We’ve all been asked questions about our pregnancy by everyone we know and everyone we don’t know. When are you due? Is it twins? Where are you giving birth? Will you use a midwife or an OB? Epidural or natural? Do you have a doula? What classes are you taking? What’s the nursery theme? How about formula or your own milk? Will you pump or latch? Are you going to stay at home or go back to work? Cloth or disposable diapers? The questions are endless! Helpful at times, when they’re things you hadn’t thought of as options that could prove useful, but information overload and decision fatigue are very real things!
But there is something I want to talk about today that, as a doula, I see making a huge impact on outcomes: childbirth education (CBE) classes. Statistically, I don’t know that there’s a difference in outcomes and parental satisfaction between Bradley, Lamaze, HypnoBirth, or any of the others. What I do know is the difference I’ve seen in preparedness on the part of the birthing family and the satisfaction of their experience when they knew what to expect and had some training on how to handle situations when things didn’t go according to plan.
In fact, PubMed wrote an article on their findings on CBE and birth and found that birthers who took an educational class were less likely to be induced and fewer used pain medications during labor. When the birther took a course in CBE, they were also more likely to hire a doula, which we know reduces interventions, increases birth satisfaction, lowers the cesarean rate, and betters outcomes for both the birther and the baby. If you’re doing your research on birthing trends in the US, you’re likely aware there’s been a significant increase in the number of interventions, and these interventions increase the risk for the major abdominal surgery, cesarean section birth, for all birthers, but mostly for Black birthers. These interventions were used exponentially less in women who took a CBE course. Here’s where the difference between a CBE class and having a doula will differ: there wasn’t any statistical difference seen in the overall satisfaction of the birth experience.
The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found similar results, and even found that there was a reduction in cesareans by 21.2% for those that attended a CBE class vs those that didn’t. When thinking of the cost of things you’ll need for your new baby and the birth experience, know that the cost of the birth itself is reduced significantly by having this education and by having a doula present, to help navigate you through your birth experience. This is why I include CBE in my doula package. Your birth story matters. It’s the only one your baby gets, and I want it to be as beautiful as possible.
DoulaWise 