These are not mere fads but rather the legitimate desire of many women to somehow recover the most natural and physiological aspect of pregnancy, which for too long has been reduced to a mere technical event, governed by ultrasound scans, blood tests and various medical procedures. Not only that. It is also the desire not to sacrifice all the other dimensions of a woman in the name of motherhood. Hence the growing attention - apparently only aesthetic - for one's weight gain, cellulite and stretch marks; reality also for one's daily efficiency as a person active in work and in society. In short, a global care for one's health and well-being.
In this context, the birth preparation courses offered by private structures such as associations, gyms, swimming pools, etc. are increasingly stimulating and incisive. Some offer complete courses, others limit themselves to offering targeted activities (especially of a practical nature), capable of integrating the theoretical part already satisfied by their gynecologist-hospital-consulting room of reference.
Relying on a private interlocutor can represent a targeted choice in this sense. Without having to give up the advice of one's traditional referring doctor, his examinations and his visits, we can in fact find elsewhere the way to fill the spaces and respond to the needs to which he is unable - or does not have time - to respond. .
For example, to dedicate ourselves to some gentle gymnastics lessons that keep us toned, elastic and flexible, to a cycle of lymphatic drainage massages able to counteract the swelling typical of many pregnancies, to some physiotherapy session useful for correcting our posture and avoiding annoying lumbosciatica etc.
Even in this case, however, it is not recommended to go to the first gym around the corner. It is better to identify structures or organizations specialized in the subject, which have an integrated and ad hoc multidisciplinary competence within them.
Not all gym instructors will be adequately prepared or willing, for example, to go into the details of topics such as the pelvic floor or post-partum urinary incontinence; topics that on the contrary should always constitute one of the main areas of work and study of a good course for pregnant women and new mothers. This is why the support and competent guidance of a "midwife must always be present at her side."
The same goes for the in-depth knowledge of all the physiological changes (hormonal, anatomical, functional, etc.) that characterize the woman during gestation (for example from the respiratory point of view), making her a very particular subject, not manageable like any customer of a sports center.
Another "precious figure" in the context of childbirth preparation courses is that of the psychologist. In fact, the profound transformations typical of pregnancy do not concern only and exclusively the corporeal and physical sphere, but also the mental and emotional one. This is why the support of a competent figure also from this point of view will certainly prove useful. For example, techniques such as hypnosis or visualizations have been proposed and tested for some time in different contexts and with excellent results. And this both in terms of containment and accompaniment during the nine months of gestation and of strategy to effectively face the moment of labor. .
The figure of the psychologist is often essential in the post-partum period, therefore during the puerperium. A phase too often ignored or underestimated in which many women find themselves in deep difficulty; forced to deal alone with their own inevitable hormonal imbalances, with the new needs of the newborn, with the inadequate preparation of many companions and with the growing pressures of society, hence not a few cases of genuine psychosis and puerperal depression.
The evaluation and choice of the interlocutor with whom to share one's birth path should in fact also take this aspect into account. That is, after birth. Often one thinks and acts as if with the birth of the child everything was "resolved". Al on the contrary, the next phase is just as demanding and delicate. Just think of the whole chapter relating to breastfeeding, the one concerning the physical recovery of the puerpera (not only in aesthetic terms but above all in functional terms, for example - as already highlighted - at the perineal level ), to the psycho-emotional adaptation of the couple that has become a triad, etc.
Other articles on "Accompaniment courses for childbirth - Third part -"
- second part accompanying courses for childbirth
- courses accompanying the first part of childbirth
- courses accompanying the fourth part of childbirth