20-Update/Benefits of Childbirth Education

Transcript:

Welcome to the Preparing for Childbirth podcast where we'll talk about God's amazing design for childbirth, learn how to prepare for the unknown, handle the pain and lean into God's character through it all! I'm your host, Jenny Childs. I’m a follower of Jesus, wife, mom, and lover of all things childbirth. Thanks so much for joining me today!

This is episode 20 – and the beginning of season 3.

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from the podcast for the last few months so I thought I’d take some time today to update you on what I’ve been up to. I ended season 2 a little earlier than planned because I got a bad cough that made it difficult to talk and it didn’t want to go away. By the time it finally did, it was Christmas and I thoroughly enjoyed having my 2 older children in town for a few weeks!

As the new year started I realized that I couldn’t produce the podcast and get my new class finished at the same time. So I’ve spent the last month and a half working on that class. I was able to stay about a week ahead of my first cohort of students, 10 couples living in my city. They had 4 weeks of online classes. Each day contained no more than 30 minutes of content and a short devotional both of which they could access on their own time. I tried to keep it manageable and interesting. We covered what normal birth looks life, the stages and phases of labor, comfort measures and coping techniques, how to know when to go to the hospital, informed decision making, common interventions including c-sections, preparing for postpartum, breastfeeding, and postpartum warning signs for mama and baby. We also talked about prioritizing your marriage both now and in the crazy tiring days after baby is born.

At the end of the 4 weeks we all gathered together for a 1 day in-person workshop hosted at my church. That day was a lot of fun! It was filled with activities to help the students process the material they had been learning over the past month. At the end of the day, I had one dad tell me that he had been reluctant to come when his wife first mentioned an all day workshop on preparing for childbirth but he said he’d had a great time and learned so much! Another participant commented, “I enjoyed how the word of God was incorporated in the lessons and I also loved the practical class.”

A study on The Effects of Childbirth Education on Maternity Outcomes and Maternal Satisfaction published in the Journal of Perinatal Education in 2020 observed that women who participated in childbirth education classes were less likely to undergo induction, used fewer interventions during labor -potentially reducing the risk of cesarean surgery and had a lower use of pain meds during labor. Basically, this research concluded that attending a set curriculum childbirth education class can make a significant difference in your labor and birth process.

I’m praying this is true for all of my students. I’m also praying they continue practicing the comfort measures and coping techniques we learned and stay in God’s word, trusting Him through every step of their journey.

If you’re interested in working with me for your childbirth education, please feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to talk to you about what options I have available.

Now, I’m able to turn my attention back to the podcast and I’m excited about what we have in store this season. As I’ve talked to new mamas over the past 6 months or so, I keep hearing over and over how hard the postpartum time was. They felt tired, lonely, and unprepared. I have several episodes coming up this season that I think will be helpful along those lines. And I’ll have some guests join me for a few interviews this season as well.

Apart from the podcast, I’m also pretty excited to be working with some ladies at my church to create a Postpartum care team. This will be a group of ladies who will be trained to come alongside new mamas and not only help them practically with things like getting a good latch when breastfeeding but also to encourage them spiritually. Both are super important and common areas where new mamas struggle. I’m looking forward to see how the Lord uses this new ministry and grows all of us as we one another together in my local church.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today. Just wanted to give you a short update on where I’ve been hiding and what I’ve been up to. And also encourage you, if you’ve been on the fence, to sign up for a childbirth education class – either mine or another. Like I mentioned earlier, the research shows it can make a significant difference in the course of your labor. I’ve also put a link to that study in the show notes.

If you’ve enjoyed today’s podcast or found it helpful, I hope you’ll share it with a friend, and I’d love for you to leave a rating and review.

It is my prayer that these podcasts will help you grow in confidence and peace as the day draws near for you to meet your little one. I'm so glad you tuned in today as you are Preparing for Childbirth.

Show notes:

Just a short update on where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing since season 2 ended. I also talk about the benefits of childbirth education and preview some of what’s coming up this season on the podcast. This is the study I mention:

Mueller, C. G., Webb, P. J., & Morgan, S. (2020). The effects of childbirth education on maternity outcomes and maternal satisfaction. Journal of Perinatal Education, 29(1), 16–22. https://doi.org/10.1891/1058-1243.29.1.16

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