Questions To Ask About Birth From A Book On Death

I've just finished reading Atwul Gawande's excellent book, "Being Mortal: Medicine & What Matters in the End," and found myself noticing the many ways things that matter at the end also matter at the beginning. 

   To quote one of my favorite passages about assessing the needs of end of life care:
"...the vital questions are the same: What is your understanding of the situation and its potential outcomes? What are your fears and what are your hopes? What are the trade-offs you are willing to make and not willing to make? And what is the course of action that best serves this understanding?" (p. 259) 

These vital questions matter for pregnancy and childbirth, too. Pregnancy brings its own bundle of fears and hopes (along with the bundle of joy at the end!). Every decision has its own trade-offs and every pregnant woman deserves the right to have her questions answered as she decides on a course of action. Sometimes these questions can be challenging to formulate, especially when in labor or when dealing with the waves of exhaustion that come after the birth of a baby... and that's one of the things a doula can best help with: targeting these fears, hopes, and questions and feeling at peace with the outcomes!