Optimised physical, mental and social wellbeing in birth is co-created. Safer, clinically effective, sustainable and person-centered outcomes in perinatal wellness can only be achieved in the context of relationships and healthcare communities that are built on social awareness and characterized by dynamic communication.
Healthcare systems around the world are, however, plagued by various socio-economic, psychosocial, demographic, behavioral, pathological, professional and system- or policy-driven divides. These divides, together with an inability amongst patients, family caregivers, healthcare professionals and organisations to express, listen to, interpret and act with compassion on experiences in birth result in the breakdown of relationships and the dwindling of much-needed collaborations. It also leads to ‘compassion fatigue’, professional burnout, complications, traumatic birth experiences, postnatal post-traumatic stress disorder and preventable neonatal and maternal mortalities.
As is the case when raising a child, physical and emotional well-being in birth is largely dependent on the impact of individuals and groups who play a role in a particular maternal journey. One could therefore argue that continuous, narratively-engaged collaboration between all role players in birth is needed for an optimised outcome and that an empowered, informed mother should be at the center of such collaboration– a birth village where optimised wellness is co-created through personal development, dynamic communication and experience sharing.
My aim as transformative relationship guide when it comes to birth is to help healthcare professionals, parents, family caregivers and organisations develop narrative competence, bridge divides and facilitate compassionate, narratively-engaged communication which will lead to person-centered, optimised and sustainable healthcare governance, policies, systems, facilities, practices, services and solutions in birth.
If you are a birth professional e.g. a birth photographer or a doula or an expecting mother, you might also want to visit my birth-specific brand at www.lovealda.com Birth professionals may also find useful products, materials or templates in my online store.
If you are a mother who wants to empower herself for an optimised birth experience, I would like to encourage you to subscribe to my newsletter and receive my free ante-natal course At the Heart of Birth.
