How to Make Informed Decisions for a Positive Pregnancy and Birth Experience

Understanding and being involved in the decision-making process during this time in your life leads to long-term satisfaction regardless of the outcome. That's not my opinion; people far smarter than me have done the research. Why? Choice and Control. We humans don't typically love feeling like something is just happening to us, especially in new situations. So much of the process of growing a baby is out of our control: you can't decide when to go into labor, how long it will last, whether you develop a pregnancy complication, or how much your baby will weigh. But you can decide what tests to do during pregnancy, pain management choices, and medications you choose for yourself /your baby. Of course, these are just a few examples.

Regardless of how long or short, painful or pain free, or whether baby is born vaginally or by surgery, long term satistfation with birth depends of whether you felt involved in the decision making process and had support.

I find that people who use the decision-making process with self-compassion more easily process parts of the experience that go differently than planned. Self-compassion is making decisions based on a foundation of **"I make the best decision with the information I have." **

We've all had experiences wishing we'd make a different choice. Yet, in reality, our options are often more than just ours. For example, consider pregnancy and birth: a baby is entirely dependent but also their own being. And while we wish we could see into the future to make our decisions more straightforward, the reality is that's never going to be possible. However, we can make the phrase "I made the best decision I could with the information I had" second nature when faced with decisions.  One last thought: Keep in mind that you make the best decisions with the information you have AND the person you are today. It's easy to look back on decisions we've had in light of the person we are now.