VALUES CLARIFICATION EXERCISE
Developed by Rahima Baldwin, this was originally presented by Informed Homebirth as a values clarification exercise for the Informed Birth and Parenting childbirth education series. You can review the various elements and rank them according to their importance to you in order to help you make decisions about your birth plans.
What Is Most Important to You About Your Birth Experience:
To have the ultimate safety equipment | To be in quiet, peaceful surroundings |
To have minimum interference | To be able to welcome the baby gently (dim lights, warm room, etc.) |
To have a medical doctor present | To have the baby with me after the birth (no separation) |
To labor and give birth in the same place | To feel at one with the energy, my partner, the attendants throughout the birth |
To have my partner (friend) present during the birth and labor | To be able to do what I choose |
To have other supportive people present | To maintain a spiritual perspective through the birth |
To have other children present | Wild card (write your own) |
To avoid pain |
What is Most Important to You About Your Attendant:
They have much knowledge and experience with normal birth | They will participate totally, tuned in to our feelings |
They can prescribe drugs, do suturing, and/or have hospital privileges | They can be depended on to do the right thing, make decisions, take over in an emergency |
They charge a low fee | They encourage our responsibility and will consult us before doing anything |
They have much knowledge of complications and how to handle them | They will be with me during labor, the birth, and if there are complications |
They have a high regard for me and my partner’s intuition and knowledge | They and we feel like friends, rather than being a “professional relationship” |
They will be available throughout the experience, but not interfere with us except when we ask them | Wild card (write your own): |
Reprinted with permission from Rahima Baldwin’s Informed Homebirth/Informed Birth and Parenting Teaching Manual