Wonderful Hospital Births

16 August 2008

Wonderful Hospital Births Can Happen Every Time

There's an imbalance in childbirth. Everyone knows it. Women feel defensive about their choices or lack of. Birth providers claim to know what is safe or dangerous. And fathers? Well, they are still pretty much in the dark ages of ‘being there’ without really knowing what to do … not a good path toward self-esteem.

Political debates control the conversation setting up opposition as to what is the best birth: natural versus medical, doctor versus midwife and home versus hospital. Each aspect is then broken down into smaller yet persistent 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.

Families are left in a swirl of everyone’s opinion with Birth Plans the only defense or sense of control left to them. On the other hand, many women feel totally comfortable with what their doctor says. There are claims that a birth can never be good because it takes place in hospital. Other claims insist that births in hospitals are the safest and anything else almost verges on the criminal.

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?

What can women do for themselves that always creates a positive birth experience … particularly in hospital births. Come to think about it pregnancy is seems an appropriate time to prepare for birth and learn birth skills. When a woman gives birth in hospital she can use those skills.

In hospital there will be medical assessments, monitoring and procedures. As long as a woman is conscious, she’ll still breathe so good breathing skills such as Directed Breathing comes in handy. Obstetricians, staff and midwives absolutely love to see women cope and manage labour pains. Or if a cesarean delivery is essential, your birth professional will appreciate your using some relaxed breathing techniques during surgery.

That’s also true for our birthing body. We can consciously use relaxation skills to soften inside our body. This reduces birth pains during labour. In a cesarean delivery, this helps us feel more involved in the birth of our baby. Even women who need or desire a cesarean can feel very disconnected during the whole process. By using birth skills, you will participate in the birth process at a deeper level. This leaves positive memories.

Consciously using skills are the actions you can take to work with your baby’s efforts to be born. This is what being involved with birth means. Birth is an action word. It’s not like sitting in a dentist’s chair, but more like a performance or event with the woman doing the performance.

Birthing in hospital is more like a motel and not a prison. Giving birth in hospital can be as full of birth skills as birthing anywhere. Women just need to know what skills to use and those are best learned during pregnancy. This is true for all pregnant women.

Fathers are now expected to help during labour and birth. When men step into hospital it’s very easy for them to feel entirely out of their depth. But no obstetrician will ever stop a dad from breathing with his partner or helping her to relax. Fathers have a job to do … they can learn coaching skills during pregnancy and know what they’re job should be.

No matter what people think, giving birth in a hospital can always be a positive experience because there is so much an expectant parents can do for themselves in whatever birth occurs.

If you believe a hospital is the safest place to give birth then do your best to make the birth even safer and easier through birth preparation that includes learning birth/coaching skills. If you believe hospital is your only option but you’re not happy, then it’s more important that you use your own birth skills to work your way through birth one breath cycle at a time. If you believe hospitals are the worst place in the world and you’re there only because … then using skills keeps you feeling in control of your own birth experience.

The birth you have is up to you when you think outside the box and realize that no one has put birth/coaching skills into the equation. Therefore, people are arguing and debating external factors and not what we can all do for ourselves.