Is preparation needed before each birth?
“I thought I’ll prep myself and I’ll be good cause I’m the one giving birth. Right? Okay. My husband, whatever, the nurses will take care of him. He’s fine. But he was very, very just like, “oh my gosh, it’s really hard to watch somebody that I care so much about in an extreme amount of pain, and I don’t know what to do to help you and this is horrible”. And so, the second time around, I did a lot better job of just educating him. So his experience was definitely way more positive, I would say, because of that.” -Liesel Teen, Evidence Based Birth interview
It has been the general thought that the partner doesn’t need birth education because they are not going to push the baby out. But they do benefit from preparation. It is important to know about the things one might see, hear, and the processes that may occur.
“They are in the room, and they can feel like they are more involved in the process, and they can do a better job of supporting you if they are educated. So, partner education is very, very important.” -second time mom
There is a big myth out there that birth education isn’t necessary for everybody. A lot of people here in the USA think it’s more of a luxury, not a standard, that it is extra. It is thought of as something that is done in prenatal appointments. Yet, however thorough the prenatal care is, additional classes are something everyone should do to educate themselves, and to have a regular time set aside to think, to pause, to make room for the new person coming into their lives and to hold space for all the changes happening in the mind and body during the perinatal period. Many fears can be released by acknowledging them and taking time to look at the feared scenario and making a basic management plan. Additionally, physically rehearsing techniques and mentally rehearsing positive outcomes to manifest your desires are key components to many childbirth education courses.
Participating in the childbirth classes can assist them in helping you have a better birth experience.
Hopefully eventually insurance companies will cover birth classes. It takes a good bit of work, but birth education is important. There are studies that show their positive impact. Birth education needs to be a standardized event in the prenatal period because everybody can benefit from birth education.
~time spent working as a team putting the pieces together~
