How are you preparing for your birth and Breastfeeding journey?
How are you preparing for your birth and breastfeeding journey?
These are some things that I did to prepare:
- Enrolling in independent childbirth education
My husband and I felt so empowered and prepared for the birth of our daughter by the end of our Hypnobirthing Australia – Positive Birth Program. We were given an amazing tool kit for birth, and the program focused on the birthing couple rather than just the birthing mother, so my husband was empowered to advocate and care for me during birth. The skills we learnt have served us well for both birth and beyond! I found this course so inspiring that I went on to become a Hypnobirthing Australia Practitioner when my daughter was 4 months old.
- Planning for our breastfeeding journey
Breastfeeding was a no brainer for me, and to be honest I didn’t have any hang ups or worries on this aspect of my parenting journey. I had a secret weapon; I had my mum! My wonderful mum other than being the most amazing woman ever (I might be biased but ask any of my three brothers), she is a wise woman having over 35 years of experience supporting women birth and breastfeed their baby’s she is also a registered nurse, registered midwife and has more recently has become a Thompson method breastfeeding educator and soon to be practitioner. And to top this off she lives 5 minutes from me, so I had breastfeeding assistance and support only a phone call away! Surrounding myself with people who were supportive of my choices and therefore there to assist me to achieve them has been a huge help on my breastfeeding journey. And I better not forget to mention my supportive husband Jay J who has supported me every step of the way.
- Fourth trimester support
I’ve said it once and I will say it again! Those tender days and weeks postpartum you need to be surrounded by those who have come to nourish YOU, rather than those who have only come to hold the baby. You need to be nourished, be this by bringing you food, having an emotional debrief or someone to do your washing/cleaning/take care of older children whatever makes you feel seen, loved and taken care of! The bond created in the early days will cement your breastfeeding dyad and lifelong connection with your baby.
- Model of care
The model of care I chose for this pregnancy was a private midwife. This meant that I had the same midwife care for me throughout my pregnancy and birth and visit and care for me at home for six weeks postpartum. Being cared for in this way was the right choice for me and my family. As I am a product of homebirth, as are and many generations of women before me (mother, grandmother and great grandmother have all birthed at home) it was something that I gravitated towards even before I was pregnant. I had a successful home water birth, in the calm safety of my lounge room. Claire my PM was an absolute superstar! She listened, respected, and cared for me and my family, I felt so safe and confident in her skill and ability to care for us. I encourage women to explore their birthing options and model of care as it goes a far deeper than public or privately funded hospital based maternity care.
I feel truly blessed to have had the positive birth I did, the expertise of Claire my PM, the loving support from my mum and my Husband and the amazing support and care I received postpartum. In saying this it didn’t all “just happen” I did my research, I prepared my body, I prepared my mind, I surrounded myself with people who would support me and set boundaries with those who were not so aligned with my views. Birth is an amazing and transformative time, why leave it up to chance? Plan and work towards your positive birth!
If you are interested in our independent childbirth education visit our website for our current schedule or get in contact for more information about our current programs!
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