“Thank you SO MUCH for your email. I will get to work giving you a comprehensive note of what’s different/missing from the syllabus versus the downloaded zip file. I’ll probably do it in an excel spread sheet so that’s it’s easier to see.
And I am MORE THAN HAPPY to review the documents you sent me. I should be able to do this and the excel sheet above by the end of the week at the latest.
I am 30 weeks along with my first baby, a boy, due to arrive at the end of October. we are using the comprehensive course and loving it. I’m a Preventive Medicine MD based in the Seattle area of the United States.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have come upon BirthingBetter. It was very serendipitous. I heard the course referenced in an obscure podcast by Daniel Vitalis called “Rewild Yourself” (my husband sent the podcast to me). He was interviewing Dr. Sarah Buckley. I also came across your name in her book Gentle birth, Gentle Mothering.
My husband and I have been following the course outline since week 24, and already I feel so much more empowered, more in touch with my body, and more capable than before. On a personal level I feel like this course is a Godsend. And on a professional level I do as well.
I could go on and on here, but what I’d like to say for now is that your email made me very excited! As a Preventive Medicine physician trained in clinical medicine AND public health, I am very disturbed by the trends in OB care–increasing rates of epidurals/C-sections, disenfranchised parents who felt like they were not in control or capable. Your course has given me so much hope–I’ve been feeling for weeks like I wish I could do whatever it takes to spread this message to the masses here in the US. In just the time that I’ve been pregnant I have come to some wonderful resources (yours being probably the most impactful) that have unleashed in me a passion for this topic that I had no idea was inside me.
I would love to collaborate. I do not have a huge base of people “following me” in the US, but I am young, and driven, and excited about bringing this ancestral/birthright knowledge back into prenatal education and mainstream medicine.
I would love to continue this conversation:) Thank you so much for all of your work you have done.
I will absolutely write a review with my name/title attached to it.
P.S. I’ve talked to MANY MDs, midwives, and doulas in my area and none of them have heard of birthing better–it astounds me that these experts are unaware of what, in my estimation, may be the most important educational tool available for families.
Lindsey
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“Hahaha, I loved what you wrote about taking a deep breath:) I’m so excited you were the one to email me back.
First! Use anything I’ve written on your social media with my name and credentials and info attached to it as you see fit… here’s a more put-together review thus far:
“I knew that my husband and I wanted to have more skills than an average hospital class or hypnobirthing class would teach us. I was elated to find out about the birthing better course. I’m 30 weeks along now, and we’ve been working together through the comprehensive course every week since 24 weeks. In that short amount of time I now feel more capable, more empowered, and more in touch with my body. I know that we will have a great birth no matter what because we have the skills to adapt, work with our baby, and stay connected to each other, no matter what happens. There is no resource out there like this one. And I know–I’m a public health and preventive medicine physician and I’ve searched and searched, talked to all the “experts” and read all the books. Next up, the internal work!”
Karen
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“It makes SO MUCH sense to me that giving birth is instinctual like being a good cook is instinctual (they’re NOT!!!)… in the professional world we say that you need 30,000 hours of diligent practice to become an expert in something (medicine, engineering, etc)… so it makes NO SENSE that we expect ourselves/our patients/our partners to know what to do in birth without practice and without being taught very specific tools!
One reason that I was so drawn to BirthingBetter and continue to be is that the skills are for everyone–no matter how the birth unfolds–where, how many interventions, etc. There’s so much division–“Medicated in hospital is best!’ “Unmedicated is best” “home birth is dangerous” “home birth is safe”… finally a resource that can unite all women in the fact that ultimately they will give birth, somewhere, at some time! I can’t believe this has been around since the 70s!!!
Thanks for setting me straight about the non-existent ancestral knowledge. I think that’s really important to know–I think the romantic/pioneer woman in me likes to think our modern society has lost all our traditional knowledge but it seems that it wasn’t even there in the first place!!! especially from your experiences in traditional cultures. So many women just “getting through it” clearly with a lot of physical and emotional trauma that endures–I’ve seen so many women, like you, with chronic pain, incontinence, etc.
it’s all at once ridiculous and not surprising to me that the “experts” have dismissed BirthingBetter for 45 years. I hope I can help change that. Funny that you mention the lifestyle diseases (heart disease, diabetes, obestiy, etc). My private practice since I finished training has been focused on helping patients improve their eating and moving habits to get off meds/reverse their preventable diseases.
Thank you for sharing your birth stories!!!! soooooo much to talk about. this has made my day:)
Mikala
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“Thanks for your response! I purchased the pink kit on 24/10/2013!! {NOW .. BirthingBetter}
It was an amazing help with my Breech vaginal birth (first baby) and even helped me get through without pain relief. I’ve told anyone who’ll listen ever since 🙂
Yes, I’m pregnant again and have been working through the kit I have but it would be great to get the updated resources (especially for my husband who finds it hard knowing what he needs to look at in the original kit).
Thanks for that 🙂 yes, the birthing skills certainly make a difference in how professionals respond! My breech birth occurred in an unsupportive hospital with only limited staff who were able to support it. The obstetrician on shift when I first arrived was only comfortable with me having a c-section but became more relaxed as it got closer to the next obstetricians shift. Being a public holiday there was actually no theatre prepped (I only learnt this afterwards). I also requested the hospital bed be altered in order to be more upright. It was hard, but because of my skills I felt calm and empowered despite the opressive and stressful circumstances. Did I mention I talk to anyone who’ll listen??!! Haha.
I’m in Dunedin, New Zealand and I’m 32 weeks currently. Baby is head down this time around and I’m aiming to have a home birth. I’d love it if my (now 3 year old) daughter felt ok to be at the birth of her little brother. I grew up being afraid of birth and I don’t want that for her. Hubby is supportive of a homebirth after seeing the hospital setting (which he originally perceived as being safest). Because he’s seen that I can do it, and that the hospital had it’s challenges for both of us, he is really keen to stay at home.
Thanks 🙂 Yes, we did the internal work last time which I’m sure is why I dodged an episiotomy despite obstetrical breech “manoeuvres” (and a manual placenta removal) and only had second degree tears. Craig was amazing during our daughters birth and helped me with the breathing when things got difficult as well as prompting me when labour slowed while I was in the birth pool (and many, many other things during my lengthy labour).
Around the proposals – I wonder if they need to be much more concise? More like a research proposal style? Could you partner with a research/training facility? Having done some research I know that proposals can require a very specific writing style.
The other thing I thought while reading it is that I don’t know why they aren’t talked about in more detail at antenatal classes. The first ones I went to were through The Parent’s Centre – and I don’t think there was any mention of them although there were two of us that found out about and used the pink kit from our class. The second (recent) classes I went to were Positive Birth Classes which perhaps have a more homebirth-type approach and were taught by an experienced midwife. They were awesome and she did mention pink kit skills (and showed a few) as well as teaching a separate hypnobirthing class. But I think that class is unusual relative to the other options (certainly those available in Dunedin). It certainly wasn’t one of the “mainstream” courses.
In general, people I spoke to tended to dismiss the idea of skills for birth outright. They tended to view it as something unpredictable that seemed like luck of the draw, therefore didn’t feel that there could possibly be any way I thought I could prepare. I think some people actually thought I was crazy for thinking I could learn skills. Before the birth, we both didn’t really even feel like we could tell anyone what we were working on. It seemed kind of taboo (like we would put the booklets away anytime anyone was visiting etc). Now I’ve since spoken to other mums about using the birthing better skills, but it feels hard to do that sometimes too – some people respond with interest, but I think for some people the idea that there was anything they could have done to have a different birth seems to touch a nerve so it feels harder to mention it even if it could help them next time. Also, I really worry about sounding boastful. But having skills to use did result in a very empowering experience overall for me. I don’t think I would have been as proud of my birth if I had achieved it “accidentally”. It took a lot of preparation and hard work – which is often dismissed as being lucky when it was actually something I worked hard for. Birth is quite emotional I guess and I think you are right to start it with trainee midwifes and first births ideally.
Great to meet you too!
Janine