Welcoming a child into one’s life with pregnancy and childbirth is a “threshold moment” for everyone involved. As practitioner, the continuity of care you provide, the space that you create and the quality of relationship you establish with birthing parents are all tools to for better outcomes. Doulas, midwives, maternal health specialists, obstetricians and others who attend pregnant and birthing families know that their presence means a lot in the process, whether it is explicitly named or not.
The science of safety is about recognizing the ways people feel safe on every level, implicitly and explicitly. This talk will present this science, often called the polyvagal theory, and help craft ways for professionals to better support birthing families based on knowing a unique map of the autonomic nervous system for each family. This understanding will help professionals create more resilience for birthing parents, and improve birth outcomes in the short and long term.