What are Some Factors That Make Birth Easier?
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Kaely Harrod 0:00 Hello and welcome back to Kaely Daily. Today's question is, what are some factors that make birth easier? This is Kaely Daly, the bi weekly podcast about all things doula Tips and Tits where we answer one question about pregnancy, labor or postpartum or lactation, in order to have your journey in this parenting world be just a little bit more informed and filled with consent. Welcome back. I'm Kaely Harrod, your host of this lovely podcast. Today's question is what are some factors that make birth easier? Now? I am a doula. So doulas are on that list? Right? I think that we have ample evidence about doula support, making birth, easier, less traumatic, more satisfactory, all kinds of things. But I just want to start with the caveat that I realized I'm biased towards us, because I am in fact, a doula so. So one of the factors is really good support. Now, ideally, that looks like both personal support people be that a family member, a close friend, an intimate partner, a spouse of some kind, some kind of personal support that is in your life outside of just the experience of giving birth, and then some kind of professional support, meaning a doula an educator or somebody who can walk alongside you through this journey. But who has done this before and has more context, also doesn't have an intimate emotional response to you, where when you're in labor, it doesn't elicit like, that emotional response that you would get from, like, intimate family member or intimate partner, right. The other thing is, having a team that you trust. So what I mean, when I say that is, if you feel at all, like you are not a good fit with your provider, your midwife, your doctor, whoever it is, then during pregnancy is the time to change that, okay? It's not something that you want to do to go into labor, if you can avoid it, with a provider that you don't feel safe and comfortable with. Part of the reason for that is that actually your oxytocin levels are going to be impacted. That's going to impact how you respond in terms of trauma or satisfaction with how your birth goes. But also you should be able to trust the person that you are kind of giving your care to right. And so then you need to pick someone who is trustworthy, and who you feel incredibly comfortable with when you're doing this intimate work of giving birth. Okay. Another big factor is have some education. Now, there are a bunch of different kinds of education. And that's actually the next the next episode, the last episode for season one. We're on episode 50. Next episode. So this is episode 49. That episode is going to be talking about about what are the different kinds of education? And how do you choose one, sorry, my nose is itchy. And one of the things that I want to really talk about in that episode, especially is that depending on what kind of birth you're wanting to have, what sort of tools you're planning to use, all of that dictates whatKaely Harrod 3:42 kind of childbirth Ed you choose. So the beginning of Episode Two, or not episode two, season two, I'm going to be sharing with you about a new class offering I have and they're gonna be micro birth classes. Now you might be a person that gets like overwhelmed when you think of doing like eight hours of class or, or even like a five week series or something like that. So if you're like okay, Kaylee, I need to know about epidurals, I just want to know, what is an epidural? What do I need to know about it? What are the myths around it? What are the questions that people ask? Right? Then you can take my like super short, epidural class. And you can add to that class if you'd like to, right, so you can add like a birth, like logistics of labor, what is your uterus even doing when you're in labor? Right. And so that's something that I have coming, I hope to have it fully developed by September, super pumped about it. But I'm going to talk a little bit more in the next episode about the differences in childbirth ed. So even if it's just a super quick class about birth, I think that helps improve birth on many different levels. For one, there's just really less trauma and more satisfaction when you understand what happens and why it happens. Now, that does not mean that I think you need to know every single thing that could possibly happen during labor, I don't actually think that's smart, or helpful. But it does mean that generally speaking, you have an idea of what to expect. And then the various parts of labor are not eliciting a feeling of terror, right? Or a feeling of fear or anxiety, you might still have some layers of those. That's okay. Right. But it generally is going to lessen that if you're like, Oh, I knew I was going to feel this right. Maybe I don't want to be nauseous, but I know that being nauseous and labor is normal. And so then me being nauseous doesn't make me nervous, right. So that's another piece. So so far, I've said, a really good support team. So someone who's like an intimate support, family support, friend support. And then two is a doula or some other kind of professional support. And then three is choose your care team really, really wisely, for half some form of education. And the last one, is to really dig into how you are comforted. Now, if you've been around for any number of episodes, you hear me talk about oxytocin almost always, like that is my jam. I talk about it a lot. But in life, I think in general, we don't always know what we like a lot, or what brings us comfort, what is helpful to us, right? And so in labor, if we don't already know that, it's really hard for us to ask for that support. Right? So one thing that I think makes birth easier, is if you do some work to uncover in yourself, what are things that bring you comfort? What are things that help you when you're scared? What are things that you really enjoy, right? Whether that's scents and music and things like that? Or like the kind of touch that's helpful and the kind of phrases that are helpful. We generally default to what we want when we're helping someone else in labor that's very unhelpful, because you're not in labor, right? So if I'm, if I'm coming in as a doula and talking to someone as if I, how I want to be talked to you, when I'm in labor, that's not necessarily helping them, right, because they're the ones in labor this time. So part of that work is internal work, of figuring out what it is that helps you what it is that maybe like calms you down, or maybe like brings you like soothing, sort of like peaceful feelings, or well, and so figuring out what that is, and then also communicating that with your support people, your your partner, your family member, or your doula and making sure that everyone knows what kind of support is most helpful to you. Okay, so those are five quick and dirty tips. I hope that those are helpful. I will be back with the next episode, the last episode for the season. So we'll take about a month off for the month of August, and then we'll be back for season two starting in September. And so tune into that last episode, so you don't miss it. All right. In the meantime, I wish you well informed consent filledKaely Harrod 8:38 births. These episodes are edited and produced by Kaely. Her rod as I'm sure you can probably tell, and our amazing music is credited in the shownotes as well. So we look forward to seeing you on the next episode. And in the meantime, have a wonderful and consent filledKaely Harrod 9:01 birth.Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Birth is hard; that is a well known fact. So what are some factors that can make it easier? This list is just a start of course, but it is a few things that I believe makes birth easier to mentally, emotionally and physically experience.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Factors that make birth easier:
A Birth Doula
Good personal support team
A team of providers that you trust
Explore what is actually comforting to you and employ those things!
RESOURCES
FREE OXYTOCIN GUIDE:
6 Ways to Increase Oxytocin for Labor Progression
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/free-guide-6-oxytocin-tips
CONNECT with Kaely on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/
This podcast is hosted by the Birth Prep Blueprint - comprehensive Childbirth Education for expectant parents to feel calm, prepared and confident about labor and birth. Podcast listeners (that’s YOU!) get 10% off! Use the link below to get that great deal!
https://thebirthprepblueprint.com/offers/884d5a56-9089-4482-a944-6bb7c26c9b04
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
