Your baby’s birth day is one of the most memorable days of your life. Birth is beautiful, mind-blowing and intense. It’s exciting and life-changing. Not only do our brains change after giving birth but science also says that we’re just fundamentally differnet people after going through such an amazing experience.

Related: 8 surprising things to know about giving birth for the first time

Everyone’s birth story is different. But one thing they all have in common is that they’re all awe-inspiring. As you’re preparing your hospital go-bag and maybe stocking some easy dinners in the freezer for postpartum care, here are birth quotes and postpartum quotes to help your head and your heart prepare.

15 beautiful birth quotes

1. “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

—Bob Parsons

2. “Birth isn’t something we suffer, but something we actively do and exult in.”

—Sheila Kitzinger

3. “There is no force equal to that of a determined woman.”

—Author unknown

4. “The wisdom and compassion a woman can intuitively experience in childbirth can make her a source of healing and understanding for other women.”

—Stephen Gaskin

5. “There is a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful. It’s that women are strong.”

—Laura Stavoe Harm

6. “Birth is not only about making babies. Birth is about making mothers — strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength.”

—Barbara Katz Rothman

7. “A strong intention, a relaxed body and an open mind are the main ingredients for an active birth.”

—Janet Balaskas

8. “In giving birth to our babies, we may find that we give birth to new possibilities within ourselves.”

—Myla + Jon Kabat-Zinn

Related: What Black mothers-to-be need to know before giving birth

9. “Birth is an opportunity to transcend. To rise above what we are accustomed to, reach deeper inside ourselves than we are familiar with, and to see not only what we are truly made of, but the strength we can access in and through birth.”

—Marcie Macari

10. “Giving birth should be your greatest achievement, not your greatest fear.”

—Jane Weideman

11. “Let choice whisper in your ear and love murmur in your heart. Be ready. Here comes life.”

—Maya Angelou

12. “There is such a special sweetness in being able to participate in creation.”

—Pamela S. Nadav

13. “When you change the way you view birth, the way you birth will change.”

—Marie F. Mongan, founder of HypnoBirthing

14. “The purpose exceeds the pain.”

—Beth Moore

15. “Just as a woman’s heart knows how and when to pump, her lungs to inhale, and her hand to pull back from fire, so she knows when and how to give birth.”

—Virginia DiOrio

A version of this post was published June 3, 2021. It has been updated.

The latest

News

They asked me to ‘prepay’ for my baby: The rising cost of maternity care no one prepares you for

Birth

We should stop discarding placentas after birth, scientists say

Birth Stories

When my youngest daughter was in the NICU, I felt like I was failing both of my kids

Birth Stories

American mom gives birth in Japan and the amenities are jaw-dropping