I´m going to tell you the one most important reason why prenatal education is pivotal in changing the way women experience birth.
When professionals attend their patients during pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and postpartum….they need to have an even playing field so a discussion can be had between them that represents each others point of view. When I hear doctors say that their patients aren’t able to understand the terminology they use, what they are saying is
If I give my patients the language that enables them to involve themselves in their own care, I lose my pedestal and am no longer distanced from having to explain what I do and why I do it.
Prenatal education is the foundation for acquiring the communication tools that give students a fair chance of being heard and being respected. Without an understanding of how their bodies work and the words that accompany what they are experiencing, there is no meeting place to define their preferences, feel deserving of asking for them and negotiating what decisions will be taken towards achieving them. We open the door to empowerment by opening women eyes to a world they can now understand because they have a clear understanding of basic reproductive anatomy and the importance their innate relationship to their bodies has in getting the birth they want.
Where else do women get this knowledge? By their mothers? At school? From their girlfriends? On the internet?
Take away quality prenatal education and you banish women to silence by keeping them ignorant.
JK