Crafting your supportive birth team to have an empowered experience
The journey of bringing a new life into the world is a remarkable and transformative experience. One of the most crucial aspects of ensuring a positive birth journey is building a supportive birth team that aligns with your values, preferences, and desires.
Each member of your birth team can play a unique role in providing physical and emotional support as you navigate the beautiful path to your baby’s birth. Let's dive into your options on who you can choose to have by your side and the essential roles they can play during this monumental moment.
Partner: Your unwavering rock your partner is often a primary pillar of support during your labor and birth. They can provide emotional encouragement, and physical comfort, and help you stay focused on your birth goals.
From holding your hand, and performing hip squeezes during contractions to offering soothing words, partners are essential in creating a calming and familiar presence throughout the birth process.
Family Member or Friend: A loving presence having a trusted family member or friend present can offer an added layer of emotional support.
They can be there to share in your joy, provide reassurance, and offer practical assistance like getting you water or helping to keep the environment calm. Their role is to uplift you, celebrate your milestones, and provide comfort when needed.
Doula: They can be your advocate and be a wealth of information. A doula is a professional birth support person who is trained to provide physical, emotional, and informational assistance. Definitely interview several doulas to find one that aligns with your birth vision.
They offer continuous support, helping you navigate various comfort measures and pain management techniques, and ensuring your birth preferences are respected. Doulas empower you with knowledge and advocate for your choices, which can enhance your birth experience.
Midwife: They are considered to be more of a holistic-minded care provider but keep in mind, they aren’t all like that.
Midwives specialize in providing holistic and personalized care throughout pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period. They offer medical expertise while emphasizing a woman-centered approach.
Midwives often focus on facilitating a natural and empowering birth experience, ensuring your physical well-being is a priority. But I suggest interviewing several before actually hiring one.
OB/GYN and Nurses: These are the medical professionals we hear about most often, obviously they have medical expertise and provide medical model-based care during labor.
They monitor your health and the well-being of your baby, making clinical decisions but they are not allowed to make a decision about your care without your explicit consent.
While their primary focus is medical, establishing a positive rapport with your healthcare team can contribute to a more comfortable birth environment in most cases.
I have had some really good experiences with hospital staff and some really bad experiences with hospital staff, so it just depends on the situation and yours and their attitude, beliefs, and values.
What one person views as a great support team, another person might view the same team as terrible, everything is subjective!
Choosing the members of your birth team should be based on individuals who align with your values and birth vision preferences. Whether it's your partner, family member, friend, doula, midwife, OB, or nurse, each person should contribute positively to your birth environment.
Open communication and shared understanding are vital in ensuring that everyone plays their designated roles effectively.
Building a supportive birth team is a crucial step in creating a positive and empowering birthing experience.
Lots of women remember how they were treated, not always what exactly happened so it’s important for you to feel seen, heard and respected no matter how your birth unfolds!
If you want to dive deep into how to set up your dream birth team then jump into The Sacred Birth Academy where you'll gain all the tools, tips, and worksheets to help you figure out who you want on your team that will best support you toward your birth vision! 💭
