathize with where you are. The journey to healing never ends and there is always work to do, but I can safely say that on the other side of acute need there is a full and thriving life waiting for you.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liferich_coaching/ and https://www.instagram.com/laurenelizabethfrazier/
Website: www.liferichcoaching.com
Email: lauren@liferichcoaching.com
Want to Experience a Faith-Filled Birth Too?
If you’re ready to transform your mindset and birth with peace and purpose, check out the free Unlocking a Pain Free Birth Masterclass. Discover the 3 keys to a Pain-Free birth so you can experience the joyful, supernatural power of birth the way God designed it.
Join Karen’s Doula Certification Program HERE
