Wonderful hospital births can happen every time

Political debates control the conversation setting up opposition as to what is the best birth: natural versus medical, Doctor versus Midwife and home versus hospital. Each aspect is then broken down into more minor yet persistent debates such as constant foetal monitoring as standard practice or cesarean delivery for all breeches and twins. The political debate continues.

There's an imbalance in childbirth. Women can often feel defensive about their choices or lack of. Birth providers claim to know what is safe or dangerous. And fathers can still pretty much in the dark ages of being involved without really knowing what to do, not a good path toward a positive experience.

Families are left in a swirl of everyone’s opinion with Birth Plans the only defense or sense of control left to them. On the other hand, many women feel totally comfortable with what their Doctor says. There are suggestions that if a birth takes place in a hospital then it can never be good. Other claims insist that births in hospitals are the safest and anything else almost verges on the criminal.

Debates could be much less about the where a woman births or who the birth provider is and more about what expectant parents need to do for themselves regardless of where or with whom they give birth.

Women can do a lot for themselves that increases and creates a positive birth experience, particularly hospital births. Pregnancy is an appropriate time to prepare for birth and learn birth skills, when a woman gives birth in hospital she can use the skills learned during pregnancy to enhance the birthing experience.

In hospital there will be medical assessments, monitoring and procedures. As long as a woman is conscious, she’ll still breathe, so good breathing skills such as Directed Breathing can be very useful. Obstetricians, staff and Midwives absolutely love to see women cope and manage labour pains. Or if a cesarean delivery is essential, your birth professional will appreciate your using some relaxed breathing techniques during surgery.

That’s also true for our birthing body. We can consciously use relaxation skills to soften inside our body, this can reduce birth pains during labour. In a cesarean delivery, this helps us feel more involved in the birth of our baby. Even women who need or desire a cesarean can feel very disconnected during the whole process. By using birth skills, you will participate in the birth process at a deeper level, this can leave positive memories.

Consciously using skills are the actions you can take to work with your baby’s efforts to be born. This is what being involved with birth means. Birth is an action word. It’s like a performance or event with the woman doing the performance.

Giving birth in hospital can be as full of birth skills as birthing anywhere, women just need to know what skills to use and those are best learned during pregnancy. This is true for all pregnant women.

Fathers or partners are now expected to help during labour and birth. When men step into hospital it’s very easy for them to feel entirely out of their depth. But no obstetrician will ever stop a Dad from breathing with his partner or helping her to relax. Fathers have a job to do, they can learn coaching skills during pregnancy and know what their job should be.

No matter what people think, giving birth in a hospital can certainly be a positive experience because there is so much expectant parents can do for themselves in whatever type of birth occurs.

If you believe a hospital is the safest place to give birth then do your best to make the birth even safer and easier through birth preparation that includes learning birth and coaching skills. If you believe hospital is your only option but you’re not happy, then it’s more important that you use your own birth skills to work your way through birth one breath cycle at a time. If you believe hospitals are the worst place in the world, then using skills can keep you feeling in control of your own birth experience.

The birth you have is up to you when you think outside the box and realise that no one has put birth and coaching skills into the equation. Therefore, people are arguing and debating external factors and not what we can all do for ourselves.

If you want to know more about Directed Breathing, the Pelvic Clock or Deep Touch Relaxation, Kate’s Cat, Hip Lift and Sacral Manoeuvre then visit http://www.birthingbetter.com.

Learn more about The Pink Kit Method For Birthing Better®, the only childbirth preparation course that focuses entirely on birth skills for mothers and fathers for ALL births.

Wintergreen is a Trustee to Common Knowledge Trust  http://www.commonknowledgetrust.com which produces The Pink Kit. She is a childbirth communicator and communicates on the societal benefits of growing a skilled birthing population.