Natural Birth and Baby Care.com

The Birth Outside the Box Curriculum and StudyWomb

I recently worked through the Birth Outside the Box Curriculum and decided it gets a top recommendation - I have to share this home study course with you!

Birth Outside the Box is wonderfully flexible. You can choose to take the course over 12 weeks, 7 weeks, or receive the entire course at once. This helps you pace yourself as you work through each section of the comprehensive course. The course is digital so you can get started immediately (there is an option to buy the course in a hard copy - I'll talk more about that later.)

Along with your Birth Outside the Box course you get access to the "StudyWomb" (don't you love that name!) The StudyWomb is a members-only section of Birth Outside the Box's home website where you'll find many additional materials to help you prepare. I'll cover it more completely within the review.

Jumping Right In

Birth Outside the Box makes an unapologetic jump right into the meat of a childbirth course - dealing with pain. The curriculum takes the stance that you should learn about pain during birthing - the how's, why's, and what to do about its - right from the start. I think this is a great stance to take because it removes the fear and uncertainty hovering at the back of your mind by addressing it immediately.

The curriculum tackles pain in childbirth thoroughly - I was really impressed with the clear information presented. You'll have a great understanding of pain in childbirth and just what you can do about it.

Your Birth Outside the Box course includes a workbook with activities to work through during each lesson. I highly recommend you go through these because you'll find them really helpful. A lot of the work of pregnancy is done within yourself - by taking the time to go through each of the exercises in the workbook you'll find yourself becoming more and more confident. You'll have an increased understanding of just what you want (and can accomplish) with your own birthing.

StudyWomb also has a small quiz for each section. These little quizzes (don't worry - you're not graded and you can reveal the correct answers!) will really help you review what you've learned. It's especially important to go through the workbook and review quizzes for this lesson. As I said, Birth Outside the Box does a great job tackling the issue of pain in childbirth - working through all the resources provided will help you internalize these lessons and gain confidence in yourself.

Working with Yourself

As I said above, so much of the work of preparing for your baby's birth is within youself. Birth Outside the Box recognizes this truth and Lessons II and III continue with the informative and exploratory teaching of Lesson I. You'll learn just how much your perception can influence childbirth, and you'll learn how to change your perspective.

Like other childbirth courses, Birth Outside the Box asks to you to change the language you use to think about birth - you're not laboring, you're birthing. And you don't have contractions - you have birthing embraces. I think the course does a great job of explaining this language change, though I think the term "birthing embrace" may seem a little cumbersome.

You'll also learn to change your perceptions of the work of birthing and your perceptions of pain.

Removing Barriers

Lesson IV goes into how you can remove barriers that may prevent the natural birth you're hoping for. It covers choosing your care provider and birthing place - and how these things can affect the outcome of your birth. There is plenty of information to help you choose a provider, and to help you evaluate if a provider is working out for you.

There's also a strong emphasis on developing a birth plan. You may find this section helpful, especially if you're not sure who will be on call to attend you during your own birthing.

Sometimes a birth plan can result in pre-conceived notions about how everything should be done. Other times a birth plan can seem "over the top" to your care providers. I haven't personally used a birth plan - however Birth Outside the Box does a great job teaching you how to write a reasonable, clear birth plan. If you follow the course recommendations you should have a great tool that will be especially helpful if you're birthing at the hospital.

The Interventions

Birth Outside the Box really shines in sections V and VI.

Great for a 1st time mother, or mother new to researching her birthing rights and options, these sections clearly and extensively cover different interventions you may face as a mother. You'll also learn interventions that your baby may face. One of the most important parts of birth is being an informed consumer. These sections are among the best of the entire course because it is really laid out clearly for you.

The format is also very easy and lends itself to you being able to research more on your own. The workbook has great activities to help you consider each intervention and decide if you want to avoid it or if you think it would be helpful (or in what circumstances you think it would be helpful).

Moving into Part II

The second half of Birth Outside the Box focuses strongly on how to work with your body and your situation as you birth. There is a lot of information in this section - it makes up the bulk of the course.

You begin Lesson VII by exploring pain once again, and exploring how you can work with and modify the pain response. You learn all obvious reasons for pain or stress and how to remedy those situations (hunger and thirst are examples).

Lesson VIII is very useful - Birth Outside the Box goes over many different possible birthing positions in this section, detailing the benefits and disadvantages of each one. You'll learn when the best time to use different positions is.

Comfort

The section on natural comfort measures begins with a recap of the strategies you've already learned - then dives much deeper with tons of new strategies.

All ideas are divided into related groups which are summed up by a catchy title. Having a list of these titles with your birth kit could help your birth partner remember different things to suggest you.

Birth Outside the Box fleshes out each section very well - Relax It! covers all the benefits of relaxation during birth along with what could prevent relaxation. There is information on practicing relaxation and on using relaxation scripts. This is an extremely effective method of preparing for birth and Birth Outside the Box deals with in depth. There are sample relaxation scripts provided in the StudyWomb membership area (which comes with your purchase of Birth Outside the Box).

The other sections are covered in the same thorough manner. There are quite a number of them - some examples are: Breathe It!, Water It!, Massage It!, Smell It!, and Move It! (and there are even more - this section of Birth Outside the Box is huge!)

After going through many different comfort strategies the course moves into a discussion of different methods to use based on where you're at in your birthing. You're walked through each birthing stage and given ideas on things to do and help work with that stage. This will give you a complete understanding of how a birthing typically progresses, and how you can be most comfortable during each stage.

Moving On

Birth Outside the Box is a very extensive course - even after tackling issues in detail that other courses only mention, you still have more great information. There's an entire section for your birth partner - this is great because it will help the two of you understand each other and make it much more natural for your partner to respond to your needs and wishes during your birthing.

There's also a great section on signs of birthing. Even while pregnant with my fourth baby I found a summary on how to tell if birthing was getting started to be helpful - I know you'll end up studying this section in the last few weeks of your pregnancy (you'll keep wondering "is this it??") It's well-organized.

You also get information on induction, due dates, and going post dates. You'll want to carefully look over this section because it's very empowering and very freeing.

Meconium Happens

I love the title of this section (meconium is the first bowel movement your baby will pass). Birth Outside the Box acknowledges that there can be complications with pregnancy and birthing and this section is where you turn to learn about those. As you've come to expect through the rest of the course it is well-written and thorough.

I've found that becoming educated about possible issues with birthing, and most importantly, how to deal with them, really dispels fear and empowers. You'll get a lot from this section if you have unspoken worries hovering in the back of your mind. It will increase your confidence.

The StudyWomb HQ

I've already mentioned a couple of the resources you'll find in the StudyWomb HQ. There's even more there that you'll enjoy exploring.

The most important information you'll find there is on your pregnancy nutrition. The guidelines are clearly laid out and there's a printable sheet for you to track your daily nutrition. Proper nutrition is the cornerstone of your healthy pregnancy and this makes it a little easier. I do recommend reading even more on this vital topic but Birth Outside the Box gives a great introduction. There's also a great listing of snack ideas - always helpful!

There's information on doing self-checking in the StudyWomb HQ as well. Reading about this can help you come to understand your own body better. There's plenty on understanding and dealing with a cervical lip during your birthing as well.

You'll find even more in the StudyWomb HQ (including audios!) and it's a nice addition to the overall course.

In Summary

Birth Outside the Box is a great at-home childbirth course. It's very thorough and it's easy to follow. As I mentioned before, there are many options for working through the course. I would recommend you choose one of the installment options to help pace yourself simply because Birth Outside the Box is so extensive.

I did find it much easier to work through the course with a hard copy. There's a hard copy available for you to purchase (which comes with a complimentary "e-copy") or you can print it out from your own computer - choose that option that suits you best. Even if you prefer reading on your computer I urge you to print the short workbook so you can write down your thoughts and answers.

Birth Outside the Box takes a place in my top three recommendations for at-home childbirth courses. It is clear and simple to work through. There is plenty of information, reviews, and supplemental resources for you. You'll find yourself feeling informed and empowered - and you'll have plenty of practical knowledge to use throughout your pregnancy and during your birthing.