B.R.A.I.N.
One of the most important aspects of navigating your healthcare in any setting is making sure to make fully informed decisions. Using the B.R.A.I.N. acronym is a simple easy way to remember that you can do this throughout prenatal care, pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, and even in parenting.
Let’s talk about this. B.R.A.I.N. stands for:
Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Intuition, Nothing.
When can this strategy be used?
Most of the time you can have a conversation with your medical providers on different topics that come up in the course of your care in order to give informed consent or informed refusal on certain matters or plans of care.
The act of pausing to think through a decision or plan of care using this acronym allows you and your partner to decide with your provider what the best course of action is for you. Whether that may be waiting and doing nothing, moving forward with a plan of care, or deciding on an alternative you will have made the best informed decision that you can with all of the information accessible to you.
This does encourage more discussion on what evidence-based practices and information are versus what standards of care or opinions/advice may be from those around you.
Remember that you are the decision maker in matters of your healthcare and that your voice does matter!
Hire a Doula
Brave Beautiful Beginnings Doulas are here to help you navigate through these decisions with information, support, and education. Reach out to us today to hire your doula!