#38 Birth Takes A Village - with Jessica Austin

Jessica Austin is a birth professional on a mission to educate the world on the truth about birth. The information she carries is not just something that some people need to know; it’s information that everyone needs to know.

I particularly want men to listen to this episode, because many men don’t know how crucial of a moment-of-truth it will be when they are facing proposed 'interventions' on their partner during a birth process. This is an important moment to have your woman's back in the most vulnerable moment of her life.

What most people think the science says about birth, is not what the science about birth says.

Most people think that hospital birth is the safest and most prudent way to give birth. What I learned on this episode - amongst many other realities - is that it’s not that simple. Tune in to this episode for a very educational discussion on the topic of the most sacred human process.

On this episode we discuss:

• What is a doula?
• Why someone would need or want a doula for birth.
• Birth is not what you see in the movies
• Why the statistics for PTSD are virtually the same for birth as they are for war
• Hospital birth VS home birth: Which is safer? 
• Why morbidity statistics are higher in hospitals
• The problem with inducing birth with medication versus letting it happen on nature’s time
• Why everyone who has had a caesarean section thinks they HAD to have it done.
• Fear, and how it controls us in our decision making process with birth.
• The actual statistics for children dying in birth.
• Emergency caesarean section are not always emergencies
• Breach birth - does it need to be done via caesarean?
• Haemorrhage - one of the main causes.
• Why birth progress stalls when women arrive at the hospital.
  Why your comfort and intimate space helps your birth process progress naturally.
• How men can support women in the hospital.
  
  Myth busting - these myths are discussed at the end of the episode:
• My baby is too big, so I need a caesarean section.
• Dilation speed - Friedman’s Curve.
• We are lucky to have the medical system, because everyone was dying before hospital births came in to play.
• The hospital has more tools for birth than midwives (who do home births).
• Home birth isn’t safe.
• The umbilical chord can get wrapped around the neck - this is an emergency.
• The stakes are too high. We need to do a hospital birth.

Jessica Austin has been supporting women in giving birth for over 10 years. She is a doula, a trainer of doulas, and a pre-natal instructor.

Her website: BirthTakesaVillage.com

Instagram @jessicaaustinchildbirth

Facebook: facebook.com/austinjessica

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