LABOUR AND BIRTH CHOICES
Understanding how birth works and the choices available to you!
The first step to a positive birth experience is getting yourself (and ideally your birth partner) clued up on what’s happening physiologically during labour.
From the hormones to the muscles, how they all interact and most importantly WHY they are SUCH an important part of labour! This is always the part that has people going ‘OH MY GOD! WHY DON’T THEY TEACH YOU THIS AT SCHOOL? WHY ISN’T THIS THE FIRST THING YOUR MIDWIFE TELLS YOU WHEN YOU’RE PREGNANT?’.
Believe me, this could change everything.. Use the search tool below, or start with our signature articles.
Birth is three things. Physical. Physiological. Phycological. One thing cannot exist without another. When you are in labour, each aspect needs to be cared for and considered equally.
“Trust your body”: An idea often disputed when it comes to giving birth, because ‘birth doesn’t always go to plan’.
But tell me this.. do you doubt your ability to breathe/ digest food/ heal a cut/ pump blood etc? For the majority of people these things happen without us ever questioning our body’s ability to do them.
We focus a lot of the physiology of birth, the choices and the options, even the emotions. But what about the sensations? What can you expect to actually FEEL when you’re in labour?
There are many parallels between going for a poo and giving birth.. this post could totally change the way your approach everything!
I’ve spoken before about the words I’d love to ban using around birth and pregnancy (namely ‘allowed’ and ‘have to’), but this one always gets me!
The Fetal Ejection Reflex. What is it? How does it work? If you’re giving birth soon you’ll want to read this!
One of the biggest fears of women about to give birth is tearing. Here are TONS of tips of how to reduce the chances or severity of tearing in birth.
Back to Back babies! Also known as ‘posterior’ ‘OP’ or ‘occipital posterior’. But what does that mean?
Place of Birth Choices
One of the first decisions you will make around your birth is both which trust to book your care with and where you would like to give birth. Did you know you can book you care under ANY hospital in the entire country if you wanted to? It doesn’t have to be your nearest. You don’t even have to see your GP first, most maternity units will have a ‘self referral’ system online.
Once you have ‘booked’ with the midwife you might start considering where you would actually like to be to give birth. You have three main options when accessing NHS care. Hospital (Labour Ward/ Delivery Suite), Birth Centre (Freestanding or attached) or home. You may also be considering private care, be that from an independent midwife or private obstetrician (These are likely to look like VERY different choices, so do your research first!). You are also within your rights to access no care at all, though I would urge you to consider that choice very carefully. All women should have the option to consider all places of birth, though some may be more suitable than other in some circumstances. Have a read around what these options may mean for your birth, and use the handy decision making tools in the next section to help you decide!
Many families using our Hypnobirthing course go on to plan a homebirth.. but occasionally people are discouraged or warned against the ideas using some pretty spectacular myths! These are probably the top 5 most common (but not the only) bits of utter nonsense I've heard about homebirth over the years- has anyone told them to you?
Whether you’re considering a home birth at this point or not, have a read to see what it might look like for you!
Wave goodbye to hypnobirthing and a positive birth then right? WRONG! If being on the Labour Ward feels like a safe and positive choice for you, then there is PLENTY you can do to make it positive.
Pain Relief Options
Whether you’re hoping to avoid it all, or jumping on anything you can get your hands on, it’s important to understand the risks and benefits of all your choices AND how you can make those choices positive!
Most women know that there are a few medical options of pain relief available to them in labour.. gas and air, epidural, pethidine or diamorphine.. but because of the possible side effects of these, often women want to avoid them, either entirely or for as long as possible.
But, it’s absolutely NO good going into labour thinking ‘oh i’ll use a TENS machine and maybe a pool’ as your only alternatives. The bigger your tool kit of comfort measures, the more things you have available to you to help manage the sensations of birth.
Narcotics in labour are often an option people feel most anxious about using. What are they, how do they work and when are they helpful?
Ok, maybe don't go filling your hospital bag with a pack of 'easy peelers' just yet, but I've been reading into the research behind aromatherapy use during birth this week!
Ok, so let’s talk pain relief and Hypnobirthing. Contrary to popular belief, these two things are NOT mutually exclusive.
Water can be used as a comfort measure during labour, and some women choose to birth their baby in the pool too.
More Birth Choices
Starting to think about what you might like your birth to look like? Who do you want there? Where do you want to be? What if you’re offered interventions? What can you to make things as positive as possible? Scroll through the many articles in the birth-ed® Hub for TONS of hints and tips to help you decide!
Did you know 1 in 7 babies will access care in NICU when they are born and 60% of those are born at full term?
So why don't we ever talk about what it's like to have a baby in the NICU?
Many families using our Hypnobirthing course go on to plan a homebirth.. but occasionally people are discouraged or warned against the ideas using some pretty spectacular myths! These are probably the top 5 most common (but not the only) bits of utter nonsense I've heard about homebirth over the years- has anyone told them to you?
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, many women are being told they are ‘required to have’ a vaginal examination before their partner can be with them- it simply isn’t true.
So, I was unfortunate enough to have lost an hour of my lockdown life to watching BBC’s ‘Life and Birth’ on iPlayer today. In summary, in case you don’t reach the end of this, if you are pregnant, know anyone who’s pregnant, ever plan to be pregnant or may have a conversation, at any time in the future, with anyone who either is or may become pregnant… just don’t watch it.
What are the benefits of skin to skin after giving birth? Why should you put this in your birth plan?
What sort of monitoring should you have in labour? A look at pinnards, dopplers, CTG, FSC and Telemetry monitoring.
If you’ve had a very quick birth before (or even if you haven’t), this post has some helpful ideas of how you might prepare for a quicker than expected labour.
I’ve spoken before about the words I’d love to ban using around birth and pregnancy (namely ‘allowed’ and ‘have to’), but this one always gets me!
Hands up anyone who’s been told their baby is ‘too big’ so they ‘have’ to be induced? I want to share a direct quote from the NICE guidelines (that should be followed by all hospitals) to clear this up!
One of the biggest fears of women about to give birth is tearing. Here are TONS of tips of how to reduce the chances or severity of tearing in birth.
Wave goodbye to hypnobirthing and a positive birth then right? WRONG! If being on the Labour Ward feels like a safe and positive choice for you, then there is PLENTY you can do to make it positive.
Around 1/3 labours are induced in the UK currently. So this one is SUPER important to read, it could very easily be you!
Back to Back babies! Also known as ‘posterior’ ‘OP’ or ‘occipital posterior’. But what does that mean?
Have you been offered a ‘stretch and sweep’.. do you actually know what is it, what it involves and what it might mean for your labour and birth?
Water can be used as a comfort measure during labour, and some women choose to birth their baby in the pool too.
Fancy a date? No not that kind of date, though I’d totally advise squeezing in as many cinema trips and dinners out as you can before the baby arrives! Oxytocin, bonding and all that!
Elective caesareans, (where you choose to have one in advance), for whatever reason and the options that may be available to you.
Cutting the cord! We’ve often thought about WHO’s going to ‘cut the cord’, but have you given any consideration as to WHEN they’re going to cut it?
Step by step instructions to do perineal massage