Sharing stories of happy births, this former marketer is now a baby coach.
Life as a parent isn't always sunshine and rainbows. Discussions about the nurturer role in modern times have dispelled that misconception. However, we persist in idealising the path to parenthood. How many times have we heard the claim that a woman's true beauty is revealed just before giving birth, that she blossoms during this time? This is just partially accurate. On the flip side, your mind is adjusting to physical changes; you're probably nervous about the pain of giving birth and the hormonal shifts that will shape your life thereafter. Fears do exist, even though women don't always talk about them.
Marie Diab is alert to these anxieties. She has even gone through them with her customers. Being a trained doula, she has witnessed numerous births, both pleasant and unpleasant. Reason enough for Marie to launch Empower Your Birth, a resource for expecting mothers to help them achieve holistic wellness and enter the delivery process with a positive attitude.
Marie seems to possess an innate talent that makes her an ideal candidate for this position. She wasn't always a doula or birthing coach, for one thing. She moved to Dubai in 2014 to take a marketing job with a high-end car company after graduating from college in Germany with a degree in European business. A pregnancy at the age of 29 for Marie, though, altered everything. It was the covid era. Plus, it became incredibly difficult at the last minute when I had to return to the office. Leaving my child at home and having someone else raise them was causing me a lot of emotional and mental distress. Marie, who specialises in breastfeeding, says that is when she started training to be a doula and baby coach. "As part of my services, I also coach parents on how to create an environment where their baby is most likely to sleep soundly."
Marie had seen the anxieties that women experience during childbirth directly through her job as a doula. Lack of information about what to anticipate is another common source of anxiety. When the water breaks or contractions begin, we will have no idea what to do. Recently, I've been considering ways in which we can uplift women. I will be asking many of these challenging questions as a mentor at Empower Your Birth. How does one, for instance, get their bodies ready to give birth? For instance, because it goes against the laws of gravity, giving birth while lying on one's back is not recommended. Squatting, strength training, and breathing techniques to aid in childbirth are just a few of the topics Marie covers in her classes.
Mind, though, is still the most crucial component. Given that "if you are scared, you will tighten your body," Marie claims this requires the greatest effort. For a woman, it is the pinnacle of life events. As a mother, she leaves the delivery room transformed from a woman. Having a traumatic birth, however, is not a good beginning. Postpartum depression is most common in women during that time. You have a hard time getting enough sleep, you have trouble breastfeeding, and you're worried about making it through the day. The mindset a woman is likely to adopt after giving birth is the target of Marie's coaching. On the other hand, she stresses the significance of going into it fearlessly.
A challenging delivery
The act of giving birth is very personal. According to Marie, expecting mothers benefit greatly from being in a private, dark place where they are not watched, since this encourages them to not reveal their innermost feelings. Babies do not cry during normal births, such as those that take place in water, according to my observations as a doula. However, you will notice that babies cry more frequently when the process has been distressing. It seems to me that this trauma is stored in our cells. And this is precisely the kind of thing she vows to avoid.
Traditionalists often look down on C-sections because they don't think it's the normal way to have a baby. However, for Marie and other birth coaches, no topic is off-limits. They learn the ins and outs of a C-section from us. In the end, it's up to the woman to decide what kind of delivery she wants. She expresses her desire for women to have a positive birth experience and mentions that a gentle C-section can have a profound impact on them. In case you've never heard of it, a gentle C-section combines the best of both conventional caesarean sections and more conventional methods of giving birth. Popularly referred to as "kangaroo care," mothers are welcome to observe the birth and immediately hold their newborns for skin-to-skin contact.
Where does one's age fall on the spectrum?
According to conventional thinking, your biological clock starts to tick after the age of 35. However, thanks to fertility treatments that are constantly improving, you can become a mother at any age. Doctors often consider women in their late 30s and 40s to be high-risk patients, but Marie has experience working with them as a doula. She says that women considering becoming mothers at that age should get a second or third opinion. For what rationale? "It is important to have another opinion if you are deemed high-risk," she says, adding that her doctor may ask her to induce early. In one of my birth experiences, the mother was 45 years old and the method of delivery was in vitro fertilisation (IVF). She was informed that she would need to be induced because her baby weighed 4.5 kg. Now, in order to avoid placenta calcification, a woman should be ready to give birth between 41 and 42 weeks into her pregnancy, but some people will tell you to wait a little longer. In order to play it safe, doctors often prescribe sedatives to high-risk patients. The woman had to have a caesarean section because the baby was 3.5 kilogrammes when it was born. That is why it can be helpful to get a second or even third opinion.
Marie goes above and beyond the call of duty to check in on nursing mothers at the hospital as part of her job with Empower Your Birth. So that they can relax after giving birth, I help women with belly binding, which entails wrapping a piece of cloth around their bellies. I instruct ladies in the art of knotting. A constant presence seems to be embracing your belly. When you're in this jam, it binds your muscles together.
Take care of yourself, particularly after giving birth and during the postpartum period. Marie is doing all in her power to get the word out about that, since it is based on her personal experience. I did not want my nanny to be caring for my child when I gave birth. Doing it on my own was my goal. That is why I failed miserably in attending to my own requirements. Her goal is to dissuade new moms from falling into that trap. "Asking for help is perfectly acceptable because you are uncertain of what is ahead."
Are pregnant women able to thrive? They can, according to Marie, if they have the correct information and attitude. For instance, it's hard to exist in a stress-free setting. I do, however, have a number of mindfulness exercises that I can teach expecting mothers to help them relax. She recommends taking a stroll in nature to "paint a picture" when feeling overwhelmed. "Your body translates beauty for your baby."
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