Well, considering it’s August of 2020, that is a bit of a loaded question, isn’t it? Your experience is probably much the same as mine in that you confronted a gamut of emotions, and maybe you still are dealing with many emotions as ongoing mask policies in cities and fall school re-opening announcements are made. This year has not been easy in many respects. With emotions ranging from fear and anxiety about the potential acquisition of the virus and ensuing illness, to disappointment, discouragement, and maybe even worry or despair over missed travel, work life, finances, and next school year.
For me the disappointment and discouragement has come with news of new parents not being allowed the support they had planned for their birth due to hospital restrictions, especially as policies changed and not honoured at admission, and the stories of separation of mom & baby for days or weeks due to positive testing. Additionally, there’s frustration of how this has affected not only my business but essentially all global businesses offering birth services, not to mention too many local and provincial small businesses. However, the one thing that I’ve learned for the good is that my basic convictions surrounding birth, prenatal, and postpartum care have NOT changed. In fact, my passion has grown stronger and more focused!
Here is a list of things that have been encouraging to me over the last several months.
More consistent basic hygiene: washing hands before handling, and refraining from kissing and unnecessarily touching babies up to 3 months old is SO important to prevent Group B Strep infections, along other viral and bacterial infections, which can be fatal.
Rates of premature births are down globally: perhaps due to lower stresses in life with changes in work and family routines, allowing for more focus on better self-care.
Rates of breastfeeding initiation have increased globally: Is there a correlation between having less visitors in home and hospital thus allowing more uninterrupted bonding time between mom and baby?
Rate of homebirths with midwives have increased: Parents looking for options to hospital births so they can have the support they desire at their birth has brought a bit of revival to the social mindset of birth. This has been an empowering and uplifting effect of current health and hospital restrictions. The truth is that 85+% of all pregnancies are low risk and typically don’t require medical interventions for healthy birth outcomes.
Increased awareness of the importance of community & support: We know humans are social beings, and for optimal individual mental health we NEED other people in our life. Extend that to the very vulnerable postpartum stage when new mothers need even more mental, emotional & physical support to ensure optimal health and recovery. My heart breaks for so many new moms who have had their baby since February of this year.. They truly need a village even at a time when we are being socially responsible to refrain from such contact.
Another thing I’ve learned is that there will be a decent baby boom come December and into 2021! This will bring a new generation of classical named children like Charlotte, Sofia, Ava and Lily, Liam, Elliot, Theo(dore), and Henry.
In light of this, you can have confidence that your birth community, particularly doulas and educators like myself, have risen to the challenge of finding effective ways to support you prenatally, through labour and birth, and postpartum. We know that your need for support has NOT changed; in fact your need for support has likely increased. The only thing that has changed is how we support you, and those techniques are flexible from day to day, as circumstances dictate.
Let’s celebrate what we have learned during the last several months and what we still know to be true about pregnancy, labour and postpartum care - you need connection, you need support! It’s not something simply deserved as a new mom, it really is a need for optimal mental, emotional, and physical health outcomes. I guess some things really don’t change.
