Emotional support

Your birth partner is there to provide you with emotional support, to give you the positive encouragement, to hold your hand, to give you eye contact, to just be in the room, to support and reassure. They are also there to listen to you. 

Physical support

Lots of touch, massage, back rub, holding hands,(these all help with oxytocin, the hormone that encourages contractions) supporting you when moving positions, giving you sips of water through your labour and offering snacks. Reminding you to go for a wee and supporting you to do this. They can also remind you of relaxation/breathing exercises you have been practising. Help you get in and out of the shower or birthing pool.

Advocate

They are your voice, and should be the go between from midwife/ consultant to you. They should be aware of your birth preference list and follow your wants and wishes, this keeps you in control of your birth. They should feel confident to ask the questions about anything that is offered - please look at the link or decision making at the bottom of the blog. Only you, however can give consent for treatment.

Organised

It will be one of the roles of the birth partner to get you to the hospital, to know where items are in your hospital bag, time contractions, have parking money and make sure they have packed their own bag too with the things they may need - snacks, phone charger etc

Conclusion

Having a birth partner who you trust and can support you during labour and birth, can reduce the pain relief a woman may need, can reduce the length of labour and can give an overall more positive birth experience.

I run groups in Wolverhampton and 121's too where we look at the role of the birth partner in more detail.

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