How to Know Who to Trust When Pregnant

One of the more difficult things pregnant women can do is figure out who to listen to, and who not to listen to. It seems everyone wants to offer a pregnant woman advice about what to eat, how much to exercise and whether to have a natural or an epidural birth. It can be difficult to know who to trust while you're pregnant.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Take your friends' and relatives' advice and stories with a grain of salt. Birth is an emotional experience and if a woman in labor didn't feel emotionally supported during the birth, her birth will be more difficult and her subsequent stories worse. In addition, false old wives' tales, such as "exercise causes miscarriage," continue to be propagated.
2. Do your own research. With all the things you have to do, you shouldn't have to read books about childbirth and look at studies. But in order to know who to trust, you have to have done your own research so you understand what your care provider or childbirth educator are talking about.
3. Change care providers. If your care provider won't discuss articles you've read, change care providers. You should feel comfortable going to your care provider about anything, including research or articles you've found. Your care provider should spend time discussing these findings with you.
4. Read studies, books and articles carefully. Many books, studies and articles about childbirth are written with a slant; the author wants you to draw a certain conclusion. Many of the studies quoted in recent childbirth articles may be outdated or be from poor studies. Be cautious about reading books and articles with an obvious slant and check out the resources listed at the end of books and articles.
5. Talk to people who have different views and opinions about pregnancy and childbirth. Talk to your care provider, your nurse and your childbirth educator. Ask them the same question. Ask why they answered the question the way they did, and where they got their conclusions.

Tips & Warnings

• It's never too early to start doing research about pregnancy and childbirth.