First, let’s just get clear who birth professionals are:
1) Obstetricians
2) General Practice doctors
3) Midwives
4) Labor and Delivery Nurses
Then there are heaps and heaps of auxiliary folks:
1) Childbirth Educators
2) Doulas
3) Other practitioners who work with pregnant women
And then there are the places you birth:
1) Hospital
2) Maternity Home or Birth Centre
3) Yes, home …. but hold that thought!
Where do you stand in this diverse group?
1) It’s complex
2) You don’t care
3) You’re frantically making Birth Plans to try to take charge of your birth professional and place of birth
What’s missing?
1) A societal message that it’s ‘natural and normal when pregnant to self-learn birth and birth-coaching skills then use your skills to work through the activity of birthing your baby no matter where your birth takes place, who is present, your circumstances and beliefs, your choices or lack of choices or change in choices or what happens to and around you’.
2) Birth Professionals and auxiliary providers who are telling you: it’s ‘natural and normal when pregnant to self-learn birth and birth-coaching skills then use your skills to work through the activity of birthing your baby no matter where your birth takes place, who is present, your circumstances and beliefs, your choices or lack of choices or change in choices or what happens to and around you’.
What happens when you become skilled?
1) You focus on working through the activity of birthing your baby and not so much on ‘them’ and ‘where’
2) You’ll inspire your birth professional who would love to work with more skilled families.