Hi there, dad-to-be and future birth coach. Yes, we’re speaking to you. In this post, we’re going to introduce you to the lessons in our dads as birth coach Online Classes; developed by those just like you that took their role as dads-to-be seriously. And so, you should! You want to do the right thing by your partner. But to do that, you’ll first need to know the ‘how-to.’
The role of Dads-to-be
So, your partner is pregnant. You’re not. But her pregnancy does impact you both. And in reality, you’re really not that different from one another anyway. You can both blink, cough, and tighten your rectum… So there’s every reason for you (as the dad-to-be) to get involved in preparing for the birth of your child.
Let’s think about birth practically. After all, birth is really just an exercise in plumbing: there’s a big object (your baby), and that object has to come down and out a container (your partner’s body). Simple! And like with any practical exercise, the next step from understanding the process itself is to understand the skills you need to make sure that the process goes well. And that’s where Better Birthing comes in.
Sure, Birthing Better skills were developed by mums. After all, women are the first ones to want to know all about how they’re going to give birth. But just because your partner is the pregnant one, that doesn’t mean she instinctively knows how to best give birth. And if your partner doesn’t know that, she doesn’t know how you can help her either.
That’s why Birthing Better skills were also developed by dads. As dads-to-be, they wanted to know how to help their partner give birth. Sure, your partner might hand you a book or together you might go to a class, but you’ll no doubt come away still wondering what you can do to actually help. And that’s where we come in. Better Birthing teaches you the specific, hands-on skills you’ll need to become a birth-coach; including how you can prepare your partner for whatever type of birth she’ll give. Remember, your partner will give birth regardless. So it’s up to you if you can help her do it.
Skills for Dads-to-be
You have the job of being the birth-coach, so having skills is vitally important. This is what dads-to-be don’t always understand. Your Obstetrician or Midwife will safeguard the wellbeing of your partner and your baby. Your partner will give birth. But you have to help, too, and to help you will need the right set of skills.
Standing around, holding your partner’s hands, giving her ice chips, wiping her forehead… this is not the help she needs. You need to learn to identify whether or not she’s coping. Skills like modeling good breathing patterns, deep touching, creating a space in the pelvis for the baby, reading contractions… these are the kinds of skills you can use to actually help your partner when she’s preparing to give birth.
With the right skills, both you and your partner can become an effective birthing team, even if circumstances do happen to go awry. In fact, Better Birthing skills have been used in all kinds of unexpected situations – from C-sections, to unplanned caesareans, to giving birth in the back of a car… The skills you learn with us will help you no matter what happens.
And with these skills, you’ll feel empowered to help your partner give the best birth possible. Thanks to being skilled, you and your partner will be left with a more positive and confident experience of giving birth. And that’ll start you off on the right foot as a new dad.
The Job of the Birth-coach
Some will say that your job is to support your partner’s choices and to just ‘be there’ for them. But that’s like just standing behind them as they’re changing diapers; not helping out. But she wants you to be involved; not to just hang around.
Being a support person is great. But being a coach is better. A birth-coach has the skills to actually help their partner. Learning to become a birth-coach includes you alongside your partner in doing the hard work of childbirth.
Birthing Better offers simple, effective, and time-tested skills to help you become a birth-coach. Dads-to-be that learned the skills to become a birth-coach were serious about being involved in the birth of their child. They wanted a set of skills that could support their partner in every situation. And together, they and their partner became a stronger family for it.
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.