It may not be what you think!

When planning for birth, you probably have expectations, hopes or plans for your birth and you probably think that if your birth doesn't go how you envision, you will not have the positive birth experience you were expecting. But, after going through childbirth, what women report as important in making their birth experience positive is not what you would expect.

For example, women who were planning a natural, vaginal birth, even out-of-hospital births who have a c-section in the end, as long as the birth and transition to the c-section is handled in the right way, those mothers still report a positive birth experience.

A research study reviewing reports of first-time mothers' birth experiences found the theme among mothers who reported positive birth experiences was "To be empowered increases first-time mothers' chances for a positive birth experience". What does this mean? When these mothers felt that they were in control of their birth, they felt that they were heard and respected by the birth professionals and birth partners on their team, even in the cases that needed interventions, the women still felt they had a positive experience.

The researchers involved in this study concluded that:

"If women felt empowered, it resulted in an increased ability to feel control, strength of body, satisfaction and reassurance, and as a result of this a better ability to manage the pain which occurred." 

This result was still true for women who had labor complications, prolonged labor, and even c-sections.

Despite the increasing amount of evidence that birth can and should be left to unfold naturally in most cases, many pregnant women today still find themselves being viewed as a patient with a medical condition and feel unprepared for how to be in control of their own birth experience and how to have discussions with their care providers about their needs in a way that they can be heard and respected.

If we are going to increase the number of positive birth experiences, the focus should be on empowering women and their birth partners to be active decision makers in their birth, which starts by helping them to understand themselves, what they want for their birth and what kind of support they need as individuals to have a positive experience in birth and as they grow their family.

In the Natural Birth Compass program, we see every pregnancy and birth as its own unique journey, so we focus on helping expectant parents understand their own needs to support their birth and the years beyond. By developing their Natural Birth Compass, expectant parents in our program learn to navigate their way to a positive birth experience no matter the challenges they may face along the way, and they pick up some skills that help them in the parenting journey as well!

If you would like to get started with your Natural Birth Compass, download your copy of my free guide by clicking here to learn Three Sacred Cycles that guide homebirth.