Healthy Birthing, Your
Special Journey
Spending time with parents at many stages of their journey,
as well as still being on the journey myself, you just gain so much insight
into the experience. Often at my baby support group the moms share their birth
stories, which I really do encourage as there is so much value in telling your
story. I try use these experiences in order to constantly update my pregnancy
education courses.
Some of the things that come through are extremely positive,
some sad, some very funny and some traumatic.
“That moment of relief, joy, and completeness as I delivered
my son will stay with me forever”.
“I felt violated and abused when nurse, then the Dr did
internal. No one warned me how painful that would be and how uncomfortable
would feel, then the disappointment of no progress”.
“The relief when Dr said I had to have a C-section because the
responsibility of choice was removed”.
“The feeling of helplessness in the NICU when I was told
that I couldn’t hold my baby”.
“My plan to have my makeup perfect for the birth photos went
out the window and this is what we got, LOL”
“There is still that 1 MRI that was a bit abnormal that I
keep going back to and keeps me awake at night”.
The goal is to have a birth that is fulfilling, positive,
and satisfying. In order to do this parents need to be empowered. Empowerment
doesn’t always look and sound the same as we are all unique. Empowerment is
where parents make choices without coercion and with supportive caregivers. Education
and true informed consent and decision making will make any birth, treatment
plan and situation empowering.
The first thing that I teach is that you are the leader of
your care. You can ask your health care provider as many questions as it takes
to make you feel comfortable, as many times as it is needed. You are not
questioning their education, training or experience, you are just making sure
that you understand all the variables in order to decide what you need to do
and be comfortable that you are making best choice for you and your family. There
is no Dr, nurse, or any health care professional that if they are confident in
their treatment plan that worries about you asking questions and different
options.
This can be scary. I had a mom phone me because her
paediatrician said that she should stop breastfeeding for 2 weeks and use
formula, then resume breastfeeding. She said that she didn’t believe that was
the right thing for her baby, but paediatrician said she must do this. After chatting
through the issue, I suggested that she go back to the paediatrician and ask
some questions to make her feel more comfortable, as she is also a health care professional e.g. what is the
research that this method has proven an effective treatment, what is the
mechanism that will make it work, will it affect my milk supply, will baby go
back to the breast after the 2 weeks and other questions along this line. She
messaged me from the waiting room saying that she had so much anxiety about
asking these questions to the Dr, but she did it. Together the mom and paed then
came to a treatment plan together that they were both comfortable with. Paed
phoned her and thanked her for opportunity to hear all her fears and adjust treatment according. The mom phoned me and said that was one of the most
empowering experiences she has had and that she will fight for her kid always.
Start fighting for yourself and your baby from the start by empowering yourself:
·
Start your childbirth education early.
·
Get access to the correct information from
qualified professionals that keep up to date.
·
Do your own research.
·
Write down your idea of a positive birth.
·
Write down your fears.
·
Find a childbirth educator that you feel
confident with and is high quality.
·
Write down all your questions and make sure that
at your prenatal visit they are all answered, don’t get distracted.
·
Before any procedure, intervention or change of
plan ask for pro’s, con’s, benefits doing it now vs waiting, and what can
expect.
You Got This!
