Birth Ed or Birth Prep?
let's look at the cycle that nearly every first-time-parent-couple takes:
Couple receives positive pregnancy test
Care begins at a hospital-clinic
In the second trimester, couple signs up for a hospital-based childbirth education class.
Is this popular cyclical pattern serving families well? Consider this:
I talk about birth often. If we’ve had the pleasure of meeting, we’ve probably chatted birth! I have yet to hear of one family, ever, who has reported that they felt extremely confident and prepared as a result of their hospital based birth education class alone.
I have yet to meet a partner who knew his partner’s birth plan thoroughly, and how to advocate with appropriately-timed “yes, no’s, or let’s wait’s…”
I have yet to meet mamas who told me the 5, 6, 7 different positions she knew to work through as early labor turned active, active turned transitional, transitional turned pushing.
Friend, as you can see, more than head-knowledge is needed to adequately prepare for birth. One simply cannot expect that a four-week series class is going to lead to adequate birth preparation. This is a vital component—the process of education translating to preparation— that most first-time parents completely skip over, and it does not fair well on labor-day.
