Top three tips from a birth doula
- Erin Purkiss
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Eleanor Lambert
There’s lots of noise when it comes to planning for the birth of your child. In
the age of social media and algorithms, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all of the differing opinions around the “best” way to bring your child into this world.
As an experienced birth doula and women’s health physiotherapist, these are my top three tips.
1. Knowledge really is power
A lot of parents avoid looking into their birth ‘options’ as they fear it will
increase their anxiety/stress, however I would argue the exact opposite.
When you know what options are available to you, how you feel about
different interventions, when you would opt for an epidural vs no epidural etc it actually takes a lot of that anxiety and fear away.
The best thing you can do when you’re approaching birth is to understand
what it means to you and what things are important for you to feel safe and
secure.
2. B.R.A.I.N
One of the most simple things to remember when planning for birth, and
during the birth of your child, is to use your brain.
B - benefits.
R - risks.
A - alternatives.
I - intuition.
N - nothing.
B - what are the benefits? How is this choice going to positively help you
and/or your baby?
R - what are the risks? If you consent to this, or choose this option, what
are the potential negative outcomes or flow on consequences?
A - what are the alternatives? Is there something less invasive/simpler that
you can do first? Is there an option you are more comfortable with? Is there
a lower impact option that could be trialled firs?
I - what is your intuition? What is your gut telling you? Do you feel
comfortable with what is being suggested? Or do you feel like you need
more information/there may be other options to explore first?
N - what if you do nothing? Can you wait ten minutes? Can you reassess in
2 hours and have another conversation? And what if you say no?
By stopping and going through the above steps, and having the time and
space to do so, you are more likely to come to a decision without stress or
‘pressure of the moment’ influencing your choice.
3. Have a map, not a plan.
Birth plans get a lot of flack for being “too rigid” or a waste of time as you
“can’t predict what is going to happen”, and I don’t disagree. Going in with
one option for how you are going to birth your baby can lead to
disappointment as well as a lack of exploration of your other options.
I encourage all my doula clients, and physio patients too, to approach birth
decisions as a mind-map - if you were going to script your birth, what would
you want to do? If you couldn’t script it, when would you consider/be
comfortable/opt out of xyz?
If you’re planning on having an epidural, great, but what are you going to
use for pain management between your first contraction and when you
choose to request the anaesthetic review?
If you’re planning to stay home until your labour is well and truly
established, great, but how are you going to manage your contractions at
home until you reach that point?
The idea of a fetal scalp electrode makes you very anxious, okay, are there
any circumstances in which you would consent to its use?
The more you explore all potential avenues the less likely you are to
struggle through the tricky bits, or find yourself making choices you’d never
even considered.
Sneakily, let’s do an extra tip:
4. Choose independent birth education.
Seeking out independent birth education (i.e birth education outside of that
provided by your birthing hospital or care provider) has been shown to:
Increase the rate of NVD (normal vaginal delivery) and lower the rate of instrumental delivery (Int J Gynecol Obstet 2020; 148: 300–304)
Decrease the rate of caesarean section (BIRTH 44:1 March 2017)
Decrease induction rates and lower use of analgesics during labour (J Perinat Educ. 2020 Jan 1; 29(1): 16–22.)
Independent birth education is more likely to discuss the risks and benefits
of all intervention types and spend time exploring the physiology of labour
and the role of normal hormonal support, and is less likely to be impacted
by the policies and procedures of the health service.
Good news? I’ve got you covered.
I have created an online, self-paced, birth education course that covers all
of the bits and pieces that will set you up for an informed birth experience.
was put together to provide a solid, independent birth
education resource that goes through everything you need to know, that
you didn’t know you needed to know.
To learn more, head over to
out.
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