Find a care provider who is “best fit” for you.
When we are planning for our big day, we spend hours trawling through the latest glossy wedding magazines, eagerly dog-earing the pages, enthusiastically circling, ripping out bits and pieces to collate together and form a collage of inspiration.
It becomes all-consuming for most of us, and when we’ve reached our pinnacle of inspiration, off we set in the direction of those bridal store, overflowing with dazzling gowns.
What if we looked for a care provider for our birth with the same approach? As soon as we got that faint pink double line on the pregnancy test strip, we began dreaming and planning for this amazing transformation that is birth, we researched and set our goal in place. We shopped around, and shopped some more until we found the best fit for us.
We’re not going to find that stunning gown we’ve been dreaming of in the $5 bargain bin of the local clothing franchise store, nor will we be happy to walk in a store, to be told we can only choose from 2 dresses- neither are anything like you envisaged, nor compliment you. We wouldn’t buy a cheapie off ebay and expect it to be just right for us and you won’t settle for anything less than you’ve dreamed of.
You’ve got your dream dress in your mind; you’ve seen yourself gliding around in it, filling you with joy and a determination to seek out exactly what you want. You push on, blistered feet, fatigue and weary to the next shop. You’re greeted and asked exactly what you would like, how they can fulfill your wedding dress dreams. They are there to serve you, and as you describe exactly what you would like, show them the picture in the magazines, you are overwhelming ecstatic to be shown exactly what you’ve been longing for, nothing is too much to ask, there is no hurried rushing, questions aren’t a drama.
Getting that “gold standard” care for your pregnancy, birth and postnatal care needs the same approach- shopping around until you have a care provider who matches your birth dreams like a glove. Philosophically, understanding birth is normal and natural, knowing that they are there to cater to your birth wishes.
We know that single most determining factor in birth outcome is care provider, not your pregnancy “risk”, so it’s more than worth doing the shopping around , just like you would with a wedding dress, so you aren’t settling for a $5 “bargain”. There are plenty of open-ended questions to ask your care-provider (see attached), but also ask around your network of friends and family, FB mums pages and your HypnoBirthing Practitioner, so you know where to begin to find the support you need to have your dream birth.
Don’t settle for just anybody to care for you and your baby in pregnancy. Make sure you shop around.
Download our ’40 Questions to Ask Your Careprovider’ to help you make the best decisions for yourself, your birth and your baby.
