The Essence of Childbirth Preparation is Self-Discovery...

...not assimilating obstetrical information.


This the second Birthing from Within® principle.  For some of us, when we are first pregnant, we start to read all the 'books'.  The ones about what happens every week during pregnancy, describing: the birth, the dilation, effacement, induction, ruptured membranes, prolapsed cords, and on and on. Sometimes, the desire to get 'all the information' comes from a belief that the more we know about these kinds of things, the 'better' our birth will be. A good question to ask ourselves is: what kind of information are we getting from these books and how will it help us to prepare for and give birth to our baby?

Many books and childbirth classes present primarily obstetric information, which is simply technical, medical information about birth.  This is information that is especially useful if you are a doctor, nurse or midwife and you need to determine what is happening medically during a birth.  As a parent, this information can be interesting to read, but it is not necessarily relevant when you are actually going through the experience of labour.

Are we looking for a magical formula for the perfect birth?  Or do we just want to gather as much information as possible and leave ourselves open to all the possibilities? Maybe what we are looking for is something else, something to help us in our journey and these books are what is available to us.

We are very much a society that emphasizes solving problems, getting the 'right' answer and planning for everything.  Birth is about surrendering to the unknown, and accepting that we will get there regardless of what we do or don't do to prepare.  One of the things we do as part of Birthing from Within childbirth preparation is to use the labyrinth as a metaphor for the childbirth experience.  (Click here for an article about this).  The labyrinth allows us to look at birth as a journey, where we are challenged, we face the unexpected, we doubt ourselves and we move forward and reach the centre (i.e. the birth of our baby).  Birth gives us the opportunity to really learn about ourselves and to emerge as parents.  This is as true for fathers as well as mothers.

It is important that we do the amount of preparation that feels right to us.  For some people it is reading and taking two or three different prenatal classes and hiring a doula and joining groups online and talking to everyone they know who has ever had a baby.  For others, it is blocking out all medical information about birth and just preparing emotionally.  Or somewhere in between. There is no right or wrong way to prepare.  What is useful to understand is that we are all going on the same journey, in the sense that it is unpredictable and there is no magic formula or right way to do it.

Birthing from Within childbirth classes are unique in that people with very different kinds of approaches to birth preparation are able to benefit, as long as you are willing to learn about yourself and move forward on your journey, one step at a time.

If you are interested in a Birthing from Within Class and you live in the Lethbridge area, please contact me for more information.  If you live somewhere else, please check out Birthing from Within's website to find a Mentor in your area