DYOR (Do Your Own Research)- A Simple How-To

When you are preparing to become pregnant, or are already, most of you will begin your research on the internet. I encourage my clients to use this time as an opportunity to learn everything they want to know about their body and their growing baby. Sort of like a college course on Pregnancy and Childbirth. You have 3 trimesters to learn all about the miracle you are bringing into the world!

The amount of information out there on options for care providers, prenatal and newborn screening, birth plan including place of birth, can be overwhelming and often confusing.

I have some suggestions for deciding how to seek out information and what to digest or not in your research endeavors.

First of all, it is important to choose sites, books, and social media content that are in alignment with your desired outcome- a safe, healthy, low-risk pregnancy and successful natural, vaginal birth.

Much, if not most, of the information available on internet sites whose target audience are pregnant women, is fear-based and can scare many first time parents (especially) into thinking the worst. Making decisions that are influenced by fear-based information can get you off your path.

Therefore, locating websites from doctors, midwives, doulas, and other naturopathic, chiropractic and holistic practitioners who trust the body’s innate wisdom, and who trust birth, is a great strategy for researching topics you are interested in. A list of my favorite sites are available on my website (link) as a starting point if you need some suggestions.

Another way to limit the ubiquitous fear-based results is to switch your search engine. Unfortunately, most search engines are biased towards paid advertisers, status quo and consensus research and data, and are pro BIG MED/Pharma. If you are wanting to get information about more natural approaches to pregnancy and birth, you will want less biased search engine results. Alternatives to Google are Duck Duck Go, Brave, Freespoke and Yandex for search engines. You can try https://rumble.com/ for videos that may not be allowed on YouTube. I have to say, though, Youtube does have some amazing home birth videos, and lots of great doulas and lactation consultants have their own channels. Just use your discretion.

A common misconception that you may run into is that you need to “be informed” about all the possible negative outcomes that can happen during pregnancy and birth. It really depends on what is meant by informed. Information overload is a thing.

Friends and family members often take the opportunity to tell you how awful their birth was, what a close call they had, and that breastfeeding isn’t all its cracked up to be. Many of these stories, old and new, are being retold not necessarily as cautionary tales to save you from trauma, but they are being told by women who experienced trauma and have yet to resolve it. “Warning” new unsuspecting mothers is a way for them to continue to process and attempt to heal by sharing their old birth wounds. For some women who carry trauma of their pregnancy and birthing experience, it is their subconscious way of sabotaging any notion that birth can be peaceful, calm, safe, natural, and even blissful.

If you are at risk for being exposed to these types of trauma reliving ‘warnings” please know that you can decline. Let your family and friends know that you will be accepting positive birth stories and would prefer not to focus on what could go wrong.

The best way to know if you are on the right track in your research is to pay attention to how you feel while reading an article or book, or watching a video. Your body lets you know when information is for you or not. If you are feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or scared that is your body letting you know that the information is moving you in the wrong direction. If you feel positive, joyful, and excited, then you know that the information resonates with you and will assist you in getting to your desired outcome. It sounds simple because it really is, but it is not always easy.

And finally, I recommend the tried and true power of prayer. Prior to beginning your research on a particular topic, it can be very helpful to pray that you find the best information for you to get the birth that you want. It’s like asking God to bless your food- information is also ingested, and prayer is a great way to get to the good stuff, while being protected from the not-so-good.