Who DOES control childbirth?

July 15, 2010 in Birth, Birth Care Provider, Choose Wisely

There is a very interesting article questioning this on MSNBC, where a mom shares her first traumatic birth experience and the different choices she is making this pregnancy.

Who controls childbirth – mom-to-be or doctors?

My observation as a birth doula, is it depends on who the mom chooses as her care provider. What her OB did to her doesn’t surprise me, but it does sadden me. Women should not be treated like that. I have seen care providers like that in action and I have seen care providers who would never do that in action as well.

There are 3 kinds of care providers:

Authoritative - Care provider is in charge and mom does whatever he says (or else).
Partnership - Care provider and mom are a team and listen to each other with respect and make decisions together.
Mother-Led - Mom is in charge, her care provider is there to support whatever Mom wants.

Download my 30 minute MP3

Create Your Best Birth Team and Worksheet and I will walk you through creating your Best Birth Team possible!

You will learn:

What 3 people make up the best birth team?
What are the 3 types of relationships you can have with a care provider?
How can you find out if your care provider is a good fit for you?
By listening to the MP3 and filling out the worksheet you will be on your way to creating the Best Birth Team for you!

Some links demonstrating why your choice of care providers is so important!

How choosing your care provider carefully can help you avoid unneccessary interventions.
You can fire your OB, Even DURING your birth!
Your Care Providers Beliefs about Birth will effect how they treat you!
Why are extra babies born in December? (Here is a related link) What your OB thinks about inducing for convenience will effect your birth.
I have educated myself about how I want my birth to go, isn’t that enough? NO!
What about bait and switch? My OB says he supports _____, but now it seems he doesn’t! Here is a real life example of a VBAC mom whose OB said he was VBAC supportive, but in the end wasn’t.
Sadly a lot of care providers practice cookie cutter medicine. Everyone gets the exact same things, even if not needed, even in ridiculous!

Love this link about birth plans and the attitude Care Providers SHOULD have about them.

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2 Comments »

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2 thoughts on “Who DOES control childbirth?”

Jenny says:

July 18, 2010 at 11:57 pm

The birth story in that article was appalling! I just think the trouble comes when ANYONE thinks they can control birth. The care providers like the horrible one in the story seem to think this is when a woman has a birth plan (or even ideas of what she wants and doesn’t want), like dim lights, no epidural or pitocin if at all possible, etc. It’s so aggravating that some care providers will not accept a woman’s birth plan because “labor is so unpredictable,” yet they obviously have an agenda of their own that truly is harmful. So hypocritical!

Thanks for the comment on my blog. I think the medals are pretty and are a great idea! Sometimes respect for the mother’s hard work and courage is in short supply in delivery rooms, and I’m pretty sure one of these would’ve made me feel better when I had my hospital birth three years ago. (Having a doula would’ve been great, too.) A good friend of mine (the one mentioned in my blog post) recently delivered her baby girl via repeat c-section, after laboring all day long until nearly midnight in the hospital. She worked unbelievably hard but circumstances were not on her side. I enjoy working with polymer clay and am hoping to make her a trophy of sorts. She definitely deserves one!

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