Joy in Birthing

Knowledge is power. Asking the right questions puts you in charge of your own well-being. Write down your questions before your appointment with your doctor or midwife. Go and visit the birthing place; familiarize yourself with the environment and make sure the people who work there will respect your personal preferences. Visit their nursery and talk to the visitors and families who are there. When a relative is hanging around waiting for a baby to be born, or cooing at a baby through the nursery window, they’re eager to talk. Remember, you can change hospitals and doctors as many times as you need to, until you find what and whom you want. Don’t be afraid.

The following are seven questions you should ask your care provider in their office or while you are in the hospital before any procedure is performed:

1. Is this an emergency, or do we have time to talk?
2. What are the benefits of doing this?
3. What are the risks?
4. If we do this, what other procedures or treatments might I end up needing as a result?
5. What else can you suggest we try first or instead?
6. What would happen if we waited an hour or two (or a day or two, or a week or two, etc.) before doing it?
7. What would happen if we didn’t do it at all?

Learn these questions by heart; they should be asked before any procedure, for the rest of your life. We live in intervention-happy times. Our care providers have sworn they will do anything they can to take our pain away, even before they figure out whether the pain is there for a “good” reason. Knowledge is power.