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Navigating Birth Choices: A Guide for Expectant Parents
Birth: It’s the most natural thing in the world — and yet, for first-time soon-to-be parents, it is natural to be absolutely terrified of it. People have been giving birth since the beginning of time, and today, there is an incredible range of birthing options designed to help make the act less risky and more comfortable. As you prepare for the arrival of your little bundle of joy, you should consider the following birth choices, in the hopes that you can create the birthing experience of your dreams.
Birth Settings
There are a few different places you can consider giving birth, including:
Hospital Birth
In the UK, the vast majority of births happen in hospital. There are many risks associated with labour and delivery, and hospitals are equipped to handle the full range of complications that may be suffered by the birthing person or the baby. In some cases, the hospital may be the only viable option for birthing people; if you have a high-risk pregnancy or if you require induction, a caesarean, or other interventions to deliver safely, you must choose a hospital as your birth setting.
Home Birth
Before the turn of the 20th century, most births occurred at home. Many people choose home births for the familiar and comforting atmosphere and because they believe they will have more control over their birthing experience. However, most experts recommend planning a home birth only when your pregnancy is low-risk and when you have a certified midwife on hand to oversee the process. Even then, you will need to consider how you will set up your space for the birth, how you will dispose of the medical waste, and what you will do in case of emergency if you choose the home birth option.
Birthing Centre
Rising in popularity, birthing centres are midway points between hospitals and home. Birthing centres tend to be staffed with experienced midwives, nurses, and even doctors, and most have similar equipment to hospital labour and delivery units, which means they can offer low-level interventions to birthing people as they need them. However, birthing centres are often more private, quieter, and more comfortable than hospitals. This is a good option if you are interested in home birth but want to avoid the extra risks and stressful logistics of birthing at home.
Birth Types
There are two primary kinds of birth: vaginal and Ceasarean.
Vaginal birth occurs when the baby is delivered through the birth canal. Most birthing people prefer vaginal births due to their faster recovery time and more “natural” experience, but vaginal births can involve longer labour and greater pain. Fortunately, there are interventions that can make vaginal delivery more comfortable and prevent some of the risks associated with this type of birth, such as pain relief medications, amniotomy (breaking the waters), episiotomy, vacuum extraction, and more.
Caesarean births, also called C-sections, are the surgical delivery of babies through incisions in the abdomen. Sometimes, C-sections are scheduled in advance — especially if a pregnancy is known to be high-risk and vaginal birth exceedingly dangerous or impossible. Other times, when unforeseen complications arise, births require emergency C-sections.
Healing from a C-section requires eight weeks, during which you are more or less confined to your bed and thus reliant on help to care for your newborn. However, many birthing people appreciate the relatively clean, pain-free, and scheduled nature of a caesarean, which can help alleviate anxiety around birth.
Usually, once a person has given birth via C-section, doctors recommend C-sections for all subsequent deliveries; the incision weakens the wall of the uterus, and vaginal labour can risk a rupture. However, some birthing people opt to participate in vaginal birth after caesarean (VBACs) to avoid the disadvantages of C-sections with their next births.
Birth Providers
Here are some of the many different kinds of providers who can be at your side during your delivery:
Obstetrician
The OB in OB-GYN, an obstetrician is a medical doctor specialising in pregnancy and birth. These providers are medically licensed, and they have the knowledge and skills to assist with all health issues associated with pregnancy, labour, and delivery. Most OBs work out of doctor’s offices and hospitals, which have the tools they need to provide high-quality care.
Midwife
For much of human history, midwives have been the only providers available to birthing people looking for guidance in pregnancy and birth. Today, midwives occupy a less defined medical space than OBs; some provide services similar to gynaecologists, while others focus exclusively on assisting with labour and delivery.
Doula
Both OBs and midwives are trained to address the medical aspect of labour and delivery, but doulas focus on the emotional experience of birth and new parenthood. Usually, birthing people begin working with doulas early in their pregnancy to develop the mental and emotional tools required to create the birthing experience they desire, and doulas can continue to provide support into the “fourth trimester,” when the birthing person is newly postpartum.
Partner
Most birthing people benefit from having a loved one alongside them during the labour and delivery process. Though a birthing partner — who may be the birthing person’s romantic partner, parent, sibling, or good friend — may not have any formal training in birth, they can provide meaningful support during this daunting time. You talk to the person you hope to use as your birth partner to set expectations for their behaviour while you are in the birthing process.
Birth Tools
Another major choice? Knowing which tools you’ll have to help support you during the process. Here are a few things to consider:
Birth Plan
As you explore your birthing options, you can use mind mapping to keep track of your preferences for your birth. Mapping a birth plan helps to keep your birthing team coordinated and working toward achieving your dream experience. Still, you should mentally prepare for the possibility that your birth doesn’t go exactly to plan, as there are many uncontrollable variables associated with every labour and delivery.
Tub
Hydrotherapy can help alleviate much of the discomfort associated with labour. Hospitals and birthing centres are often equipped with large tubs where you can spend some of your labour. Larger tubs, called birthing tubs, are available to rent or buy for home births, so you can deliver your baby underwater.
Birthing Balls
Various types of inflated balls are often used during labour to help birthing people find greater comfort during labour by encouraging movement or allowing for different positions. Typically, hospitals and birth centres will provide these tools to birthing people, but if you are planning to labour for any time at home, you may want to invest in your own birthing balls.
Every birth is different. Though there is no guarantee that your birth will go exactly according to plan — few do! — by considering your options beforehand and putting together a strategy for your birth, you are more likely to find peace and joy in your labour and delivery experience.