The Captain of Her Own Ship

Can you believe that WOMEN want CONTROL over their own birth environment? NO-ooooo... they shouldn't DO that, they should lie back with morphine-type drugs infused into the epidural space of their spines, quiet... not requiring anything from the doctors, nurses or other hospital staff.


Check out THIS load of fecal matter from "Dr" Fart's Phhhlog:

"By all means share your most important preferences with your providers, but think long and hard before you present your provider with a list of refusals and ultimatums. Birth plans have been encouraged by ancillary birth personnel (childbirth educators, doulas) as a thumb in the eye of obstetricians. They accomplish nothing besides gratifying a desire to defy authority."

So... YOUR Birth Plan, which respectfully outlines the important care issues regarding YOUR and your BABY'S birth & postpartum, IS... (per her majesty, "Dr" Fart-from-her-Mouth) a frivolous, self-serving rebellion, causing pain and anguish to the doctor... >cough, gag, vomit<

"...gratifying a desire to defy authority."

REALLY?? ... WHO is the BOSS, "Dr" Fart?
DARE I suggest that the MOTHER (OMG!) is the Captain of her Own Ship? That SHE carries the ULTIMATE responsibility to safeguard her ship and it's precious cargo? That the Birth Attendant is, both, the Navigator & the Engineer assisting the Captain, TOGETHER, through the course of the birth... all the while with the safety of mother and baby as the PRIORITY. What Captain purposefully runs her ship a-ground or into uncharted, dangerous waters?

"...thumb in the eye..."

Hmmmm, isn't that what you are SUPPOSED to do if you are being ATTACKED by a SHARK?

Ah ha! Actually quiet a clever analogy!

But seriously, Friends...

YOUR Birth Plan is a valuable piece of communication between you and your birth provider(s). Both midwives AND doctors value and respect that you have specific desires, wishes, and yes, perhaps some things you don't want, too! Even when planning a home birth, where you'd think that a Birth Plan essentially isn't necessary, it can serve to open the lines of communication with client and midwife.

Write down your specific needs, wishes & desires!
MAKE that LIST, so that you and your provider can discuss these important matters ahead of time. If you have the potential to be cared for by someone you don't know and who doesn't know you or your wishes... the Birth Plan becomes an ESSENTIAL component of your care plan between you and that provider.

No, it isn't the Birth Plan that accomplishes the goal of having a safe and satisfying birth experience. It is the collaboration of ideals of both mother & birth provider, together with the circumstances of the actual birth event, that provides the very best possibility of a good, joyous, and healthy outcome for mother and baby.

And just in case "Dr" Fart-from-her-Mouth is reading... Natural ChildBirth Advocates (among them: Doctors, Midwives, Nurses, Doulas, Childbirth Educators, etc.) very much RESPECT the process of birth and acknowledge that there ARE inherent risks that can affect this very normal, physiologic, bodily function. We KNOW that sometimes mothers and babies need medical interventions, medications, and operative procedures to safely see them through and beyond the birth. We ACKNOWLEDGE that Cesarean Section saves lives and is, indeed, defined as giving BIRTH. We recognize that sometimes NOTHING can be done to prevent a morbidity or mortality.

HOWEVER, we also KNOW that unnecessary interference and practitioner interventions employed out of "routine use" ideology, convenience, ease, time, or other non-evidence-based rationale DO, indeed, INCREASE risk of the birth process diverging from a normal, healthy course.

Your Birth Plan serves to map out your wishes, needs, beliefs and desires for your birth care. A birth attendant who does not respect the importance of this patient/practitioner communication should not be serving birthing women.

The MOTHER is the Captain of Her Own Ship.