Welcome to Day #1 of the Blog Carnival honoring the International Week for Respecting Childbirth! This Blog Carnival is focusing on the importance of Childbirth Education.
Rethinking Childbirth
By Kathy Bradley
Why is change so hard?
It is a question I often ask myself, but I guess if I were to answer my
own question I would have to say it is because we like the familiar. The things we are used to, things that we
have become comfortable with. To make a
change requires use to enter into the uncomfortable ZONE. It requires us to step out and do something
different then what we have done before.
I entered the birth arena as a Certified Childbirth
Assistant, the year before DONA became an entity. After a year or two of working with laboring
patients I decided to become a Certified Childbirth Educator. I embarked on teaching basic female
anatomy, stages and phases of labor, showing the “birth” video that made some
husbands cringe, and much more over a 12 week period. I was the pregnant couple’s lighthouse into
understanding and learning about birth. The internet didn’t even exist.
Most educators that have been teaching 10 or more years
can say they have seen a decline in attendance to childbirth classes. Today’s pregnant mamas are years ahead in
technology then where I was when I was pregnant
(1989) and a good number spend a lot of time educating themselves during
their ten month growing period .
Some professionals feel that the decline in traditional
class attendance is due to the vast amount of information that can be found by
other modes. I taught for 14 years at a
major hospital and I can still hear my manager’s voice. “What can we teach them that they can’t read
in a book or get off the internet?” My
answer always was “We may not be able to teach anything new, but as the experts
we can make sure they have accurate information and that their personal
questions as answered.”
I believe we always will have some form of classes but
feel we are moving into a time that demands a more personalized form of
childbirth education. Ponder the
thought of merging the profession of childbirth educator with the doula. Many of us have been doing this for some time. It really goes hand in hand. I call this “merge” the Childbirth Consultant. Our world is always changing, but the process
of giving birth never changes. How we
educated and impart information may change, but what they need to know never
changes.
Kathy Bradley has been involved with
perinatal education and health care since 1989. Her focus over the years has
been providing education and support to women of all income levels. As the founder and executive director of the
former Childbirth Enhancement Foundation, she developed partnerships and
training programs for community based doula programs with 14 hospitals. She managed a $350,000 grant to provide
low-income women childbirth education, doula and lactation support services in
Santa Fe, NM. She is owner of Childbirth
Concierge and holds a degree in
Communication and Public Relations.
As an Internationally
Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Childbirth Educator, Certified Doula, and
she serves on the Council of Licensed Midwifery for Florida Department of
Health. During her career Kathy has made numerous appearances on TV programs
focused on women and children’s health, has written or been mentioned in many
magazines and blog sites, as well as developed many training programs for the
para professional and health professionals.
The COPE (Community Outreach Perinatal Educator) Program is a very
successful program she developed to meet the needs of birth workers in the
public health arena. She also worked
with mom and and babies at Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando, FL for 14 years.
Kathy has also, been in private practice since 1991 and resides in Rockledge ,
Florida with her five children.
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