10 Ways to a Low-Intervention Birth
1. Hire a Doula
A doula is a trained professional who understands the physiology of birth, will help to educate you about all of your options, support you emotionally and physically and help you to advocate for what you desire in your birth. Your doula is your resource person. Interview a few people and find the one who you feel most comfortable with. Though it is never too late, hiring a doula early in your pregnancy will be most beneficial to you.
Don’t know where to start? Doula Match can help you locate doulas in your area!
2. Choose a Primary Care Provider Who Understands & Supports Physiological Birth
Not all Primary Care Providers (PCP) are created equal. Some PCPs are only comfortable with medicalized and technological births and some are more comfortable with labor and birth as a normal process.
Interview your care provider! Find out their cesarean and episiotomie rates, induction protocols, number of their patients with un-medicated and low-intervention births, and ask what they recommend that you can do to achieve your birthing goals. Don’t be afraid to change your PCP if you are not satisfied!
Finally, consider interviewing and hiring a midwife as they are the specialist in normal, physiological birth.
3. Choose the Place of Birth Well
Just like PCPs, not all birth facilities are created the same. Do your research!
What are their cesarean rates and protocols? Call the Labor and Delivery floor to speak to the head nurse to request information on what you can expect while in labor, through the birth and into the postpartum.
Request the Informed Consent form while still pregnant, be aware of what you are signing before you are asked to sign it while in labor. Is there a birth center? What do they offer and what are their protocols? Is home birth an option?
4. Take a Childbirth Education Class
Choose a class that covers what your options and choices are and provides the alternatives to the routine procedures.
Your best option might be an independent Child Birth Education class, one that is outside the hospital system. Classes that are not affiliated with a facility are often geared toward physiological births more than most hospital-based classes. There are many options to choose from- chose what feels right for your needs and personality. No one class fits all.
5. Read
Read informative books on childbirth such as, The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskins, Pushed by Jennifer Block or Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience by Rikki Lake and Abby Epstein.
Read evidence-based articles and do your own research! Great sources for articles are Evidence Based Birth and Childbirth Connection.
6. Get Your Partner Involved
Your partner is your best advocate other than you. They are becoming a parent as well and should be invested and involved in the process. They need to be as informed as you are so they can fully participate in the experience with you.
They should be educated on comfort measures, have an understanding on why a low-intervention birth is usually the healthiest for both you and the baby. They need to know what each intervention is, what its risks are and why it may be medically indicated.
If you are without a partner, consider having a trusted person attend the birth in that role and ask them to learn with you. If you are hiring a doula (see #1) they will support them to support you.
7. Talk to People Who Have Had a Low Intervention Birth
Find others who have had the birth experience you are striving for. Listen to their story and ask them questions about their PCP, the place they gave birth, the classes they took and the books they read.
Look for birth circles and on-line support groups to get involved in. You of course won’t have their experience but you will gain knowledge and confidence in your abilities. Avoid the “horror stories” as much as possible. It is okay to hear that sometimes birth may not go according to the plan but try to fill yourself more with the positive.
8. Learn About Inductions
Inductions are very common-place beginning at 39 weeks gestation and typically will be done by no later than 41 weeks, 6 days if your labor has not begun on its own.
Consider how your due date was determined and ask yourself a series of questions: Was it based on the first day of your last menstrual cycle? How long are your cycles normally? Do you know your date of conception? Was an ultrasound done? When? Was your dates changed? When?
Understand why inductions are done, when they are medically necessary, and the risks to having an induction. Holidays, convenience, discomfort, etc are not always good reasons to have an induction.
9. Question
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It is your responsibility to yourself and your baby to ask questions and understand the answers you are being given. If you don’t understand, ask again.
This should start pre-conception, throughout your pregnancy, into labor & birth and through your postpartum. Remember the acronym BRAIN:
- What are the benefits?
- What are the risks?
- What are the alternatives?
- What does your intuition tell you?
- What if you do nothing?
10. Hire a Doula
We cannot stress the importance of hiring a doula enough!
Studies have shown that having the support from a doula during labor, women have fewer complications, fewer cesareans, shorter labors, and are less likely to need an epidural.
For information on becoming a doula yourself, visit www.tolabor.com