Midwife Keeps Birthing Better Childbirth Statistics
We've confused so many issues in childbirth preparation. We've put 'choice' above skills and we've looked at 'outcomes' rather then what families 'do'.
Those two HUGE mistakes have cost us years ... wasted years that could have led to great changes in childbirth.
Curiously there are some that say 'we need proof'. What does that mean? Is there really any 'proof' that Birth Plans and 'choice' create the birth the family wanted? Sometimes and mostly not. There are too many unexpected things that happen around giving birth. Birth is not a 'choice' it's an 'activity' we do with our baby ... and hopefully with a Birth Coach who knows how to help us do that activity skillfully.
Two New Zealand midwives have collected statistics for 10 years as they inspired their clients (and often insisted) to become skilled. The two midwives did not teach or do the skills on the birthing women. They treated expectant parents as capable adults able to self-learn, practice and use a specific set of childbirth preparation skills and birth and birth coaching skills.
What happens?
- Skilled families self-reduce all medical assessments, monitoring and procedures (or interventions)
- Skilled families birth better even when there are lots of childbirth assessments, monitoring and procedures (or interventions)
We must change our viewpoint of childbirth preparation. Now is the time to couple the 'choice-based' approach to pregnancy and childbirth with a skills-based approach.
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