BONUS: Super Bowl is like birth?

Ever wondered how childbirth could be compared to the adrenaline-filled buzz of a sports team? Imagine the labor and delivery room as a stadium, where every player, from the expectant parent to their chosen support, takes their position with a clear role and a common goal: a safe and joyous arrival.

Strap in as we introduce the MVPs (parents) of this game: the doula, your strategic coach navigating you through the labor plays; the midwife, akin to an athletic trainer with a watchful eye on your well-being; and the OB, the team owner, overseeing the grand strategy. So, whether you're drafting your birthing lineup or just curious about the parallels between sports and childbirth, this conversation will leave you enlightened, prepared, and ready for the big day.

Go Chiefs!!!

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Show Credits

Host: Angie Rosier
Music: Michael Hicks
Photographer: Toni Walker
Episode Artwork: Nick Greenwood
Producer: Gillian Rosier
Voiceover: Ryan Parker

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

I also want to articulate the role in a fun sports analogy, and this is something that I think a lot of us can relate to. So I like to think of a sports team and the different components of a sports team. So this might be a soccer team, a football team, maybe a basketball team, but think of the components of this team. Right, we have players and there's always players on a team. So those players are going to be the person having a baby and their support team right, their immediate support team, whether that's a partner, a mother, a sister, a friend, whoever that is. So the players right of this game called childbirth. The coach is the doula. So the coach goes to practice with the players. The coach watches the game film with the players. The coach is there on game day. They're on the sideline. There are a lot you do timeouts with the coach. The coach helps call plays, helps strategize, helps you work through the game for your own victory. Right, the referees are on the field. So we're going to compare the field to the birth facility. Whether you're at a hospital, whether you are at a birth center, the referees on the field. Their role is to follow the rules right, to enforce the rules of the game. So the referees in this childbirth analogy are the nurses. So nurses at the hospital. A lot of birth centers have nurses as well, but especially our hospital nurses. They are there to uphold the policies of the hospital and follow the procedures that the hospital has outlined and they're on the field with the players. They're right there during the whole game but they're focused on the rules.

Speaker 1: 2:03

Now, if you're fortunate enough to work with a midwife on your team, that's your athletic trainer. So this athletic trainer might be to some of your practices. You don't have as much contact maybe with them or intimate or personal contact as you do with your coach, but they're there watching. They dash out on the field if you need anything. They have an area of expertise on the players and the health of the players so they can come in and focus on that, but they might not be in the whole headspace of the. You know the same relationship that the players have with the coach. Now we come to the owner of a team. So the owner of the team has a lot of influence on the team and the coach and the players and to what goes on on a bigger level.

Speaker 1: 2:46

They're oftentimes removed from the game a little bit. They might be up in the box watching from afar, but they're aware they can watch from afar. They may come down and call some shots as far as, or even you know, between games. They might call shots and we might look at that as different policies and procedures that are put into place. They might come down under the field to help you claim your victory at the very end or help you celebrate, but that's the OB role. So a lot of times our OBs or our doctors are a little bit more removed, although they have access, like they're always kind of watching. So that's kind of a little analogy as to the different roles of the birth team and how each of those roles interplay with each other and how they might be important. So, as you are preparing for your birth experience, consider your team, who is on your team? We hope you know your support person and that inner circle you've chosen from people to be with you. If you want folks with you during labor and childbirth, hopefully you have a coach of some kind and that can come in a lot of different roles.

Speaker 1: 3:50

Not everyone can afford to use a dueler has access to to duela care, but maybe that's different Instagram. You know information you're getting from Instagram posts or from TikTok like there's. You know different quality out there. For sure, make sure you get some really good information, whether that's a class, you're taking some books you're reading. That's going to be your guidance throughout the process of childbirth, through labor and definitely carrying on into the postpartum as period as well. So consider your team, consider the players on the team, how you want to be supported, because you absolutely that support is as necessary and you deserve all the support that you can get. So seek for that support in the ways that are available and accessible to you, and part of this podcast, part of our goal, is to provide duela support and duela preparation to everyone. Thank you.