You may have been reading my series on healing from a traumatic birth and wondered, is there anything you can do to prevent one?
Three Things You CAN Do
There are some choices which may help you avoid a traumatic birth.
- Choose care provider carefully – having a supportive care provider can help avoid traumatic situations.
- Choose your birth location carefully – birth locations make a huge difference in the amount of support a mom may get in different birthing scenarios.
- Hire a doula. Having a continuous support person with you who is familiar with birth can be very helpful and can increase a moms chance of having a positive birth experience.
I was at a birth as a doula, where the mom had done great choosing her care provider and birth location (great OB and hospital) and she suddenly needed an emergency cesarean. The room quickly filled with people and it was very chaotic. It was amazing to me that no one was talking to mom or dad about what was happening and there were many things happening all at once.
I was so glad I was there to give them a few short explanations about what was happening and let them know what was going on. I know that helped this mom feel supported and her birth to be less traumatic. It wasn’t what she had planned, but my calm presence with the little bits of information I was giving her and her husband helped them to stay calm, helped them know what to expect.
I have so many other birth stories where my support as a doula took a potentially traumatic experience and helped it be a more positive experience because of my continuous, calm support.
Did you have a doula?
Did she help you avoid a traumatic birth?
Bonus Tip –
Download my free book – Top Three Tips to Enjoy Your Birth!
I thought I chose a caregiver wisely. I picked one that came. Highly recommended by people at ICAN. But there were some red flags while pregnant. And I was unable to hire a doula. So when the time came, I went in to labor o a Saturday. Apparently, Saturday was not a good day for that OB. I was dumped as a patient, in the middle of labor, on a Saturday. I had to run to a different hospital to get medical care and got stuck with an emergency csect because the other doctor was not comfortable with vbacs. It was an on call doctor who had no idea of my medical history, so I guess, that is what one gets. But my OB should not have dumped me. He betrayed me. I don’t know why he did tha to me. I didn’t do anything wrong. It is not my fault labor hit on a Saturday. I was told I could see my OB on Monday, but not on Saturday. I am devastated.
I am SO sorry this happened. It is NOT fair that your OB abandoned you because your birthing time wasn’t convenient for you. I am sending big hugs to you. Care providers should let their patients know if they are not available at certain times, so that moms have a chance to know their back up care.
Thank you for addressing traumatic births. I have three babies and all of them were traumatic. I had pre-eclampsia for my first, vacuum extraction for my second and my third was height of trauma. I had a case of undiagnosed vasa previa. It was a planned homebirth. My son came very close to death. We were transferred to the hospital with a 5 day stay in the NICU. However, I was so well supported by my birth team that I feel like I have handled the trauma so well. I am so grateful to my midwife, birth assistant and doula. I think I would be a wreck without them. You are right to advise choosing a a good care provider and location. It makes a huge difference. Now I want to be a doula and am slowly working toward that goal. Every mom deserves to be well supported during the most vulnerable time of he life….childbirth.