Hey mamas, welcome back to the Birthing Bessie blog, where we talk about real topics pertaining to birth, pregnancy, motherhood, partnerships, just real life. Here on the blog, we don’t shy away from talking about the hardships of motherhood. Instead, we validate you, we understand you, and we embrace you with open arms.

Today I want to talk about understanding your birth philosophy, and I want to share with you three questions, three things for you to reflect on to help you better understand what your birth philosophy is. So you might be wondering, what is a birth philosophy? 

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 Hey mamas, welcome back to the Birthing Bessie blog, where we talk about real topics pertaining to birth, pregnancy, motherhood, partnerships, just real life. Here on the blog, we don’t shy away from talking about the hardships of motherhood. Instead, we validate you, we understand you, and we embrace you with open arms.

Today I want to talk about understanding your birth philosophy, and I want to share with you three questions/three things for you to reflect on to help you better understand what your birth philosophy is. So you might be wondering, what is a birth philosophy? 

Well, a philosophy in itself is essentially the fundamental understanding of yourself. So when we are talking about a birth philosophy, we are talking about how you actually feel and think and understand birth to be in your own experience. And you can have a birth philosophy whether or not you have gone through childbirth before or not. 

Having an idea of what your birth philosophy is really important for a couple of reasons:

• It can help you make decisions as your labor and delivery unfold and progress.
• It can help you pick the care provider that’s right for you
• It can help you understand how you want to be cared for during birth and what type of support you might need. 

So let’s talk about three things to consider, reflect on, and process when trying to understand your birth philosophy.

1. How do I feel about birth?

When you ask yourself this question and you get clear on what your answer is, it will help you understand what type of support you need leading into your birth to support whatever feelings that you have about birth. 

Your feelings about birth could be anything from excitement, nervousness, or fear. Do you think it to be painful? Do you think it to be a big medical event? Do you think it to be really empowering and powerful? 

There’s no wrong answer here. It is truly just understanding how you feel. Whether you are thinking through it, processing it mentally, writing it down, or having a conversation with another person, be totally honest with yourself. How do you feel about birth? 

Whatever emotions and thoughts come up are okay. Those feelings help you get a better understanding of how you really feel about birth, and now you can think about what you can do to settle those anxieties and understand what type of support you might need. 

Do you need to work with a doula? Do you need to get more education? Do you need to have more conversations with your care provider? There’s no wrong answer here. Just think, “how do I feel about birth?” 

2. Are these thoughts, ideas, and philosophies around birth my own or are they borrowed from somebody else?

Question number two very much piggybacks off of the first question. Why do I feel this way about birth, and more importantly, are these thoughts, ideas, and philosophies around birth my own or are they borrowed from somebody else? 

Oftentimes women and other people who have had babies before, like to pass down their experience. They like to share with you their experience- the good, the bad, the ugly- all of it. Unfortunately, this can warp our own ideas and thoughts around birth. 

So as you reflect on that first question, the very next thing I want you to think about is why do I feel that way?

Is it something you maybe saw on TV, in a documentary, or in a movie? Is it something you read? Is this something that was passed down to you from family members, from aunts, or your mom, or your grandmother? 

So you may have answered that first question about how you feel about birth with some emotions of fear and maybe feeling a little scared or anxious about it. Now think about if tat is because someone has shared something with you with their experience, or is it something that you have thought of on your own, have wondered, have read, have learned, and that’s why you have those types of thoughts around birth. 

It’s really important to sift through all of the information you’re getting, which is why it’s such a benefit of having doula or being in a childbirth education class. You can really get down to the facts instead of borrowing other people’s beliefs and birth philosophies and experiences.

It’s really important for you to get clear on what your own thoughts and feelings are around birth. So question number two is Where did these thoughts come from? Do I feel this way about birth as my own story or borrowed from somebody else? 

3. How do I feel about medical interventions?

Reminding you again that there is no wrong answers here. I want you to think, write, and speak, freely about however you’re processing this information, and know that there’s no judgment. 

So how do you feel about medical interventions? You might not  have any qualms with medical interventions at all and feel that whatever needs to happen, you trust your care provider and know that they will have your bestinterest at heart and whatever they think is best is fine with you.

And you might find yourself on the other end of the spectrum and feeling like you truly believe that birth is a natural physiological process that will happen and you don’t need/want the help of medical interventions. And you might fall somewhere in between or anywhere along that spectrum.

Understanding how you feel a little bit about medical interventions is going to help you paint a picture of how you want things to unfold as your labor progresses. If you are delivering in a medical system, there are a lot of interventions that will be available to you, offered to you, maybe even recommended to you, and knowing ahead of time your interest level in those medical interventions is really important.

These are all topics that we really dive into in The Empowered Pregnancy Membership, especially when we’re talking about those interventions. We talk about how you might feel about different medical interventions, and we talk about each and every intervention. In The Membership, you have the opportunity to learn all about them… their benefits and risks, alternatives and options that you have with each.

Remember, Mama, this activity is designed to help you understand what fits best for you and when it comes to your birth philosophy. Take some time to sit down with a pen and paper or a trusted friend or even your partner. Talk through these questions, and get an idea of how you feel.

And if you’re doing this exercise with your partner, it’s a great time for them to really think through how they feel about birth and brings up so many great conversations for you and your partner. And along the way, if you come up with questions for your care provider, that’s a plus too. Anything that comes from this, absolutely write that down.

Okay, Mama, I would love for you to share your thoughts with me! If you have questions about birth philosophies, or anything else, reach out. I am here for you every step of the way. You can always… Slide into my DMs on Instagram at @ebbirthing, or you can reach out via email at ebbirthing@gmail.com 

Know that I am here for you. Know that I support you and I would love to know what you think about your own birth philosophy. Share it with me either on Instagram or email. I’d love to hear from you. Until next time, Mama!