Unless you birth by yourself and never see your local GP, Obstetrician or Midwife, you will be involved with a maternity system.
Every maternity system sees itself as ‘delivering a service’ to you … their patient, client, customer or partner. But what does this all mean?
You want and expect your maternity provider to deliver good service. You want them to have the skills to safe-guard you and your baby’s wellbeing and health. You expect that. For what other purpose do you seek the care of your GP, Obstetrician or Midwife during pregnancy and birth?
As modern women, we expect our maternity service providers to reduce or prevent any risks we or our baby might have.
And these maternity birth providers go to school and learn skills to do just that. We all want to have a safe birth for ourselves and our babies.
Yet, pregnancy and childbirth are complex. Modern maternity services care for the health and wellbeing of mother and baby from a physical point of view. Since the 1980s, this approach has been questioned.
Women have been encouraged to make a Birth Plan. This certainly includes which maternity service assessments, monitoring and procedures are done or not done yet Birth Plans also expect maternity service providers to involve women in ‘informed consent’ as well as be ‘nice’. In other words, since the 1980s, women have had a very high expectation of the delivery of care in their maternity system.
In fact, midwives have also advocated for a maternity service that includes all aspects of a woman’s life, continuity of care within a partnership, always respecting women’s choices and ‘being there when a woman wants’ the midwife to be there.
We’ll discuss these different models of maternity delivery of care. Like anything, there are pros and cons.
But our Trust wants you to wake up right now! YOU and only YOU are going to do the activity of birthing your baby. No matter what maternity system, no matter your maternity provider, no matter your beliefs or circumstances, no matter your choices or lack of choices, and no matter what happens to or around you at birth. YOU are doing this activity whether you love or hate it. YOU are the only one doing this activity.
That means you are pregnant now which is the only and perfect time to self-learn birth and birth-coaching skills then use those skills to ‘do’ the activity of birthing your baby! Why?
No maternity system, no birth provider can ‘do’ the birth for you. They will take care of you but they can’t ‘do’ the birth. With skills, you’ll ‘do’ your birth better. And, your maternity service provider will love working with a skilled birthing woman and coaching dad/other.
Here’s the Concept of how to work with maternity delivery of service: It’s normal and natural in pregnancy to self-learn birth and coaching skills then use your skills to work through the activity of birthing your baby.