Bermuda Parent Bermuda Parent Spring 2015 | Page 18

pregnancy
BY FIONA DILL
Creating a Good
Birth Experience
For many women, birth can be a highly emotive topic. I think we
would all agree that there are few things more important or as special
as bringing life into the world. However, at a time when birth is
safer than it has ever been, why do we find so few women who
can say “I had a good birth experience”?
would like to suggest that it is because the definition of a good birth
is more than just the physical health of the mother and baby, but
is also about the psychological impact of labour and birth. You will
often hear…. ‘as long as the mother and baby are healthy that is all
that matters’. But it seems that perhaps this is not enough, when we
are considering the future well being of mother and baby. Ask any
child development specialist, and they will tell you that the best predic-
tor of a baby’s future wellbeing, educational attainment, mental health
and happiness is the quality of the bond formed between that child and
his primary caregivers in the hours, days, months after birth. When a
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