Birth Geekery: Dadding out, behaviour = communication, and "natural" induction

Birth Geekery is a new blog series designed to put interesting, fun, USEFUL, and occasionally nerdy resources at your disposal.

Each post will feature two to three resources that I love and frequently share with our clients so that you can check them out too!

Image description: a baby with brown eyes and light skin looks surprised. They're chewing on the corner of a white blanket.

RESOURCE #1

One area that seems to be lacking in the resource department is relatable, genuine, and honest information for dads-to-be which is why I LOVE this podcast episode from Ezra Klein where he and Mike Birbiglia talk openly about fatherhood. There are joys and challenges in the transformative process of becoming a father and normalizing it all is the name of our game.

Have a listen: Dadding out with Mike Birbiglia - The Ezra Klein Show

RESOURCE #2

Re-framing my children’s behavior as communication is one of the most powerful and grounding shifts I made as a growing parent. It helped shape all of my interactions with my children in a more positive light and has allowed us to build relationships of mutual trust, respect, and affection.

I loved this Facebook post from We’re All Human Here about what that looks like in the day-to-day of parenting.

Have a read: All of this is communication

RESOURCE #3

There is a TON of information out there on the interwebs about “natural” induction methods (I put “natural” in quotes because induction is induction. Whether it’s done at home under your own supervision or in hospital under medical supervision, the goal is to encourage baby to come out before they’ve signaled that they’re ready. As with all interventions, that carries the potential for unwanted side effects. Sometimes the word natural makes us assume “safe and without risks” which isn’t always the case).

ANYWAY, now that I’m off that soap box, Evidence Based Birth took a look at the research available on the most common methods of “natural” induction to see what we actually know about them. If you’re ready to try something, it can be helpful to know which is most likely to be effective (as well as understand both the potential benefits AND potential risks of your options).

Check it out: Evidence on natural labour induction