Use your brain

Use your brain - a great tool for pregnancy, labour, and for life!

I first came across this during a HypnoBirthing class with Natasha Marchand and thought it was great.

When faced with a recommendation, question, or decision needing to be made at any point during pregnancy or labour (barring an emergency situation), always remember to use your B.R.A.I.N. and ask or consider:

B - Benefits - What are they? How likely are they to occur?

R - Risks - What are they? How significant are they?

A - Alternatives - What else could we do?

I - Intuition - Use your inner wisdom. What is your instinctive feeling about this?

N - Nothing - What would happen if we did nothing? (especially useful and underused during labour)

The idea appears simple, but in labour things rarely go as expected. This is an easy way to make sure you are always making an informed decision, even in an intense or stressful moment - and informed decision-making usually means feeling empowered once the decision is made.