Amy Warfield shares her thoughts and reflections on the importance of childbirth education, and her experience with AMANI Birth:

 Why is it important for a woman to prepare for her birth?

It is important for women to prepare for birth for several reasons. First, it is so important for the baby to be properly cared for as he/she is growing inside the womb. So it is imperative the mother knows what to be eating and the impact of her diet and exercise. Also, it's important for the expectant mother to be prepared before she goes into labor so she has an idea of what to expect and have a birth plan in place, even if it all doesn't go as expected~she can be aware of potential complications and learn to advocate for herself and the baby so as not to give complete and total control to the physician and hospital protocols.

What does good birth consumerism mean?

Good birth consumerism means that you are researching your options, i.e. meeting with doctors and reviewing your birth plan to see if there is a good fit and researching hospitals to see what fits your needs the best.

Please tell us your impression of your training.

The AMANI training was so valuable, it gave me a lot of knowledge and insight into labor and delivery and how to prepare for it. It also gave me a lot of information about natural child birth. Prior to the class, I really believed women needed drugs or an epidural to get through child birth. I now have a different understanding! I really appreciated the training course as well.