Welcome!
This page is just to explain a little about the purpose of "Learn Before Birth."
First of all, welcome! Thanks for visiting this blog!
A Little About Me
My name is Erica. I am married to my best friend, am mother to a beautiful baby boy, and we have another baby on the way! I have always been interested in pregnancy and birth, and with the birth of our first son, that interest has become a bit of a passion. While preparing for the birth of my first baby, I started out nervous and uncertain, but through educating myself, I became confident and excited for the birth. I went into the birth with a positive outlook and without the nervousness I had when newly pregnant. My birth experience was one of the most meaningful, fulfilling, and beautiful experiences of my life. I believe that my experience was so positive because I really put a lot of time and effort into preparing for birth. I educated myself, and that education empowered me. I don't believe that I am somehow special or different than any other woman when it comes to birth. I believe that women can empower themselves -and help themselves to have positive birth experiences- through educating themselves, making informed decisions, and putting time and effort into birth preparation. It doesn't have to be enormous amounts of time and effort. I believe that all of the little things you do to prepare -all of the tid bits of knowledge you collect- will help you to have a better birth experience. Birth can be very hard, and being prepared doesn't mean that it will be easy, but I believe preparation can really make it a better, more fulfilling experience.
Why This Blog?
From someone who knew very, very little about birth before educating myself, I know that birth can seem terrifying. It is portrayed as something terrifying and filled with drama in the media. Whenever birth gets a lot of hype, it's either super traumatic or one of those "it was so easy that I didn't even know I was giving birth" stories. We see all the extremes in the media. In reality, neither of those extremes accurately portrays the majority of birth experiences. And the dramatized traumatic birth stories really don't need to become a reality for us. Actual emergencies are very rare. Also, people love telling scary, crazy stories about birth, especially when they find out you are pregnant. I don't understand why people would want to tell a pregnant person about horror birth stories... But this is a place where I will write about real birth in a positive way- positive experiences, and positive ways of preparing. I don't think fear needs to be- or should be- a part of birth. My birth experience wasn't easy- it was one of the hardest things I've ever done- but it definitely wasn't traumatizing. It was empowering! It was one of my greatest accomplishments and gave me a new, deep sense of respect for myself and my body. It made me feel closer to my Creator, myself, my husband, and gave me a huge sense of connection to my new baby. I loved the experience, and I really treasure the memory of it and the lessons I learned from it.
I am creating this website in hopes that it will help other women to get excited about learning before giving birth. I hope that I can help others learn things that will empower them in their birth preparation, decisions, and experiences.
What do I mean by "empowered?"
I like the word empower. I will probably use it frequently -or variations like empowered, empowering, etc.- on this site. I've kind of picked up the word through my own birth education. Many resources I've learned from (especially ones about natural birth) have used the same word.
When I say empower I am trying to convey a feeling that I want women to have... here are some words that describe empowerment in my mind:
-feeling knowledgable
-making informed decisions
-feeling confidence in those decisions
-feeling strong
-no longer feeling serious uncertainty or fear
-knowing the process of birth, and feeling confident that your body is an expert at what it is doing
-feeling that you are capable of doing hard things, even something you haven't done before (if it is your first baby)
My feelings of empowerment before birth came as I gained knowledge about birth, made decisions about how I wanted my birth to be (things that were within my control- like choosing to have a natural birth), and especially as I became less and less nervous about birth, until I was actually excited for the experience. During birth, I felt empowered when my body was experiencing things it never had before, and I felt like I was losing control, and yet I chose to relax and trust my body. I felt empowered when I was at the most difficult point of my labor, and I started to feel panicky, but then I realized "wait, this must be transition! I learned about this part of birth. That must mean I'm really close to meeting my baby!" I felt empowered when I pushed my baby boy out and held him on my chest for the first time. He was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen, and I felt incredible for having brought him into the world. It was a feeling of huge accomplishment, euphoria, and well-being. My body (although physically weak at the time) felt so powerful, and my spirit felt even stronger. I felt like at that point my will power was stronger than it had ever been before.
I will write more about being empowered in a specific post for the topic.
First of all, welcome! Thanks for visiting this blog!
A Little About Me
My name is Erica. I am married to my best friend, am mother to a beautiful baby boy, and we have another baby on the way! I have always been interested in pregnancy and birth, and with the birth of our first son, that interest has become a bit of a passion. While preparing for the birth of my first baby, I started out nervous and uncertain, but through educating myself, I became confident and excited for the birth. I went into the birth with a positive outlook and without the nervousness I had when newly pregnant. My birth experience was one of the most meaningful, fulfilling, and beautiful experiences of my life. I believe that my experience was so positive because I really put a lot of time and effort into preparing for birth. I educated myself, and that education empowered me. I don't believe that I am somehow special or different than any other woman when it comes to birth. I believe that women can empower themselves -and help themselves to have positive birth experiences- through educating themselves, making informed decisions, and putting time and effort into birth preparation. It doesn't have to be enormous amounts of time and effort. I believe that all of the little things you do to prepare -all of the tid bits of knowledge you collect- will help you to have a better birth experience. Birth can be very hard, and being prepared doesn't mean that it will be easy, but I believe preparation can really make it a better, more fulfilling experience.
Why This Blog?
From someone who knew very, very little about birth before educating myself, I know that birth can seem terrifying. It is portrayed as something terrifying and filled with drama in the media. Whenever birth gets a lot of hype, it's either super traumatic or one of those "it was so easy that I didn't even know I was giving birth" stories. We see all the extremes in the media. In reality, neither of those extremes accurately portrays the majority of birth experiences. And the dramatized traumatic birth stories really don't need to become a reality for us. Actual emergencies are very rare. Also, people love telling scary, crazy stories about birth, especially when they find out you are pregnant. I don't understand why people would want to tell a pregnant person about horror birth stories... But this is a place where I will write about real birth in a positive way- positive experiences, and positive ways of preparing. I don't think fear needs to be- or should be- a part of birth. My birth experience wasn't easy- it was one of the hardest things I've ever done- but it definitely wasn't traumatizing. It was empowering! It was one of my greatest accomplishments and gave me a new, deep sense of respect for myself and my body. It made me feel closer to my Creator, myself, my husband, and gave me a huge sense of connection to my new baby. I loved the experience, and I really treasure the memory of it and the lessons I learned from it.
I am creating this website in hopes that it will help other women to get excited about learning before giving birth. I hope that I can help others learn things that will empower them in their birth preparation, decisions, and experiences.
What do I mean by "empowered?"
I like the word empower. I will probably use it frequently -or variations like empowered, empowering, etc.- on this site. I've kind of picked up the word through my own birth education. Many resources I've learned from (especially ones about natural birth) have used the same word.
When I say empower I am trying to convey a feeling that I want women to have... here are some words that describe empowerment in my mind:
-feeling knowledgable
-making informed decisions
-feeling confidence in those decisions
-feeling strong
-no longer feeling serious uncertainty or fear
-knowing the process of birth, and feeling confident that your body is an expert at what it is doing
-feeling that you are capable of doing hard things, even something you haven't done before (if it is your first baby)
My feelings of empowerment before birth came as I gained knowledge about birth, made decisions about how I wanted my birth to be (things that were within my control- like choosing to have a natural birth), and especially as I became less and less nervous about birth, until I was actually excited for the experience. During birth, I felt empowered when my body was experiencing things it never had before, and I felt like I was losing control, and yet I chose to relax and trust my body. I felt empowered when I was at the most difficult point of my labor, and I started to feel panicky, but then I realized "wait, this must be transition! I learned about this part of birth. That must mean I'm really close to meeting my baby!" I felt empowered when I pushed my baby boy out and held him on my chest for the first time. He was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen, and I felt incredible for having brought him into the world. It was a feeling of huge accomplishment, euphoria, and well-being. My body (although physically weak at the time) felt so powerful, and my spirit felt even stronger. I felt like at that point my will power was stronger than it had ever been before.
I will write more about being empowered in a specific post for the topic.
A Note About Bias
Bias. I think all educators have bias... however hard they try to be fair and see all perspectives equally, the truth is that they haven't experienced all of the same things as each of their students. We create our perspectives from experiences we have had, not experiences we haven't had and know little about. We can't be perfectly unbiased, but we can at least try to keep an open mind.
On that note, I want to acknowledge that I have biases. This said, I try to have an open mind about things and consider new perspectives when I am confronted with them. Here are just a few things that may cause bias in my writing:
-I am a big fan of natural birth and birth without intervention. I had a great experience with natural birth that has influenced my perspective and opinion.
-I attended a birth center for my prenatal checkups and for the birth of my baby. I have not yet had personal experience with hospital or home birth, but I have done research to learn more about these options.
I don't want to offend anyone, but I need to acknowledge that the things I write will often be influenced by my personal perspectives and opinions. If you have a perspective that I do not, I hope I can learn from you. Please share comments and ideas that can help me to share information in a way that covers more perspectives!
Bias. I think all educators have bias... however hard they try to be fair and see all perspectives equally, the truth is that they haven't experienced all of the same things as each of their students. We create our perspectives from experiences we have had, not experiences we haven't had and know little about. We can't be perfectly unbiased, but we can at least try to keep an open mind.
On that note, I want to acknowledge that I have biases. This said, I try to have an open mind about things and consider new perspectives when I am confronted with them. Here are just a few things that may cause bias in my writing:
-I am a big fan of natural birth and birth without intervention. I had a great experience with natural birth that has influenced my perspective and opinion.
-I attended a birth center for my prenatal checkups and for the birth of my baby. I have not yet had personal experience with hospital or home birth, but I have done research to learn more about these options.
I don't want to offend anyone, but I need to acknowledge that the things I write will often be influenced by my personal perspectives and opinions. If you have a perspective that I do not, I hope I can learn from you. Please share comments and ideas that can help me to share information in a way that covers more perspectives!
I'd Like to Hear Your Thoughts!
I'm really interested in hearing about other women's experiences! Whether or not you are a mom, I'd like to hear your experiences, thoughts, concerns, stories, etc. concerning birth. Also, if there is a specific topic you'd like to see discussed on this blog, please let me know by leaving a comment or sending me a message (you should be able to send me an e-mail by visiting my profile page and clicking "Email" under "Contact me").
I'm really interested in hearing about other women's experiences! Whether or not you are a mom, I'd like to hear your experiences, thoughts, concerns, stories, etc. concerning birth. Also, if there is a specific topic you'd like to see discussed on this blog, please let me know by leaving a comment or sending me a message (you should be able to send me an e-mail by visiting my profile page and clicking "Email" under "Contact me").
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