Birth plans & drug-free birth - how much do you want it?

[BellyBelly]

My teacher uses the term, 'crisis of confidence' which is something we all get at some point in labour - usually this can be at some time at transition, sometimes we can get several of them (as per an earlier point, my teacher says she sees it happening earlier and earlier on in labour now that we live the sedentary lifestyle we currently do - we aren't use to pushing / exerting ourselves physically as much), but we all face a crisis of confidence in labour somewhere. This is when we say things like, 'I can't do it,' or, 'I want to go home,' or, 'Just give me a caesarean/epidural!' and think that we can't do it or it's all too hard. Even women at home experience this - we all do. But the thing is, how much does this woman want to have the natural birth she has said she wanted in her birth plan? Does she want to be pushed or is it just a romantacised ideal? What has she researched about birth and how much does she know about the process and how much does this mean to her? And who's going to ask a woman about that during labour?!!!!!

Because midwives in hospital don't know you because they probably haven't met you, they wont know your thoughts and philosophy on the topic - so screaming out that you want an epidural must be hard for some of them - they obviously have a job to give you what you want, but also, if your birth plan says otherwise, does that mean that you want her to help you get through? Can she help you through or due to staffing issues, does she just go straight for the epidural because she knows she can't be with you? It must be a tough call.

Many women hire my teacher because they know she will get them through their crisis of confidence - and many women can be with the right support and pre-birth knowledge - but I can see it more from a midwife perspective on why some are so funny about them. If you really want to be well supported through the crisis(es) of confidence, then you have to get yourself and your support team well clued up on it - because if they crumble, then what do you have to help you through? This is why I think Birth Attendants are so important in the process! They will help you through these 'crisises' and not have to leave, and will keep your support circle (e.g. partner, family) strong too. They also would have met the mother before hand to know and understand how passionate she is about this birth, her attitudes towards pain and can help accordingly. Of course, in an ideal world, we would have one to one midwifery and it would be alot different.