In my experience over the last 5 years of being a doula, I have seen major changes in how births are managed and how immediate postpartum care is handled. There are also many external factors that can effect a birth experience and outcome such as location, support team, interventions or new ways of using interventions, policies, technology, medications, education, etc. Just because your mother had caesareans, and her mother had caesareans, and your sisters, aunts, and cousins birthed their babies a certain way does not mean that you will birth your baby the same way.Įvery woman, every baby, and every pregnancy is different. While genetics may play some role in pregnancy and birth, it usually takes a backseat to how you FEEL about birth and how your labour unfolds. However, expectant parents, especially first timers, are not therapists. There is no doubt about the importance of processing one’s birth story. Sharing stories of hurt, disappointment and trauma help parents heal. What it may have done however, is plant a seed of fear in your mind – one that may continue to haunt you for your entire pregnancy and ultimately during your birthing experience.Īs professionals, we need to listen to parents when they share their birth stories. Was that story in any way helpful? Probably not. Sometimes without even asking, people start spouting off their stories of blood and gore, failed inductions, emergency cesareans, pain, panic and abusive medical staff. Baby bumps are magnetsĪs soon as friends, co-workers, or even strangers realize that you have a baby bump, you become a magnet for scary birth stories. Over the years we have discovered many sources of fear that seem to be imprinted on the minds of expectant families. As doulas and childbirth educators we work with our clients to help them define their fears and resolve them. But what does this old belief have to do with giving birth?įar too often our clients and students express feelings of fear, doubt, and anxiety over how they will give birth. In other words, whether our personalities are shaped by “nurture” (experience) or “nature” (genetics), tabula rasa suggests that it is “nurture” that writes on this slate. This belief, that originated in the mid-300s B.C., holds that it is a person’s experience of the world that wires their brains. It is the belief that all humans are born without a single imprint of knowledge on their minds but are instead clean, fresh, empty and ready to be written on. Tabula Rasa translates from Latin into “Blank Slate”. If you received your education in Western Society you may have come across the term “tabula rasa” either in literature, philosophy, religion, psychology or social science classes in secondary or post-secondary school.
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