Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Childbirth Education

I've been playing with the idea of getting my certification in childbirth education. It's a lot more work and expense than it looks like. Takes quite a while to complete the program, it costs money that I don`t have, and there are some obligations that I wouldn't be able to complete without added expense (for example, sitting in on a class of the same kind would mean finding a class, and then traveling to this class which could be a few hours away). When I weigh the pros and cons, it doesn't seem doable.

In this town, and even in the "Big City" an hour away, people aren't really interested in a natural childbirthing class. Even if they are, they are not willing to pay the usual price. I know of some childbirth educators who are charging over $200 USD for their classes, and their spots are filled in no time. Here in NB, the general consensus is - why pay when you can get government funded classes for peanuts, or free?

Here's the dilemma, though. You get what you pay for. I've attended the gov't classes put on by the hospital, and they may as well call it "How to Give Birth in Our Hospital, Our Way 101". There`s some good info, for sure, but I found it to be biased. The teaching was heavy on what this particular hospital allowed, or didn`t allow. Mothers who wanted unmedicated births were openly (in half jest) called `crunchy granola`by the teacher/nurse. Over and over, they would stress the differences between their hospital, and the Big City hospital an hour away - and they wanted to be sure that you knew that theirs was better (hmmm...). It was a sales pitch.

In our community, though, this doesn`t matter. The class is only $35. The hospital gets its clients. Everyone is happy because ignorance is bliss.

Sure, if I taught a certain method I might get students. They might be willing to pay the suggested price set by the organization. Truth is, these students would already be looking for a natural birth. They would already be in tune with their bodies, and they would already have that confidence that goes hand in hand with good birthing. Those who especially need the extra education, the extra support and the extra self-respect would not be interested, and would not sign up. That`s just the way it is.

How do you change a system that has been in place longer than you have? How do you do it alone?

1 comment:

Sarah said...

Thanks for your encouragement and comments on my blog. I have been trained in a certain natural childbirth method and I'm not seeing the fruits. I have only taught 2 classes and I'm having a hard time getting a 3rd class together. Doula work, however, was less expensive for me to get trained in and the fruits are much better! :-) I think you might have mentioned you are a doula, though? I hope you had a great holiday. Take care and please keep us in your prayers...(we don't know what we're doing!) Thankfully God does.