You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know (And That’s Okay)
Many pregnant women create a birth plan, which helps them feel safe and prepared for childbirth. In our phone and video therapy sessions during COVID-19, we recognize that the birth plan you created has necessarily been disrupted by the reality of the pandemic, leading to heightened stress and a huge amount of uncertainty. Even without those complications, childbirth itself can be a surprising event—it may be easy, hard, traumatic, or perfectly fine. You don’t know what you don’t know. And that’s okay.
You Need the Right People Around You, However That Looks
While you can’t predict everything that will happen during birth, under normal circumstances, what you can do is organize the right people around you. Now, giving birth in the middle of a global pandemic, limited visitation rules in hospitals may mean you can have only one loved one in the room with you, or possibly no one at all. In our remote therapy sessions, we process the enormity of this major disruption to your birth plan.
Whether you can have one person in the room or no one, we’ll help you get the best support you can in the current circumstances, even if some of it has to be done remotely. We’ll help you choose what (and who) is right for you by looking closely at what is most important to you: Who makes you feel safe and nurtured? Who will hold your hand? Who will support your partner if they’re scared? Together we’ll create a plan to ensure you have the right community of friends and family, even remotely, that can support your logistical and emotional needs before, during, and after delivery.
Childbirth Is an Emotional Experience
Practical considerations aside, childbirth is an emotional experience. It involves having to navigate a very public system at a very private time. Sometimes you’ll feel well taken care of, and other times you may not.
We recognize that your experience and your emotions are unique to you. We’ll make room for you to let those emotions out, or keep them in, as needed. Whatever your emotional needs are, we want you to feel cared for throughout the whole process.
Telling (And Retelling) Your Birth Story
During childbirth, you’re in a state of adrenaline. And when the post-baby shock eventually fades, what remains can feel like grief. Telling (and retelling) your birth story helps you grieve and build on your experience. What happened? What needs didn’t get met? How do you make sense of it? How did giving birth during COVID-19 affect you and your family logistically and emotionally? It’s a huge transition between being pregnant and having the baby here, and we’re here to help you navigate it.