It can be so hard to find honest, unbiased sources of information that we can trust. It seems like everyone has an agenda, and the whole world is full of folks who do more talking than listening.
Our loud, shouty, modern culture can wreak havoc on new parents.
As doulas, we see this every day. We help all kinds of parents who are trying to make important decisions. They’re trusting us to escort them through a pretty intense time.
It’s a critical part of our philosophy at DC Metro Maternity that we’re not another source of fake news, and we won’t be another set of opinions weighing in on what you should do with your body or your baby.
But we do share information. A lot of it actually!
We talk to the nurses, midwives, and doctors to understand their procedures and the hospital policies. We read the studies, books, and articles so we know what the latest science on birth is, and the trends in parenting.
Then, when you have a question, we answer it with education you can trust.
One of the tools we use to share those answer is a simple acronym called BRAIN. What’s that mean?
Benefits
What are the positives of this choice? Why would people do it?
Risks
What are some of the negatives? Are there options that are eliminated if we choose this?
Alternatives
Do we have other options? What are they?
Intuition
What does our gut say?
Nothing
Do we have to decide right now?
Every single choice that you’ll make, from your pregnancy, through your child’s life, has pros and cons, and simply choosing to have a baby comes with really beautiful possibilities, as well as inherent risk and responsibility.
This acronym acknowledges those facts, and lets us lay information out in a balanced way, that trusts you, as a parent.
And that’s what we’re doing at DCMM. At the end of the day, everything we do comes back to our goal to trust you as a parent, and encourage you to trust yourself. So whether you’re in our childbirth education classes, making a quick decision at your birth, or figuring out what on earth to do with your baby in the postpartum period, if you turn to one of us, and ask “what would you do?” you’re probably not going to get a straight answer.
At the end of the day, while yes, we’re experts in this time period, our opinion doesn’t matter that much. The choices we make for our families are different, and we’re not raising your kids. It’s your voice that matters, and we always want you to use it.
So we won’t weigh in on what you should do. Instead, we’re going to encourage you to trust your BRAIN.
Need more advice, schedule a call with us!
