This article is spot on and fairly portrayed. This is pretty much what to expect at your obstetrician’s appointments … and this article covers midwifery appointments too! Honestly, no matter how much time an obstetrician or midwife spends with you, you will have more questions than time permits. But let’s be honest. No obstetrician or midwife will ever teach you the skills to prepare your pregnant body to give birth nor the birth and birth-coaching skills you need to use in order to work through your baby’s birth journey.
This article does talk about ‘choice’ when it comes to pain relief and birth position. Let’s talk about pain relief. If you want medical pain relief or use it that is solely your ‘choice’ or your business. If you want to have skills that you can use with or without medical pain relief then you will be motivated to become skilled. If you think you might like some birth and birth-coaching skills but may still use medical pain relief … sure, go for it.
Childbirth pain is NOT a medical issue or a threat to you or your baby. Childbirth pain is the natural occurring painful sensations that occur as your cervix is opening. You can use skills to cope, manage and stay on top of that natural occurring pain or you can use medical pain relief to just numb the pain. Your choice! Interesting you can use your birth skills without medical pain relief AND if you decide to use medical pain relief. However, most women today use medical pain relief because they don’t know there are effective skills out there. This is one reason Birthing Better keeps explaining this to you. Become skilled first and work through your labor and if/when you want/need/choose medical pain relief then use it. Continue to use your birth and birth-coaching skills as a way to stay involved and engaged with your baby’s birth journey.
Choosing your birth position is great. To get to birth you have to do the hard work of labor and that hard work is often associated with intense pain. Here’s the rub … great to choose your birth position but if you’re using some medical pain relief that won’t be possible. The most common form of medical pain relief is an epidural and you won’t feel your legs so it’s hard to get into many of the positions you might ‘choose’.
Anyway, back to the article. Your job is to become skilled. Neither your obstetrician or midwife really cares. We know this because many thousands of Birthing Better families have told us! However, every obstetrician and midwife who has been present with skilled birthing families love it! They just don’t believe it’s their role to tell families they should be skilled. They see their role as answering questions! This means if you ask your obstetrician or midwife ‘Should I become skilled?’ the answer will probably be ‘It’s your choice’.
BTW … An article has just been published in Midwifery Journal UK (This is a paid portal).
The title of the article is: Skills-based childbirth preparation reduces stress for midwives
Anne M. Howarth, MSc Ph.D. candidate, Kate M. Scott, Ph.D., MA (Clin Psych) Professor
of Psychological Medicine, Nicola R. Swain, Ph.D. Senior Lecturer in Psychological Medicine⁎
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.