Are you pregnant? Chances are your OB or Midwife will have forms for you to fill out and papers to sign. Imagine you are in labor, arriving at your hospital triage and you still have papers to sign, even if you preregistered! What are you putting your name on? What are you agreeing to? Did anyone go over this with you in a way you can actually understand?
It is the responsibility of our care providers to afford their patients what is call Informed Consent. In the medical field, Doctors, Midwives, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners, and various Clinicians are familiar with Informed Consent and can be held accountable to include this in their practices. https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Ethics/Informed-Consent
In pregnancy, we mothers are most open and sensitive to receiving information. Even the usage of the term Informed Consent implies that we will *agree* to move forward with whatever proposed measure that may be mentioned by our trusted care provider. Some may not necessarily be so trusting and would rather approach this process with the mindset of Informed Refusal. Both are valid, and to be neutral, nonjudgmental and unbiased, this Doula prefers the term Informed Decision Making.
When navigating our way through choices regarding our health, it helps to gather our thoughts in an organized way so that we clearly understand our priorities. As your Doula, I use a simple acronym to guide this thought process. BRAIN
Benefits: what are the benefits of any proposed measure or intervention?
Risks: tell me the drawbacks and potential risks also.
Alternatives: what other options do we have in this situation?
Intuition: given the above information, my gut is telling me...
Need more time? or do Nothing: take your time! it may not be necessary to decide now.
We are definitely conditioned to sign consent forms and liability waivers when interacting with care providers, and we often do this without question... but inquiring minds want to know what exactly is expected of us when we put our signature on those papers, and how we and our babies may be affected by our decisions. Using our BRAIN gives us power in this decision making. And it's no inconvenience to engage with your OB or Midwife in this way. By exercising Informed Decision Making, you're taking control of your choices and building a trusting relationship with your birth team. Tell me more! NO guessing, NO assumptions, YES please and NO thank you. It's YOUR birth & YOUR baby, the power is YOURS.