2. Learn some historical information about women and birthing. Why? Because there have been thousands of women who have given birth around the world, for thousands of years. They did it! A woman's body is anatomically designed to have babies, and what a beautiful design at that! AND before the last 100 + years, without medication as we know it today! It will give you a different perspective on giving birth. Are you inspired yet?
3. Knowledge of medical terminology, procedures, and interventions used in hospitals, birthing centers, home births, and their differences in managment, so that you and your partner can make appropriate decisions that suit your lifestyle and values. You may want to write out a birth plan. (Please read pg.6 in your book) What book?
4. Support System. The evidence is very clear if you choose to have a Midwife or a Doula at your side: The cesarean birth rate is reduced, less complications, resulting in happier, and healthier births. Why? Because they provide the emotional nurturing that is often missing during labor ( mostly from the healthcare team ) AND patience! Also, Your partner is a very important aspect of the birthing experience, but both of you need support at the same time, for different reasons.
5. A heck of a Tool Box! What? If you stick around this will be discussed.
6. Communication. All of the above depends on communication. You need to share your thoughts with your partner, your midwife, Doula, and your healthcare provider so that your needs and wants will be met as best as possible. You know they have your best interest at heart, but they can't read your mind if you don't like something! Speak!
7. A basic understanding of your body, its anatomy, physiology, the discomforts you may feel during your pregnancy. What to anticipate in labor, birth, and postpartum.
Learn what you can do and what your partner can do to help ease discomfort.
Now, believe it or not, YOU bring your attitudes, values, and personal beliefs to a childbirth class, about birth, babies, pregnancy...and so on! Hopefully you'll also bring an open mind, your willingness to try, learn and PRACTICE new skills, and ideas. Beware! You may gain new perspectives about you, your life and a renewed confidence in your ability to give birth.
Remember too, your attitude will influence your experience.
Take me to:
I n t r o d u c t i o n
There are many variables that can influence your experience in giving birth, such as, your health, your faith in your healthcare provider, how you cope with stress, your interpretation of pain, the environment in which you live and give birth in, and your relationship with your partner..it goes on and on. You have a connection with all of these and more, which can have a profound impact on the choices you make.
This section is the backbone of this online class. Here you will find information about how we react physically when confronted with fear, how we respond to pain, and how we can block it. If you can understand the hows and whys, it will be easier to know when to apply the suggestions made in the labor section of this site. All of the information provided here, is for the preparation of birth.
Always keep in mind, that whatever decisions you make regarding the birth of your child, and your choice in comfort measures, they will be the right ones for you.
What is a connection? One definition given by Websters Dictionary is: A relationship, an association with something or someone, a thing that connects.
We have a lot of connections in our lives: To material things, and people. We are also connected to science, medicine, philosophy, religion, culture, economics, technology, sociology, history, and psychology, ( to name a few ). All of us are influenced by these disciplines in one way or another on a daily basis. It is such a part of our lives, we don't really think about it! It's automatic! We get vaccinated by doctors, buy computers, take yoga classes, see counselors, physicians, go to a hospital to give birth, and so on. Usually, with no questions asked. We support these connections by incorporating them into our lives based on our beliefs. How we incorporate them depends on our lifestyle, values, and what we believe to be true in our personal life. It is totally individual.
So what do these connections have to do with planning the birth of a baby?
A lot! You and your partner are the center of attraction now, and your connections with family, relatives, with each other, and with the disciplines mentioned above are enhanced. I bet you are being bombarded with questions like: Where are you having the baby? What hospital? Who's your doctor? Is the nursery ready? Are you going to get an epidural? Will you christen the baby? If it's a boy will you circumcise him?, and where, at the hospital, or at home with a special ceremony? And so on.
Yes, you are having a baby, but this wonderful event is also dynamic and complex. It used to be, a couple of hundred years ago, you would just have your baby at home, surrounded by friends and family members. Today it is very different. You are surrounded by technology, with few family members, and many decisions to make.
Most births occur in a hospital, and even though there are other choices, women choose hospitals. So, if you are going to a hospital you need to be prepared. You also need to know you have other options: A home birth, a birthing center, a hospital birth with a Midwife, a hospital birth with a Doula, a home birth with Midwife and Doula, these choices are also safe.
Why be prepared? Being prepared helps you to anticipate, and problem solve when you need to make a choice. When you are prepared you respond better, can solve problems, and anxiety is decreased. That's why childbirth education is great because it gives you the information that you need to know, BUT what you DO with that information is the most important part!
This may or may not be a stressful time for you. However, It usually is. All at once you have many decisions to make, financial, social, medical, and at the same time, you're both trying to sort everything out. It's an emotional time! A woman's body goes through amazing physiological changes that can influence her emotional state. But, it's not as simple as that. Having a baby is a major life change! At times you will find yourselves thinking about your own childhood, and how you were raised. Will you be good parents? A good mother, father? Men will be anxious about money, responsibility, their partners when labor comes, sex, and the baby. Women will worry about how they look, the baby's health, labor, pain, and much more.
During all of this, as you get lost in the worries, probably the the most magnificent of connections of all is how natural it is to have a baby, discomfort and all. Women have been doing it for thousands of years. We are so frought with worries, and fears that THEY magnify, and influence our birthing experience. How? Hang in there, we will talk about that!
In the mean time, here are some suggestions of what you can do, and learn about to fullfill your part, an active part, in the delivery of your baby.
S t a r t m a k i n g c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h:
1. Yourself. This is an a-m-a-z-i-n-g time for you! You are filled with emotions. This is a good time to release them! When you keep emotions bottled up inside, they fester, you worry. Then you hear a horror story about another woman's childbirth experience, and you cringe. Now, you are really upset! If you haven't already, start a Journal! This is a very healthy, and an inexpensive way to unload your feelings in a safe way. It will also give you a book of great memories to share maybe with that child you give birth to.
Start thinking about what kind of birth you want, where, and who you want there. What is important to you? To your partner? Do you really want drugs? Start talking! (Please read page 3 in your book) What book?
