Use your BRAIN!

Alex, whom I mentioned in the Bra Meltdown blog, grew up in a household where breastfeeding and homebirths were, and are the norm, and in turn, those are the choices they’ve made for their baby bump.  We were chatting the other day when she mentioned that she HAD to go for a prenatal test the following week.  She was shocked when I brought to her attention that she didn’t have to take any of the tests, but rather that it was her choice.  You’ll note, I didn’t say she shouldn’t do the testing, simply that they  are all choices.  
 
It can be hard when we receive information from health care providers, to process the difference between them telling you about your options and giving you informed consent, and thinking
that they’re telling you what needs to be done.  When the new baby arrives, and you’re concerned not only about you but about him or her it can be even more complicated, and more important! 

Here are a few good questions to get you thinking when it comes to testing and procedures. With a little tweaking however, they can be applied to pretty much all decision making. 
 
1.  What is it?
2.  What information does it provide?
3.  How accurate is the information? (This one is key as many tests, especially prenatal ones as many only determine the increased possibility of something, not whether or not for sure)
4. Faced with the worst case scenario would I do anything
different?
5. Faced with the worst case scenario, how would it impact my mental/emotional/physical well-being to know or not to know?

 We also use a couple of different acronyms in the birthing field that help us to encourage our clients to ask the questions they need to get the answers they want:
 
B.R.A.I.N.
B- Benefits
R- Risks
A-Alternatives (What other options are
there?)
I-Intuition (what does your gut
say?)
N-Nothing (what happens if you wait or don’t do
it?)

B.R.A.N.D.
B-Benefits
R-Risks
A-Alternatives
N-Nothing
D-Discuss and Decide

I prefer BRAIN, as it’s easy to remember to use your brain, but chose the one that works best for you. If you’d like more suggestions on what questions to ask, or resources to find quality information  give us a call.