Birth Decisions:
A Personal Choice

Birth Decisions: Information Overload?
Being pregnant and getting ready to have a baby is such an exciting time in your life! There is so much to do! It can also seem overwhelming at times. There is a lot to learn and so much information out there. What’s a girl to do?

During this time there is a lot of information to take in and a lot of decisions to make about your birth experience. Decisions about hospitals, epidurals, doctors, midwifes, medical terms, possible complications… and much, much more. What kind of a birth experience do you want? What is best for you and your baby? No one knows better than you.

It’s true. No one can tell you what is best for you. What is best for you may not be best for another. It all depends on your level of understanding. What do you feel comfortable with? No one can or should pressure you into a birth experience you don’t want or are not ready for.

Birth Decisions: What can you do?
Look around, ask around, educate yourself as much as possible and then start making some decisions. Talk to others who have experienced the same birth experience that you want.

Making Birth Decisions: Talk to the experts
Would you go to a flower shop to buy a loaf of bread? Would you go to the library to shop for groceries? If you want a home birth, talk to someone you has had a home birth, not someone who delivered in a hospital. If you want to have a natural birth, talk to someone who has actually had a natural birth. It seems so simple and yet how many of us keep trying to learn from the wrong resources. If you want an unassisted birth, talk to women who have given birth unassisted. If you are going to have a c-section, talk to someone who has had one before. What is the point of all this? Take advice and information from the right resource and your chances of achieving that same result increase tenfold. Talking to someone who has actually achieved what you desire is the best way to ensure you the same results. She can tell you some intimate details and give you hints and instructions that no one else can. Why? Because she’s already done it! She was successful. She has gone through the test and passed. Why would you get hints from someone who failed? Obviously whatever they did, didn’t work. Who do you want to take advice from, the one who succeeded or the one who did not? So regardless of what birth experience you choose, make sure you talk to people who have achieved the results you want.

Don’t Limit Yourself
It is amazing how we can limit ourselves. If we have never heard of it before or it doesn’t seem logical to us, all too often it becomes “impossible”. Don’t set up road blocks in your mind. Just because you personally have never experienced something does not mean it is not possible. Open up your mind to the possibilities around you. I went to a discussion forum the other day where someone had asked a simple question, “Can childbirth be enjoyable?” A valid question. The next several comments were quick to shoot down such a preposterous suggestion! Each comment also included such phrases as “I have never heard of such a crazy idea!” and “It’s supposed to be painful!”. I will admit that the first time I heard such a suggestion those same kinds of ideas flowed through my own mind. But this time I just laughed! How much we limit ourselves. Do you think any of them has experienced an “enjoyable birth”? Probably not. Does that mean no one has? Absolutely not!

Open you mind to the possibilities around you and make decisions for yourself. Birth is a personal choice. Make your own birth decisions and discover the possibilities!


Back to the top of "Birth Decisions: A Personal Choice"

Home

New! Comments