Creating a birth plan not only helps your medical team understand your wishes for birth but it also helps you to really sit down and think about what is most important for your birth. But before you can start a birth plan, you need to educate yourself on your options and understand the pros and cons of those options. 

When we think of adding a doula to our birth team, I think we often have the image of gentle hands supporting a birthing person through labor contractions. While it's true that doulas offer incredible support during vaginal births, their value extends far beyond that. In fact, having a doula as part of your Cesarean birth team can bring unexpected comfort, advocacy, and a sense of empowerment to an experience that can sometimes feel clinical and detached.

Birth trauma is real and can affect anyone, regardless of the perceived “success” of birth. Trauma can stem from any aspect of the birthing process - medical interventions, lack of control, perceived or actual lack of support, unexpected outcomes, or even how birth is accomplished. We tend to focus our attention on those who have cesareans, but those who have vaginal births, natural births, home births, hospital births and free births can also be impacted. 

What I wish I knew when I was pregnant