doing your research

is SO incredibly important when preparing to birth your baby, in modern-day America anyway. So often natural birth advocates and free-birthers embrace the ideal of the uneducated primal woman. Living in the jungle she's in tune and unafraid of her body and simply squats and pushes her baby out, ties her baby on her back and goes back to picking berries and roots for dinner. Posh.

But the modern woman in most ways is anything but primal, is out of touch with her own body (those crappy Glamour mag articles selling crappy sex tips don't help) and if she's to have a chance of birthing her baby with ease she basically needs to un-learn everything popular culture has pushed on her since she was 13 reading Seventeen magazine.

Take a birthing class or read a good book to learn the basics of birth which are well...basic. Do you have a normal healthy body? Did you become pregnant in a normal way? If so, then you can safely conclude that you can probably give birth pretty normally too. If you have serious health issues or complications in your family history be especially careful to consider all your options.

SO you can look up studies comparing vaginal birth to cesearean birth for breech presentations, studies comparing outcomes of home births to hospital births, studies on the safety of home birth on Ina May's famous Farm, studies on the risks of uterine rupture in VBAC's, studies of all kinds.

Reading abstracts is easy enough but to truly critique a study and understand how conclusions were drawn you need to consider the controls, data sources, methods, variables and without a degree in statistics the layperson can get sick on statistics stew.

Studies can be fascinating reads, can give you an idea of risk involved with this or that and are especially great when they backup your own beliefs and you can claim that science is on your side. But they have a curious way of coming to conclusions that benefit whoever's bankrolling and at the end of the day scientific findings can in no way predict your personal future.

Looking around in your own backyard, finding out the policies and procedures practiced at hospitals and birthing centers nearest you and talking directly to the obstetricians, nurses, midwives and doulas who attend births locally will give you the most relevant education in your birthing options and set you up for your best birth success.

How does your OB feel about pregnancy lasting 42 weeks? What is their c-section rate? What is the rate at which pitocin, forceps and vacuums are used in their practice? What is their protocol for a nuchal cord? Are they used to midwives and doulas attending births with them, and how do they feel about the presence of such support? Are they open to delayed cord clamping? And what are the hospital policies regarding keeping the placenta?

How would your midwife handle a cord wrapped round your baby's neck, or shoulder dystocia? How often does she perform resuscitation on newborns, and how many hospital transfers has she had? What were the reasons for those transfers?

Don't forget to reach out to other mothers! Through the connection of the internet I was able to read first-hand experiences from my local Mothers Of Multiples group who birthed twins with my backup OB, which made a huge difference in the confidence I felt in my choices. Reading birth stories and watching birth videos can be an incredible education in what is possible in birth.

Don't forget to search your own heart, be real with yourself about your attitude about birth and challenge what you think you know. Be gentle with yourself, especially if you have trauma in your past from abuse or loss. Pregnancy and birth can open up all kinds of old wounds as it brings intense emotions, but it can also be a powerful time of healing. Do not hesitate to seek counseling support. Doing something you never thought you could do can change your life!

Don't be afraid to use your common sense, and don't be intimidated by frightening medical jargon and typical fear-mongering in movies and on TV. It's called 'drama' and 'comedy' for a reason. And don't be pressured by outdated and ignorant (however well meaning) advice from family and friends.

Figuring out how and where and with whom to birth your baby is just the start of the very serious decisions you will make for the well being of your child. Have faith and confidence in yourself, you are capable and can do it!