What are complications in birth?
This comes up a lot in my classes. There is a lot of fear surrounding this topic. Sometimes I think that people choose to take a birth class just to learn how to avoid complications. To me, a complication is a circumstance that creates an obstacle to the completion of a plan. So, for someone who is planning a homebirth free from medications and hospitals, a transfer to the hospital to have an epidural administered because of a long exhausting labor might be a complication. On the other hand, for someone who is planning a very organized induction and hospital birth with an epidural, an early and very fast labor, bad traffic, and a quick natural childbirth might look like a complication. It’s all a matter of opinion and perspective.
NOT everything that can go wrong will go wrong
I don’t like to go into too much detail about all of the potential complications that might come up during birth. The range of possibilities is HUGE, just like in real life. If you add up all the things that might take your daily plans for a detour, it’s mind-boggling. It wouldn’t make much sense to focus on these possibilities.
We assume that things will go as planned, then adjust when we need to. How well we adjust is what makes our day great or less than great. How well we can flow is really what makes us feel content or frustrated in life. No one’s life or day goes exactly as planned, and rarely do our births.
We can spend a lot of time, effort, and brain space in learning all about how to avoid unwanted complications, but could that time be better spent? I say, “YES”! I truly believe that we manifest that which we give our focus. If we focus on the complications, we can’t give enough of our energy to manifesting what we want.
some more common “complications”
In my classes, I quickly cover a few of the more common “complications” that come up during pregnancy and birth.
- BIG babies
- LATE babies
- Babies in breech or less than ideal positions
- Failure to progress
- Exhaustion and dehydration
Are these all of the possible complications? No. But they are definitely the ones I get to hear about the most. What I like to tell nervous parents-to-be is that these things might come up, but they are all manageable and almost never life-threatening.
what to do?
How can you handle complications when they do come up? I advise everyone to ask questions at your prenatal visits, treat your body well during pregnancy with good food and nutritious movement, take a birth class, relax and go with the flow, then use the B.R.A.I.N. tool when the time comes to make a difficult decision.
- B – What are the Benefits of making this choice?
- R – What are the Risks of making this choice?
- A – Are there any Alternatives?
- I – In the face of an unclear right or wrong answer, use your Intuition. What feels right?
- N – Nothing. For how long can you postpone the decision and do nothing?
Complications are challenges that can strengthen us. There are obstacles to overcome on every hero’s journey, and that includes birth. They are all part of your story. Embrace them and move forward.
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