Investing In Your Birth

Investing in your birth makes sense. It is one of the most memorable and life changing events that occurs in our lifetime. Why is it then that most people do more research when buying a car rather than in the birth of their child? Gas mileage, safety, resale value, and crash ratings are just a few things people research before investing in a new car. What do people research prior to giving birth? Often nothing. They show up where their insurance tells them to go and do what they are told, rarely asking questions. Investing in the birth process, options, and practitioner are important because it ultimately affects the outcome and memory you will have forever. 

Investing in your birth involves research, time, and money. It’s like the saying “what you put in you get out”.  First, you should research and invest in nutrition. I recommend perimeter shopping which involves shopping around the parameter of the grocery store and avoiding middle isles that contain boxed food that are highly processed. Whole wheat bread, grains, and pasta should substitute white, processed foods which contain little B vitamins including Folic Acid which is important in preventing Spina Bifida in the baby. Getting on a whole food prenatal vitamin which contains fruits and vegetables in the ingredients list not dyes and preservatives is also very important to prevent anemia, muscles cramps, and increase overall energy.

Taking time to interview practitioners is another crucial step to investing in your birth experience. Pregnancy is not an illness and so you aren’t being treated or cured of anything. You are hiring the practitioner and so you do have a choice and say in how you want to be treated. You can also fire them. What are your practitioner’s philosophy on natural childbirth, breastfeeding, and bonding with the newborn. Does the practitioner honor birth plans? How late can you go past your due date prior to medical induction? Do they offer any natural remedies for common discomforts or natural inductions. What is their cesarean rate and why? Midwifery is a partnership between the client and the midwife. They come to trust each other during the prenatal period and each knows the intention and goal of the other. This facilitates natural birth because the woman trusts the process and the practitioner and so can turn her brain off and just birth. Choosing a practitioner that wants to partner with you to educate you on the process of birth empowers you to make good choices during the pregnancy and recognize when complications arise.

Research the location you plan to birth in. What are the options they offer for women in labor? Is there telemetry monitoring in every room or the option for intermittent monitoring? Do they offer hydrotherapy? What is the cesarean section rate? Do they encourage rooming in with the baby? Do they provide early discharge in less than 12 hours if everything is normal with mom and baby? Where you birth is a big investment in how the overall experience will be….it’s the venue! You want to feel relaxed and safe at the same time. Many women are choosing out of hospital birth and staying home or going to a birth center because they want the overall experience to be intimate and empowering and not a medical event. Many women will say once they walked into the hospital they lost control and felt powerless over their birth. When having a homebirth the practitioner walks into your home and respects your space and desires for the birth. There are no strangers walking in or restrictions in movement or food and yet all the emergency medical equipment is available.

Finally, being prepared to spend extra money on the practitioner, classes, and extra help is a good investment for planning your birth. Enrolling in a good childbirth and breastfeeding class such as Hypnobirthing, Bradley Method, or Birthing From Within that teaches about how birth works, coping techniques, coaching tips, and afterbirth care is priceless. Avoid mainstream classes that prepare you how to be a good patient and when you’re “allowed” to get pain medication. This will help you get a good overall education on the process and options. Paying extra for a practitioner who is out of network or not covered at all may still save you money in the end if you avoid s cesarean section. Investing in a doula or labor coach who supports natural birth and is educated on options and how to support   through birth is another investment which helps prevent cesarean section.

Ultimately in the end we don’t have control over when or how birth happens. But that’s the point. We can’t control birth and too often we try. Investing the time to educate yourself on birth and researching for the person to guide you through it creates a place of peace in however it turns out. Women can accept the outcome when they understand how they got there.