Positive self-image - Preparing for birth
Go to:
Previous story
|
 Next story
|
 |
A woman who feels good about herself will celebrate the changes that her body experiences during pregnancy, look forward to the challenge of giving birth, and willingly accept the physical and emotional changes of the postpartum period. Ann Douglas, author of The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby, takes a look at emotions behind labor and birth.
Confidence in your body
Having a positive self-image and confidence in her own
body is crucial for the woman who is approaching delivery.
Unfortunately, in our society, many women approach the birth
of their child with tremendous anxiety and a sense that they
are not quite up to the task at hand.
"There is so much fear about childbirth in our culture," says Hunking, "because the birth stories aren't getting passed on anymore. Grandmothers and mothers traditionally passed on birth stories in a way that we don't anymore because there's a whole generation there - our mothers - who totally lost control of what happened to them, and don't have memories. All those memories are erased, and when you don't have the memories, what replaces them is fear. Women are then left with a sense that "somebody else has to control it; somebody else has to do the delivery because that person knows what's going on."
Society's role
Author Carl Jones agrees. In his book After the Baby
is Born, he describes views about childbirth in Western
society, and their impact on women's self-image. "The way
birth has been viewed in this society affects a new mother's
self image, as well as the way she thinks about childbirth
during pregnancy. In this country --the USA -- birth has been approached almost as if it were an illness.
The overall effect of such an approach to childbearing may
leave the new mother feeling more awkward, more isolated,
and less sure of herself than she might otherwise."
Encouraging a positive self-image in preparation for
birth is one of the caregiver's most important
responsibilities. "We talk about fears that come up,
especially fears around pain," says Hunking. "That's really
important to talk about prenatally." She believes that women
should work towards gaining an understanding of what the
pain means in labor, and that they should plan their births
in a way that ensures that they will have abundant support
and be surrounded by people they want around them, and who
feel positively about the choices they have made about the birth.
