Lately, I've been all about the acronyms. As I thought about the issue of fear, I came up with an acronym to
Facts- gather the facts (fear are not facts)
Evidence- what does the evidence say?
Assemble- assemble a great support team
Reveal- what is the source of this fear?
Often times acknowledging fear is the first step in dismantling it. What are you most fearful of when it comes to pregnancy and birth? Where do you think this fear originated from?
Before getting pregnant, I was so worried that my water would break while I was at the grocery store or in the most inopportune time. As I think about where this fear came from, I would say Hollywood movies are at the top of the list. Almost every movie depicts a woman in labour, her water breaking and then her SCREAMING in excruciating pain to get the baby out. Another memory is of a friend who said she carried around a jar of pickles wherever she went, just in case her water broke, she would drop the pickle jar, distracting others from her waters breaking.
But what does the evidence say on water breaking before labour? Is it all that common? Statistically only about 15 percent of women experience their water breaking before labor starts, and it’s just as likely to be a small trickle as the stereotypical gush of liquid.
Fear is a natural response that helped our ancestors survive. In the modern world, fear response can be provoked with the constant messages thrown at us on social media and instantaneous information at our finger tips.... Google, Wikipedia....
Be gentle on yourself….Allow the fear to inspire you to find the evidence based facts, strategize a support team or practice self-care. After having 3 pregnancies and births, not once did I have PROM(premature rupture of membranes).
Where we get our information is huge…Dr Google is NOT a reliable, evidence based source of information. Trust me, I've called on Google for every bump, bruise and cough and I always managed to go down the dire prognosis rabbit hole.
So, what are your fears when it comes to pregnancy and birth? How could you use the f.e.a.r acronym to address that fear?
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