When women are prepared well for birth and treated as central to the process, they have easier and safer birth experiences. Medical procedures carry risks and have side effects, and decrease a woman's ability to remain an active participant in the birth experience. Drugs and technology are often used to replace human support and encouragement of the birthing mother's capabilities. Good preparation and skilled labor support allow the mother to work more successfully with the birth process, avoid complications, and have a positive experience that she will be able to draw upon for the rest of her life. To many women this is a scary thought.
Care providers make a difference.
Where available, midwives tend to provide mothers with more emotional support, information and preparation, and confidence in their ability to have a normal birth experience. Ask your care provider what percentage of their clients achieve natural birth, and what percentage give birth with an epidural, narcotics, episiotomy, or by cesarean section. We encourage mothers to become as informed as possible, through childbirth classes, reading, questioning their care provider, and talking to women who have had positive birth experiences. Being informed helps lessen fear of the unknown, gives women tools to draw upon in labor, and allows parents more control over decisions to be made. Using a skilled labor assistant or doula has been shown to significantly reduce the use of drugs and unnecessary interventions in labor.