The most important part of prenatal care

So, you're pregnant, for the first time -- congratulations!

You go to your prenatal appointments. You're gathering supplies and cute clothing for your little one. Maybe you're picking out the perfect crib, changing table, rocker with matching footstool. You're filled with tender visions of motherhood.

Maybe you can already feel the tiny being moving around inside your abdomen. It's magical.

Your doctor assures you that everything is normal. You continue along in your pregnancy.

As your birth looms closer, your excitement grows. So does the realization that this baby, which seems impossibly huge in late pregnancy, must come out of your body somehow.

You will probably begin to hope that your labor will begin early. This means that not only will the baby be smaller, but you'll spend less time feeling as large (and agile) as a barn. Inductions, stripping the membranes, anything you may be offered at your doctor's office to speed the onset of labor, sound sweet.

What will happen in your labor is an unimportant mystery -- after all, isn't that why you have a doctor? Whatever happens will be fine, because your doctor and nurses will make sure that you come home with a healthy baby, and that is the very most important thing.

..

Except it isn't.

..

You will find that how your baby comes into the world, and how you feel about it, matter tremendously. You might be asked to make decisions you don't understand. You will experience new sensations and emotions and not know if they are normal or aberrant. You might feel afraid, insecure, discouraged, or foolish.

On the contrary, you have the opportunity to experience your birth as a wonderful and normal passage. You can feel comfortable, even in the midst of unfamiliar sensations. You can be confident in your knowledge that you are where you should be, that what you are experiencing is normal and good, and what to expect to come shortly. You can bring your baby into the world, fearless and radiant, with no sense of unease to cloud your joy.

..

Does it depend on whether or not you had an epidural?

Not at all.

All this hinges on your education. Do not miss the opportunity to learn about childbirth. You need to know what will happen, to become very knowledgeable about what is normal and what is outside the range of normal.

Whether or not you choose pain medication does not ultimately matter. You will do what you feel comfortable with, and education may or may not change your course of action in that respect.

But if you arrive at the hospital in labor, are examined and found to be 3 centimeters dilated, and the care practitioner offers to break your waters, what will you choose? There are consequences to early rupture of the waters, not all of which may be disclosed to you in that moment.

If you are told that you need to be induced because of a large baby, what will you say? Do you know how the measurements were made and how accurate they may be? Why does the doctor want to induce for a large baby anyway? Is induction safe?

If the baby's heart rate drops to 100 bpm for a moment, is there something seriously wrong? What will the medical staff do? What does it mean?

Are you prepared to make these decisions?

Do not miss your classes. If you find you still have questions, find out. There are plenty of resources, and for most things, there is reliable, studied information available. Read about birth until you are weary of reading because you know the subject so well.

Prepare yourself.

What happens in your birth, and how you feel about it, matters tremendously.