Empowering Women Means Educating Women

No pregnant woman should be scared into making decisions and every pregnant woman should be educated and empowered to make healthy decisions for her and her family!

As new mom I have read hundreds of books, articles and studies on pregnancy, birth, natural baby care, and childhood. I have heard doctors opinions, midwife opinions, natural and non-natural paths- and most of them left me SCARED! I don't know about you but it seems that every time I read a pregnancy fact or birthing option, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate- in the end the child dies!! I have read information on all sides and believe that this is the best way to come to a good understanding of the options that are offered to new families.  Knowing what my options are as a parent not only makes me more confident, but it also makes me calm, thus giving that excess energy back to my family in a positive way! Scaring women doesn't empower them!

I have had many smart, beautiful women tell me that they would just rather not know all the scary stuff that can happen. They would rather trust whatever their doctor tells them to do. Unfortunately this is not as simple as it sounds, it would be awesome if there were completely trustworthy sources of information, but information is subjective. One must be very careful how and where they get information. I have found in talking with many women that there were parts of their birth that they look back on and wish they were better informed on the situation.


 One of the major confusions between these two camps is that the location that women choose to have their babies makes a huge difference on how the event is viewed. A family was in a car accident, badly injured and needing medical attention, they are sent to the hospital. A woman in early labor starting to have contractions has an OB that delivers at a specific hospital and off they go. Both cases go to the same location, but have very different needs. And while they are going to be on different floors, the mindset is usually the same. Pain is bad and needs medical attention. However, birth is such a different experience. It isn't like getting your arm cut off, or fighting for your life, like in a car accident.

TV shows, and mainstream media want to portray birth as this extremely scary and risky experience, one in which both mom and baby would die if it weren't for the hospital staff. In some cases this can be true, but in most healthy, low risk pregnancies this is just not the case.  No pregnant woman should be scared into making decisions and every pregnant woman should be educated and empowered to make healthy decisions for her and her family!

While I am thankful for medical staff, we definitely needed it with Bree, in most scenarios and cases, medical intervention is very unnecessary.  Too many women are uninformed and walking into the hospital trusting that they will make it a safe delivery. However, the stats show that the more medical interventions the less safe the birth. The only reason that it can be viewed as "safe" is that an OB is a trained surgeon, that's their specialty. It is my passion that we change this for the health of mom's, babies and families all across America! Most mom's want a safe, healthy delivery and that means that mom's should be empowered to be educated.

In my personal experience I was shocked to find out that the doctor, and nurse that were in our delivery room  had never seen a natural birth--- they literally had no idea what this would be like for me! What they did know is medication- the only option that was given to me. If I hadn't read about epidurals and side effects I would have no idea- the doctors and nurses never once informed me on what an epidural actually is.

Here are some great questions to ask if you are having a hospital birth... before 'it's time'

1. What is the c-section rate at that particular hospital? These stats are also online!

2. What is the c-section rate of your O.B/ what is the epidural rate as well?

3. Is there a birthing center? Labor/delivery floor? (the two are very different!)

4. How many natural births has your OB been present for?

5. What are the most common interventions given by that hospital/your OB?

6. Postpartum procedure: delayed cord cutting/immediate skin to skin/breastfeeding etc.

As I am in the process of my doula/birth education certification I am asking all you mamas out there to please tell me what infomation you were given at your birth, either with your OB or through a class. Did you take a class? Would you take a class? And what would you want to be covered if you were to go back in time. Feel free to comment below or message me on face book/ email! Thanks and lots of love to all you mamas out there!


 It is my passion to educate, empower, and strengthen women for the birth that they want- but in order for that to happen the mom must be informed! Join me on this journey of empowering women through education and tell me what your journey was/is.