Shoshana, I use similar phrases to you;
'just listen to what your body is telling you to do', 'well done, that's fantastic', 'you've really got the hang of this, carry on like that'. etc etc.
At the point of crowning, I usually say something like 'do you remember I said it would feel like this, and they only way to get rid of this pain is to let your body go with it, I might just ask you to give little pushes now or to stop and breathe the pain away, okay?'
If I have been able to prepare women and their birth partners for this before it happens, it is usually enough to just remind them that this is normal.
KS x

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Kentish Spitfire
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"It's better to be thought a fool - rather than proved a fool!"