What I think about when I should be studying...

I'm always amazed at the power of words and kind thoughts, especially from strangers! I find it fascinating that I can find myself in a funk and then read a message from someone I've never even met and feel, quite suddenly, on top of the world! If you're reading this, and you know who you are, thank you again.

I'm also surprised that this surprises me...if that makes any sense! I see it all the time in birth. A woman can be laboring very well and then everything stalls out when her mother-in-law enters the room. This is usually an easy thing to fix but can be difficult when it is the doctor or nurse causing issues. I've seen it far too many times. I wish people realized just how important it is to be surrounded by positive energy. If there are people in the birthing room with mom who don't 100% support her and her choices she probably isn't going to have the type of birth she wants. I try to talk with women and their partners about this ahead of time...sometimes they listen to me and usually they don't. Alas, it isn't my birth. I'm only as effective as mom, her partner and their care providers allow me to be. I can't promise a drug-free birth or a vaginal birth. I can't guarantee a VBAC or that mom won't be lied to or misled. In the end, mom has to decide what kind of birth she wants and then she has to surround herself with people who 100% believe in her ability to have that birth...otherwise, it isn't going to happen. Time and time again I hear women saying how they have their doctor figured out and there is no way they will have the wool pulled over their eyes. Guess what happens after they have spent 38 weeks with their doctor? They realize they have had the wool pulled over their eyes for the last 38 weeks and now it is too late to do much of anything. Sure, some women will be willing to switch doctors but who will they switch to at this point? And for those who don't want to switch, what are their choices? What are the options women are left with?

Something has to change and soon...now to figure out how to make the change. Ideas any one?