A definition I like is one from midwife and author, Penfield Chester:
“The holistic model holds that birth is a normal, woman-centered process in which mind and body are one and that, in the vast majority of cases, nature is sufficient to create a healthy pregnancy and birth.”
My certifying organization, ALACE, uses the word holistic to mean a childbirth educator who incorporates psychological aspects and mind-body integration into their classes.
Continuing my alphabetical “theme” I thought I’d write about the three P’s of birth. The “classic” three P’s are the passageway (pelvis), the powers (contractions), and the passenger (baby). Some people include a fourth P–the psyche (mind). These three P’s interrelate to create the labor and birth experience. This is a very mechanical, reductionist, and very simplistic way to look at the intricacies of birth and the interplay of a variety of physical, emotional, psychological, and even social factors that influence birth. So, I started thinking about other P’s involved with birth and came up with quite a list!
Powerful, praise, people, pain, partner, pleasure, pride, planning, patience, persistence, productive, purposeful, proactive, plasticity, plentiful, pragmatic, pleasant, precious, presence, perseverance, preparation, and privacy!
Of this new list of P’s I think patience, privacy, and preparation are most important. I include “pain” on this list of positive P’s because pain is an important part of birth–it is pain with a purpose. I have lots more to say about pain, but I’ve saving it for another post! 🙂
I also thought up a list of P’s that are often unhelpful or detract from or hinder labor and birth:
Protracted, presumption, peremptory, pelvimetry, pitocin, pressure, program, performance, PUSH, PUSH!, “proper/polite” (feeling like you have to be), prolonged, proscribed, prescribed, probing, “progress,” people, problems, panic, politics.
One of the single session classes I offer is specifically about Active Birth. I received a question asking what I mean by active birth. Active birth is an approach to birth that emphasizes movement and the use of gravity to help during labor and birth. It is a way of “describing normal labor and birth and the way a woman behaves when she is following her own instincts and the physiological logic of her body. It is a way of saying that she herself controls her body while giving birth, rather than being the passive recipient of a birth that is managed by her attendant.” I incorporate some of the ideas into any class I teach, because I feel like it is an essential component of preparation for birth.
The term active birth was coined by Janet Balaskas, the author of the classic birth book Active Birth and the founder of the Active Birth Centre in London. She specifies that active birth is “nothing new,” but is instead a term for describing normal woman-directed labor and birth.
Active birth is in direct contrast to “active management” of labor.
A concept I find useful to share in birth classes is that of Rhythm, Relaxation, and Ritual–the Three R’s of Childbirth. This is a concept developed by Penny Simkin and is illustrated in her labor support video by the same name. Ritual refers to a repetitive coping mechanism that spontaneously arises during labor–it usually is rhythmic and may be something like humming, singing, repeating a favorite phrase, tapping, vocalizing, rocking, swaying. You can think about and plan for possible labor rituals in advance, but the ritual that is most useful to you is often one that just arises on its own during your own individual labor and birth.
These are three R’s that enhance a woman’s experience of birth and help her cope with her sensations. When thinking about them today, I also came up with three R’s that detract from a woman’s birth experience: Routine, Restriction, and Risk (perception of).
I also considered other supporting R’s: Rest, Relationships, Rapport, and Respect.
One tool I like to offer during birth classes is the use of birthing affirmations. I have a list of favorites that I hand out and I also encourage couples to create their own affirmations that hold personal meaning for them. An affirmation is a positive phrase that you repeat to yourself. Some women like to cut these phrases out and post them around the house to read during pregnancy (such as on the mirror in the bathroom or on the wall in the bedroom). The affirmations can then “sink in” and when labor comes, they are part of your mental vocabulary of birth. Also, some women in labor find the use of rhythm to be a useful tool (humming, singing, swaying, rocking, etc.) and repeating a soothing phrase can be part of this rhythm.
Another use of affirmation is to have your labor support partner read your favorites aloud to you as you labor.
Some favorites from my list are:
The corresponding affirmations for a partner to use:
I’ve been reflecting on the purpose of my birth classes and I hope they offer:
Celebration
Motivation
Education
Inspiration
Initiation
Validation
Dedication
Exploration
At the LLL of MO conference this month, I attended several wonderful sessions by Diane Wiessinger who makes the connection between giving birth on a woman’s own terms contributing to an easy breastfeeding relationship. She also emphasized the fact that we are mammals and just like other mammal mothers certain things contribute to or detract from our ability to give birth in a safe and healthy manner.
Diane shares the following description of why your baby’s birth matters:
“A trip to a strange place with strange smells. Bright lights, busy people. Numbness. A carefully cleaned and wrapped baby who doesn’t stay with Mama. Any other mammal would reject her baby after a beginning like that. Which means that most American mothers have to welcome their newborns with their heads and not their hearts. Not the best start for confident mothering. Not the best start for breastfeeding. Not the best start for love.”
She also says, “Don’t be fooled by the Birth Channel. A normal birth is not a medical event or a source of horrible pain. It happens on its own, with the woman moving in whatever way feels right to her, feeling the labor and feeling–being–in charge. Find someone who will support this.”
Read more of Diane’s insights on her website.
A question was posed on another list recently: “what about the idea that women shouldn’t ‘prepare’ for but rather just experience birth?”
My response to this question is hard to articulate, but basically I would say that you can *experience* rather than *prepare* for birth if you are birthing on completely your own terms. If you are in a setting involving other people (doctors, nurses, etc.), your birth experience will be impacted by THEIR birth “preparation” and you will likely need your own preparation in order to have your OWN experience rather than an experience modified by another person’s fears or opinions about birth and how birth should be.
Maybe I’ll gather my thoughts more clearly later and will add more… 🙂
I have been asked if my classes are appropriate for people planning a medicated birth.
I do focus on natural childbirth (meaning unhindered birth that progresses on its own timeline, under the woman’s own power, and takes place without medication), but I also recognize that many couples choose epidurals. Since women are not generally given an epidural instantly or immediately, most of the “natural childbirth” information is still helpful and valuable to have (in terms of “up until you have the epidural” instead of “up until the baby is born.”). So, a class on labor support could be focused on labor support prior to an epidural and also about working with the epidural for an optimal birth experience. I also like to remind people that you don’t have to necessarily make up your mind before your go into labor about medications or not—you can take the labor one contraction at a time and see where it leads you. It might lead you to an epidural or it might lead you to not have one.
Welcome to Talk Birth–childbirth education, resources, and information for women in the Rolla, Missouri area. I am pleased to serve the Rolla community with independent childbirth education classes!
Talk Birth 