Childbirth Complications

Published by wintergreen on December 8, 2014December 8, 2014

There are heaps of childbirth complications that’s for sure. But we have to break this down a bit more. Reasonably everyone is afraid of any pregnancy or childbirth complication. There is no doubt that those pregnant women considered to be ‘low risk’ in pregnancy and birth are equated with a more positive birth or better birth. We have to question that statement and learn what Birthing Better families learned when they developed all the skills in Birthing Better courses in the early 1970s. We discovered, acknowledged and acted on two Truths:

1. No matter the number of risk factors, a baby can birth easily
2. No matter the number of risk factors, a woman can cope well with the birthing process

This is important to understand and then apply to your situation and possible pregnancy and childbirth complications.

Questions for you

• Are you bringing health issues into your pregnancy?

If the answer is ‘yes’ that does not mean that one or more health issues will have a negative impact on your baby’s birth or how you cope and handle the birth. These health issues may become childbirth complications or not. These childbirth complications may leave you overwhelmed or not. These health issues may be minor yet require monitoring or major with increased monitoring yet be part of a wonderful birth experience … or not.

If you answered ‘no’ you can still develop some during pregnancy or during The Birth. If no health issues are brought into pregnancy and do not develop, some may develop during birth or not. And whether or not they develop there is no correlation between how easily your baby births or how well you cope.

• Is your baby has known health issues while you’re pregnant?

Your baby having health issues during your pregnancy still has no correlation between how easily he/she births or how well you cope or not with the birthing process. This is also true if your baby develops childbirth complications during the birth.

• Do you and your baby both have health issues whether related or not?

There is still no correlation between any health issue of either you or your baby that determines how easily your baby births or how well you cope.

Bottom line: 

You and your baby will have increased medical assessments, monitoring, and procedures (AMPs) if either or both of you have childbirth complications or health issues yet there is NO correlation between those issues and how easily a baby may or may not birth or you cope or not.

This is important to know because you have more control than you think. You may or may not have any control over whether you or your baby have health issues or childbirth complications arise. You do have control over TWO things:

• You can prepare your body to give birth which may prevent or reduce ‘issues’ from becoming ‘problems’.

This was the FIRST GOAL of Birthing Better families whether they had health issues or not. Low-risk Birthing Better pregnant women wanted to reduce or prevent risk occurring. High-risk Birthing Better families wanted to reduce or prevent those risks from becoming more serious.

• Learn birth and birth-coaching skills for use through the birthing process.

Nothing stopped any birthing woman or birth-coaching dad/other from using skills to work through their baby’s birth journey. 

In other words, Birthing Better families always birthed better by either reducing or preventing issues from becoming childbirth complications if possible AND by using skills to work through birth whether there were birth complications or not.

What you can do about childbirth complications

Most important is to prepare your pregnant body to open, be soft, pliable and mobile so your baby can birth more easily and effectively. Then learn birth and birth-coaching skills that you commit to using as a mother and father/other to work through the process of birth. These two choices can absolutely make the difference between a birth that leaves you and perhaps your baby traumatized and an empowered one.

Birthing Better families cannot always prevent challenging or even traumatic births, however, being skilled reduces or prevents the sense of being traumatized.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Are you going to feel ok about the AMPs that your obstetrician and midwife believe are best in order to safeguard you and your baby’s wellness?
   1. If ‘yes’ then still use birth and birth coaching skills to work through your baby’s birth journey no matter what is happening to or around you.
   2. If ‘no’ then you’ll need to negotiate with your obstetrician or midwife about what types of AMPs, how many and when are done. Regardless of the outcome of those negotiations commit to using skills to work alongside any AMPs that you end up having whether you like or want them. Using skills means you focus on what you ‘do’, how you cope, manage and deal with what is happening to or around these AMPs.
2. If you are absolutely NOT ok with any AMPs then you have several choices:
   1. Don’t see an obstetrician or midwife at all and birth at home. Still, use skills so you can reduce or prevent whatever health issues you might have from becoming more complex. Skills may or may not have any impact on any health issues your baby might have. However, being skilled can increase your probability of having an effective birth which in itself reduces or prevents health problems associated with long labors and 2nd stage.
   2. Negotiate. This is where your birth and birth coaching skills are so essential. When others see you as coping, managing, dealing with, working through, handling, staying on top and in control then obstetricians and midwives will work with you better. If others see you as being overwhelmed and out of control they harden.
3. Health issues and childbirth complications are NOT the same as how women behave and cope with birth as it unfolds. The vast majority of medical ‘interventions’ are used because women are not in control. In other words, the most common childbirth complication occurs when women are totally overwhelmed during birth. Stressed and overwhelmed birthing women stimulates something in obstetricians and midwives …. they don’t want you or your baby to suffer!

 Here’s your bottom line:

• Prepare your pregnant body to become a birthing body.
• Learn, practice and use birth and birth coaching skills to work through your baby’s birth journey
• Use your birth and coaching skills no matter where you birth, with whom or what is happening to or around you.

Forty-five years of Birthing Better skills have helped many thousands of families to birth better even if they did not have a better birth. Childbirth complications range from minor to very serious or start off minor and become serious or appear serious and never unfold. You may have ZERO control over that. You do have 100% control over your ability to become and use skills.

Birthing Better skills were developed by moms and dads in the early 1970s in the US and used by many thousands globally in all types of birth. Birthing Better online birthing classes are housed in Common Knowledge Trust.