Using Pregnancy As A Time To Learn How To Birth
You’ve discovered that being pregnant is quite a job. In fact, you are pregnant every nano-second of your time. Being pregnant is ‘doing’ pregnancy and ‘doing’ is an activity.
It’s important that you understand this. The ‘doing’ of pregnancy prepares you to ‘do’ the activity of giving birth. Nature gives us this precious amount of time to adjust and prepare.
The Birth is the gateway through which you and your baby move through and is the interface between pregnancy and parenting. The Birth is an important transition experience. Once you’re pregnant you are 100% guaranteed to give birth one way or another.
This dynamic Gateway is the moment in Time you welcome your child and say goodbye forever to your own childishness.
Although it’s impossible to remove the emotional and psychological aspects of pregnancy, pregnancy is a very physical activity that leads to the very physical activity of giving birth.
Pregnancy is the time to:
- Prepare your pregnant body to let out a big object.
- Learn your birth skills so you can work with your baby’s efforts (his/her ‘doing’) to be born and come out of your body.
Giving birth is the ultimate activity that you have to do with another person … your child.
To prepare your pregnant body and learn birth skills is to couple your mind and body together. Although you might be told that you need to let go of your higher brain functions in order to birth, in reality it is the coupling of these higher thinking/choice brain functions that give humans skills. All of us know how poorly we feel when we lack skills. Lacking skills makes us feel stupid, incompetent and uncertain. Having good and appropriate skills makes us feel competent, capable and proud.
- Having good birth skills will make you feel in control of a situation you literally cannot control … your body’s response to your baby’s efforts to be born.
- Having birth skills gives you the confidence even if you cannot control what is happening around or to you … such as a snow storm that prevents your midwife from getting to your home; or an unexpected emergency Caesarean delivery; or the planned Caesarean because your baby is breech.
- Having your own birthing skills gives you the ability to adapt your skills to whatever birth you have.
You may not be able to have the birth you plan with your Birth Plans, the one you want or hope for … but you have the skills to birth better and have a positive birth. You might not have a perfect birth but how many of Life’s experiences are perfect?
Moving Toward Our Human Condition
We know all women are Women no matter what. And we know all pregnant women will give birth one way or another whether in a rice paddy or operating theatre.
There is a worldwide belief that childbirth is unknown. That’s true. There is no way to know what your birth will be like. As you prepare your body to give birth, learn and use the skills during the activity of birth you will realize childbirth is unknown until it unfolds and becomes really known. Birth will unfold and it will become known. Preparing for birth is preparing for the unknown. Having skills is to work with what becomes known.
Like many women, you might look for the newest trend or theory about childbirth. Most likely you will read books, attend classes and of course, see your birth professional regularly. You want what works, fits into your life and what’s best for you and your baby. Remember information and choices are not the same as having a great set of skills.
The Last Thing You Want For Yourself And Baby Is To Suffer
One way to reduce or prevent potential trauma to your own body or your baby is for you to prepare your pregnant body for birth, learn the skills to do this activity of giving birth and then commit yourself to using those skills as birth unfolds.
Your individuality will lead you to your own birth experience. Your shared human birth skills will lead you to participating in your own unique experience. Your empowerment will always lie in how you do this activity rather than what you’d like the activity to be like.