Partners need more than reassurance in the birth room

Preparing Partners for the Birth Room: How partners can support birth through breath, advocacy, comfort measures and emotional regulation.

Partners are often in the room, but not always equipped to be useful when pain, fear, medical choices, and fatigue collide. Many couples assume support means encouragement from the sidelines, when families often need a skilled birth teammate who understands breath, advocacy, comfort measures, and emotional regulation. After years watching partners become confident daddy doulas, she can give parenting and relationship audiences a practical conversation about preparing both parents for the birth room.

About Nadine Richardson

Nadine Richardson, podcast guest

Childbirth Educator, Author & Founder of She Births®

She Births® Founder & CEOShe Births Published author20+ years Doula & birth educator15,000+ Parents taught since 2008

Nadine Richardson is changing the conversation around birth - from something women are expected to simply get through, to an experience they can prepare for, understand and actively participate in.

Nadine Richardson is the CEO and Founder of She Births®, and author of the new book She Births. Her work sits at the intersection of science, childbirth education and the lived experience of becoming a parent. Nadine thinks we've been asking the wrong questions about birth. It's not about “natural or medical?” but rather “prepared or not?” A beautiful birth is about values, goals and safety with respect. All three are critical to every family having a beautiful birth, wherever they are in the world.

At the heart of Nadine’s approach is the belief that birth is about more than meeting a baby - it is also about meeting a new version of ourselves. Birth can be an opportunity to discover our authenticity, our strengths and our “superpowers”. For Nadine, this idea reaches far beyond childbirth itself. Whether we're birthing a baby or an idea, mothering another person or ourselves, we are all continually becoming more of who we truly are. Life unfolds along a continuum that carries us towards our wiser selves.

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