Be Part Of A Childbirth Revolution

6 August 2008

There Is No Reasonable Reason Why Not To Learn How-to Birth During Pregnancy

There's an imbalance in childbirth. Everyone knows that. For years the issues around childbirth have been put into political debates. Things have changed yet somehow have stayed the same.

The debates have centered broadly around these issues: natural versus medical, doctor versus midwife and home versus hospital. Of course there are lots of little debates such as constant foetal monitoring as standard practice or cesarean delivery for all breeches and twins. The political debate goes on and on and on.

What if there is a social rather than political debate that has not come to the forefront. What if the debates are much less about the where a woman births or who is the birth provider and more about what expectant parents need to do for themselves regardless of where or with whom they give birth?

Is there any good reason why expectant families shouldn’t have birth/coaching skills? Pregnancy is the only time to learn these task appropriate skills. Yet, no one is even suggesting that happen. We give more emphasis on a social expectation that if you want an auto license, you learn how to drive. We don’t accept any reasonable reason why not such as: ‘I’m working up to the day of my driver’s test, I don’t have time’ or ‘I’m just a teenager so I’m not expected to be capable.’

Unfortunately, for the past 40 years, women have been de-skilled based on a truth that pregnancy and birth are normal events in a woman’s life. However, connected to that truth is an accurate assumption which says: ‘Because birth is natural therefore you don’t need skills.’ Being hungry is natural but we value people who know how-to cook. These are learned skills appropriate for the natural, physiological feeling of hunger and need to eat.

Unfortunately there is also a belief that other animals (and we are mammals) don’t need to be taught how to birth therefore humans don’t. This is a wild supposition that does not factor in what makes us different from other mammals … our neo-cortex.

In fact, humans (and we are all human beings regardless of all factors from personal lifestyles to cultural diversity; from opinions about birth to health factors; to availability of modern maternity care or droughts, wars and tsunamis) love to be skilled. We thrive on feeling competent to do the task with the appropriate skills.

However, along with all the assumptive beliefs in childbirth today, there is also a truth wrapped up with another inaccurate conclusion. The Truth states there is no way to know what our birth will be like. The inaccurate assumption is that there is nothing we can do. Of course there is. The future is always unknown, but it unfolds. Birth unfolds and it happens to every single pregnant woman in the world without fail … one way or the other.

Birth is an action word and the actions any birthing woman can take comes from the skills she learns. Because all women are human beings and all men have essentially the same body this means there can be a set of shared, common knowledge skills.

Regardless of where or with whom a woman gives birth, she has to breathe and her body will be in some position. Skills such as: Directed Breathing, the Pelvic Clock or Deep Touch Relaxation, Kate’s Cat, Hip Lift and Sacral Manoeuvre any woman can learn and then use with the necessary care assessments, monitoring and procedures that you do.

Whether a woman births alone in the bush, taxi or home she should prepare her pregnant body for birth, learn birth skills and use them to work with her baby’s efforts to be born. Her husband, partner, friend or relative should learn the same set of skills to help her do this monumental task.

If the birth is going to be a cesarean delivery, pregnancy is still leading to the birth and families can enjoy taking time to prepare, learn the skills and use them during the surgery and recovery. Birth is always an action.

There is no reasonable reason why pregnancy and learning birth/coaching skills should continue to remain disconnected. We do a service to no one by just letting this amazing experience happen to us rather than know how-to. Power comes from small accomplishments.