DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding you or your baby’s health. Please read my Medical Disclaimer for more info
DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may get a commission if you decide to purchase something through my links at no cost to you. Please read my Disclaimer for more info.
I know you may think that the first thing you should do after finding out you’re pregnant is call your OB-GYN, but wait!!
This may be surprising to you, but there’s typically not a huge rush to get into an office after finding out you’re pregnant unless you don’t know how far along you are or if something is concerning about you or the pregnancy.
If you’re in the U.S. like me, most of us go to an OB-GYN for our prenatal care, but I first want you to check out these resources to help you figure out what best fits your wants and needs:
1. Read Giving Birth with Confidence While You’re Pregnant
“Giving Birth with Confidence” was a required reading I had for my Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator exam preparation!
I’m telling you, if I had this book when I was pregnant with my daughter, my whole childbirth experience would have been different (in a good way!).
Get the most recent edition to access the best recent research provided and learn about topics such as:
- How to have a safe, healthy birth
- The history of childbirth and the major changes that have occurred in the last century
- How to choose a caregiver and birth site
- Prenatal care
- Preparing for labor and birth
- Keeping your birth safe and healthy
- And so much more!
Some of you may be thinking, “Isn’t this what going to my OB-GYN is for?” and I thought this too. However, in the U.S. the average appointment length between an OB-GYN and a pregnant client is 6 minutes. And from what I’ve seen (literally seen posted online) from Certified-Nurse Midwives who work in hospitals is that they’re appointments are scheduled the same as the physicians, which looks like 1 client every 10 minutes! This care results in about 90 minutes of prenatal care for around 14 appointments (1x per month until you’re 32 weeks, every other week when you’re 32-36 weeks, and every week from 37+ weeks), but don’t forget most will also (unfortunately) try to convince you to induce at 39 weeks because they believe it’s safer for the baby and doesn’t usually include that it’s less safe for the mother.
With a Certified Professional Midwife, their average appointment lengths are 60 minutes. CPMs go beyond the typical prenatal appointment by bonding with you, talking about your goals and fears, talking about nutrition, and exercising. They’re educating you throughout the processes to have the best outcomes possible, ensure you feel safe and prepared, and that you are the one making the decisions with the evidence-based information you need to do so.
The time Certified Professional Midwives provide their clients with appointments results in about 13 hours of prenatal care, 6 hours postpartum, and however long your active labor, childbirth, skin-to-skin, newborn and postpartum assessments end up being!
2. Watch the Business of Being Born
The Business of Being Born is a documentary about how the American health care system approaches childbirth. It includes how other countries utilize midwives and interviews parents and medical experts on the realities of maternity care.
One of my favorite parts of this documentary is learning the history of childbirth and how it looks today on labor and delivery floors in the hospitals.
3. Read Babies Are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered!
“Babies Are Not Pizzas” by Dr. Dekker explains her journey to realizing a lack of evidence-based medical policies and procedures surrounding pregnancy and birth in American hospitals.
Rebecca Dekker, Ph.D., RN, is one of my all-time favorite people to turn to for evidence and facts on all things pregnancy and childbirth.
4. Find a Childbirth Class that Fits YOU!
A childbirth class should provide you with the education for skills and tips you’ll need to:
- Interview maternity care providers to find the best one for you
- Figure out where will fit you and your baby’s needs while in labor and immediately after
- Learn your rights during pregnancy, birth, and beyond
- Prepare for your birth
- Learn what to expect in labor, birth, & early postpartum
- Labor positions (Each course is specified based on a medicated or unmedicated birth)
- Pain management options and education
- Preparing for breastfeeding
- And much more!
5. Invest in Lactation Education While You’re Pregnant
If there’s one thing I could change about when my daughter was a baby, it would be investing time and money into our breastfeeding relationship.
Without investing time and money into breastfeeding support and education, most of us feel lost when we’re at home with our newborns. There are indeed so many things that happen and change with you and your baby during the breastfeeding relationship, and for most people, these things are crucial to understanding on some level to reach the goals we have for breastfeeding.
Your breastfeeding class should provide you with education on:
- How to facilitate a successful breastfeeding relationship
- Breastfeeding positions
- Conquering the witching hour
- Pumping 101
- Preparing to return to work
- Milk storage guidelines
- How and when to introduce bottles
As well as providing you with a breastfeeding community and support.
6. Start a Prenatal Vitamin
During pregnancy, your nutrients are used to support your growing baby body. Taking prenatal vitamins should be your “safety net” rather than your “first line of defense” in ensuring you’re getting enough of all of the vitamins and minerals you and your baby need!
Before falling back on your “safety net” of the daily prenatal vitamin, you should be mindful about what you’re getting from your diet. Vitamins and minerals from food sources are more bioavailable, meaning your body will absorb and use more of them compared to supplements.
Check out How to Find the Perfect Prenatal Vitamin for You to figure out what vitamins and minerals you should be looking for in your prenatal vitamin, how much of them you need, and some foods to support your nutrition during pregnancy! (Coming soon!)
Congratulations on finding out you’re pregnant, and remember that you got this! You are encouraged, educated, and empowered.
DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding you or your baby’s health. Please read my Medical Disclaimer for more info
DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may get a commission if you decide to purchase something through my links at no cost to you. Please read my Disclaimer for more info.
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