What is a ‘positive birth’?
There are various myths in the birth world as to what constitutes a positive birth. Some equate positive births to those that have baby arrive earthside ‘safely’ regardless of the procedure or events that take place during labour and birth. Others see positive birth as those that are ‘natural’ or unmedicated. Some see positive birth as those with minimal pain or discomfort involved. A positive birth is a birth that has left the mother with feelings of security, safety, confidence, empowerment, control, choice and respect; regardless of the way her birth unfolds. A positive birth can be either medicated or unmedicated; a surgical delivery or vaginal; take place in a hospital or at home. If a birthing woman is left feeling that she was respected in her birthing decisions, and those decisions were informed from a place of knowledge, positivity and power, then her birthing experience is likely to be a positive one.
Image by Cat Fancote – Capturing Birth
Why is it so important?
We’ve all heard it. “Birth is only one day in your life.” “As long as the baby is alive and healthy, nothing else matters”.
Wrong. Birth matters. Mothers matter. Fathers matter.
And the impact of birth, and any potential fall out can last a lifetime. The natural process of birth is designed to not only allow humans to produce offspring, but it is also designed to produce confident, able parents that can attend to and raise their offspring. When a mother and her partner emerge from pregnancy and birth feeling secure, safe, confident in their decisions, empowered by their choices, in control of bodily autonomy, and respected for their decisions, there is every possibility that those feelings will follow into parenthood. Those parents will more than likely have confidence in the decisions they make for their baby, trust themselves to make empowered choices, and feel more in control. In a birth that has left them feeling unheard, fearful and powerless, those feelings are likely to continue into their parenting and beyond through a lack of confidence, loss of identity, confusion, emptiness and anxiety. The impact of birth lasts much longer than the day it unfolds, and that impact is not always instantly visible. Planning for a positive experience is possible through education and mindset.
Birth matters. Not only for baby but for mothers and fathers too.
If you’re currently pregnant or planning a pregnancy, and want to know more about how to plan for a positive birthing experience, I’d love to connect with you. Either give me a call or send me a message and we can talk about the best way to steer your birth in a positive direction. If you’ve experienced a birth that has left you will feelings of confusion, sadness, isolation, anxiety or fear, please know that you can get through this. Support is available through birth debriefing or counselling. Reach out to me and we can work through it all. Fiona x
My name is Fiona Rogerson and I am an ACA accredited perinatal and Perth women’s counsellor, and Hypnobirthing (Mongan Method) Practitioner. I work with women and men to overcome emotional and psychological hurdles surrounding conception, pregnancy, postpartum, parenting and identity. I am also available to provide professional development training and workshops to various organisations. I am based south of the river in Perth and can be contacted by email at fiona@fionarogerson.com.au or phone 0402 017 425 or via my contact page.
