Birth buddies

[Fuschia]

Interesting idea

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jul/02/childbirth-website-virtual-buddies?mobile-redirect=false

Before childbirth, how prepared did people feel, and where had the information come from?

[Saffron]

Haha, I read this too, and I was going to post it! :)

I think the birth buddies idea is super, if it's what women want. Like anything, it fits where it touches.

Personally, I wanted to hear about all different kinds of birth experiences, not just the straightforward ones. I certainly wasn't upset by hearing stories of difficult births, and I think if I had only heard about easy births then I would have had unrealistic expectations. But then again, I was never afraid of the birth to begin. Maybe it's different for women who feel very nervous about it from the outset?

I canvassed all my girl friends and their girl friends when I was pregnant (in addition to NCT antenatal classes). It was very interesting and useful to hear all their stories and how they coped. For me I don't think a birth buddy would have been a good idea, b/c I would have always found myself comparing my situation to a single person. However, if it does help other people, then I'm for it.

What I really found lacking was postpartum care, eg in the 1st 6wks. Drs and HVs at Forest Hill Road practice made some serious errors of judgement that ended up with me having a medically complicated and very unhappy postpartum time, despite an uncomplicated birth.

Btw, if anyone had a traumatic birth, there is an excellent Healing Arts Team locally, of which my good friend Hannah Ferry (an art therapist) is a member. This team works with people having issues of all different types. However, Hannah has expressed an interest in forming a team that would specialize in pregnancy and postpartum issues. I can look up the info if anyone is interested. xx