Are Birth Classes Really Needed? | This OB says Yes!

Are birth classes really needed? This OB says YES! Dr. Capetanakis is one of San Diego’s best OB’s. In this video he describes the importance of education as a means to empower yourselves no matter what kind of birth you are planning for your baby. You baby’s birth day is one of the most important days of your life! Dr. Cap explains why partner support is so important for connection between the three of you and for the birthing parent to feel safe and held within the labor process. He encourages you to take your power back when birthing. The thought that an OB or midwife will just “take care of you,” is just absurd to him. YOU need to know what you want and the path to getting the birth that you want for your baby.

You, feeling empowered to voice what you want, begins with education. Education is where you find out the options, tools and the skills you need to create a beautiful experience for your baby. Hear the surprising advice Dr. Cap gives all his patients! Rewind it if you need to take that great advice 😉 We need more providers that believe in what our bodies and what the birth process is designed to do! Getting education, and getting it early, helps YOU to also believe in yourself and your body.

NOW is the time to find the right birth class for you that will help you create the birth that you want. Interview local educators and see who is a good personality fit. There are so many options now for online classes, taught live, so you can ask questions along the way and connect with other families like you! You’ll also get to hear Dr. Cap’s favorite quote that he has framed in his office – get this done folks!
@drcapetanakis

Video Transcript:

– I think information is power, so the more information you know about a certain thing, event, what’s gonna hold in the future, the better off you’re gonna be. And I like to think of labor as somewhat of a challenge, somewhat of a potential athletic event, whether it’s a triathlon or a marathon. And having information and the training will help you on that important day to have the birth you want and feel empowered and that’s important.

There is nothing more magical than seeing a partner supporting a birthing momma. To see them in the bed, holding them, getting them warm wash cloths, feeding them, it’s empowering and it’s one of those things that you will never forget. I mean, the day that you have your child, the day that you get to support your birthing momma is magical. And being part of that it extremely important, so that you can feel connected, so you can bring that baby into a world with so much love and attention, that that birthing momma recovers quickly, that she feels that energy and that baby feels that energy. And it’s all encompassing and it’s all powerful.

When you take birthing classes together that connection that’s made only strengthens that bond and that birthing experience gets elevated to a new level. When your birthing partner understands some of the things that you’re gonna go through and can support you, it just makes that connection that much stronger. And it starts from then that those bonds are made.

The notion that I know what you want and that I can take care of what your needs are to me is somewhat absurd. You need to take your power back. You need to be empowered, you need to get education. So that you can decide what’s best for you, I don’t know what’s best for you, unless you tell me what you want and what you want is gonna be learned through education.

You’re gonna get the tools necessary to stay home longer, you’re going to get the information that you need to have the birth that you would like, whether that’s an epidural or not or if it’s completely unmedicated or standing or squatting. How do I know what I’m gonna anticipate, if I don’t even know where to begin.

But the idea that I’m gonna take care of you as an OB or as a midwife, when I might only be there once every two weeks. Not me, I deliver almost all of my own patients. Like for somebody to say we’ll take care of you assumes that they know what you want and you’re giving that power up.

I always tell all my patients, don’t give me your power, keep that power. Come into the hospital as late as possible, don’t give anybody any options. Come in when you see hair that’s not your own, squat, have a baby and go home the next day. Don’t give me any options. Don’t give me any options to do anything that you might not want. Keep that power. How do I know what to do when I’m at home and my labor goes x amount of hours? Well, that’s where the education comes in.

I want all my mom’s to get education. Even if it’s your second or third baby, you still need to know what to expect. It’s extremely important that you understand that process, cause it could be long or not long. And the definition of long is really up to you and what that means. So you’re assuming if you get the epidural, you don’t have to do any work on the front end, but that would be misconception or misunderstanding. You actually need education regardless.

You need to be empowered and again, you need to keep that power to yourself and don’t let anybody take that power from you. Another way to ensure that you have the birth that you want would be to have a doula. A doula is an extremely valuable asset. They keep come to your house, they can stay with you. They can support you, they do comfort measures and they can be somebody that can be your advocate. You don’t necessarily need an advocate with me and at Scripps Encinitas, but you know, at some places you do and you need somebody who can be a voice of reason, if your partner is exhausted, the doula will step in and make sure that you’re taking care of and that your voice is heard and that your birth expectations are made aware with the nursing staff. And really help guide you through this process.

One of the biggest downsides of birth in 2020 is that we don’t have the village anymore. We don’t have our aunts and our cousins and everybody coming over to the house to support those mom’s, so we have to create those villages. We have to create our own village and that includes your birth classes, chiropractors, acupuncturists, doulas, nutritionists, holistic practitioners, whoever can be part of that birth circle to help kind of guide you and get you through this. Cause unfortunately, we’re a nomadic population. We keep moving around and we don’t have the support that we once did. So, you have to create your support.

YOU have to take charge of your birth. Cause at the end of the day, you’re gonna be left with that story and you want that story to be great. One of my favorite quotes is don’t be upset by the results you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do. This right here sums up birth in a nutshell. You gotta do the work, you gotta be prepared. You gotta understand what may or may not happen at your birth. And you gotta be empowered. So, education, number one. Everybody needs it.

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