4 Benefits to working with a team during pregnancy & postpartum
A month ago I made the big decision to register for Ironman Canada 2023. This was not an easy decision to make. Training for and competing in any big race/event is a big decision and huge commitment. And as I’ve started putting the puzzle pieces in place to make this goal become a reality, I’ve seen so many parallels to preparing for pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum.
The first parallel - creating a team to support me in this mission.
Setting big goals and working towards them isn’t new to me. But this time I don’t want to tackle this huge event on my own. I’ve tackled half ironman and marathon training on my own. I’ve prepared for two pregnancies and births on my own. The difference here is that for the races, I new I could work with a team, I just thought I knew enough to be able to do it on my own. (You may be shocked to hear this, but I didn’t.) Whereas for labor, birth and postpartum, I didn’t even know there were professionals I could access to be on my team. I had my birth care provider and that was it and in hindsight, I could have benefited from the support of a team here too.
Today I want to share 4 benefits to working with a team during pregnancy and postpartum.
They are experts in their fields- Nobody can know everything about everything but each of us can be experts and great sources of information in particular fields. For example:
You are the expert on you, your body, your needs and what you are experiencing.
A pregnancy and postpartum coach is an expert in supporting you to move your body throughout the time.
A birth care provider, OB, Doctor, Midwife, is an expert at ensuring the safety of you and your baby.
A pelvic health physiotherapist is an expert on the pelvis and pelvic floor and the changes that happen during these chapters.
A mental health professional is an expert on your thoughts and what happens between your ears.
A doula is an expert in supporting you and making sure your needs are taken care of.
A dietician is an expert in ensuring your nutrition needs are being met.
A lactation consultant is an expert in all things breastfeeding.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of professionals you may wish to assemble for your team but you can see how one person doesn’t cover all of your bases and each professional can play an important role during this chapter.
Your team wants you to succeed- When you work with a team, they are all rooting for you and it is their job to make sure that you feel supported, get your needs met and succeed in your endeavour. Why not surround yourself with people who are constantly cheering you on?
They can help take the guess work out of preparation - The internet, social media and google are full of information. So full that it can be hard to know where to look and how to tell if what you’re looking at is even accurate. When you have a team of professionals supporting you, they can be your first call when you have questions. They will provide you with accurate, up to date, information and options and help you to make the best decision for you
Accountability - Sometimes in order to be prepared or do our best, we have to do the hard things and put in some work. I don’t know about you, but if i’m left to my own devices those hard things are the first things to go or get skipped over. When you have a team they hold you accountable to make sure you are doing the hard things so you can show up and do your best when it’s time.
Given that everyone is different, each person’s team will look different. I personally like information and want to know everything, but I like to learn it from a trusted source. I also know that in order for me to feel calm and prepared, education and information is important. And in learning, it allows me to feel empowered and capable, which is exactly how I want to feel going into race day and how I wish I would have felt going into labor.
Kelsey, a pelvic health physiotherapist and co-creator of Birth Prep 2.0, and I believe that a team and learning from multiple perspectives is important when you’re preparing for labor, birth and postpartum, which is why we have included guest speakers and birth stories in our course. You get the opportunity to not only learn from us but also a Registered Psychologist, Registered Dietician, Lactation Consultant, Birth Doula, Anesthesiologist and Spinning Babies professional. Click Here to join us for our next session which starts October 5.