Understanding Your Choices About Your Birth Experience:
Weighing Benefits, Risks, and Alternatives.
“What is
the most important hope that people have for their birth experience?”
Whether you
ask an expectant parent, a birth professional, or a passerby on the street this
question, all will have the same answer:
A healthy mother and a healthy baby.
Due to all
the advances in modern medicine, we have a myriad of technological equipment to
monitor the health of mom and baby, and a diverse array of medicinal and
surgical options for preventing and treating any complications that may arise.
Without a doubt, these skills and tools save the lives and protect the
well-being of moms and babies every day.
However,
research clearly indicates that if these interventions are over-used, or used
inappropriately, they can actually cause as much harm as they are intended to
prevent.
Any medical
procedure (whether aimed at monitoring, preventing, or treating potential
problems) carries potential risks as well as intended benefits. It is the role
of the physician or other birth professional to inform the expectant parents of
all the risks and benefits of a procedure, and also to offer alternative
courses of action. However, during client – care provider interactions,
circumstances don’t always allow for a full explanation of all these things.
Therefore, it is also the responsibility of expectant parents, as their baby’s
prime advocates, to be aware of their options so that they can make truly
informed decisions.
There is an
overwhelming array of information available to expectant parents, and it can be
difficult to know where to start. This website is dedicated to guiding parents
through learning which questions to ask, and knowing what kind of answers they
should hope to hear back from their care providers.
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c. 2004, Janelle Durham To
suggest changes or additions to this site.