Birth navigation
What is birth navigation?
Birth preparation for the decisions that don’t fit neatly on a birth plan.
Birth navigation
Focuses on how decisions get made when you’re in it.
Traditional birth education
Often focuses on what labor looks like.
Birth navigation
noun
1.
A Birth Navigation session is a private educational consultation designed to help you understand the landscape of labor and delivery before you enter it.
We may talk about
01
What actually happens during an induction
02
Epidurals and other approaches to pain management
03
The risks and benefits of fetal monitoring, and what clinicians are watching for
04
When and why a cesarean may be recommended
05
The trade offs between vacuum- and forceps-assisted delivery
06
Common hospital interventions
07
What happens when labor is slower than expected
08
Postpartum hemorrhage and other obstetric complications
09
Newborn care immediately after delivery
10
How to communicate your priorities when circumstances change
11
Frameworks for thinking about your options if and when the time comes to make hard decisions in labor
12
What questions you may want to ask your obstetrician before labor
The goal of these conversations is not to frighten you with a catalog of everything that could go wrong.
The point is context.
If someone says,
“Your baby’s heart rate is concerning and I’d like to talk about delivery,”
those should not have to be the first words of a conversation you have never imagined having.