1. Choose your care team with the same care you would buy a new car with. It will matter in the long run.
2.Research everything that is important to you and have informed consent.
3.Create a Birth preferences instead of a birth plan so you can be clear with understanding that you know you cannot plan Birth but you know if all is well with you and your baby, you know what your priorities are.
4.Make sure everyone in your care team understands what you want in your birth preferences so it’s easier to meet your needs.
5.Hi Doula. Virtual or in person. Hiring someone to give third-party support who is there just for you, has been proven in many studies to improve outcomes on physical, emotional and mental levels.
6.Know what your rights are. Remember that you can change doctors if you don’t like the doctor that you have most of the time. If you don’t like them now, you won’t like them in labor.
7.Talk to your baby. Bond, connect, play games. Your baby is growing and learning you before your baby is even born. They can feel you.
8.Don’t get caught up in the drama of what everyone else does for their birth as “right “. What you want maybe different than someone else. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Just different.
9.Looking into options for out of hospital birth in your area if you want to. It’s better to have all your options. Looked at then think afterwards that you wish you had known. Ask questions to be informed.
10.Birth doesn’t happen like it does on TV and movies. Your body and your baby have great intelligence to do this work. Trust it and yourself. You’ve got this.
