Why would anyone want to, need to, or consider taking a Brio Birth class?

Pregnancy comes with so many questions. It is a unique time in life where most of us feel very unsure, and every new thing can feel unfamiliar. We may have a list of items to talk with our midwife or doctor about but at the same time we are wanting more information. And we want it now. Brio Birth classes give you the information you need for your pregnancy as well as thorough preparation for giving birth and entering the new mother period with confidence and excitement.

So what is Brio all about?

We recognize that when we talk about "birth experience" there is more than just physical safety -- the emotional comfort and overall satisfaction of a woman in labor is critical to bonding and the relationships between all involved in the birth experience. We want to help the birth experiences to be not just safe, but also amazing.

So how do we measure success?

How do we know when we have achieved success? This is the most difficult question for any organization, and it is not the asking of the question that is that hard part. What can we look at to identify whether or not what we are teaching is making an impact?

We need to be able to quantify our success, and identify what is not working. There are two ways to do this, through data and through measuring satisfaction:

Measuring Success Through Data

When we talk about data, know that we do not measure success by how how many people we reach, by how vast our influence is and certainly not by how much money we make. We know that by reaching and influencing mothers, fathers, partners, and families we can begin to make an amazing impact.

In order to do this, we need to pursue a strong financial foundation to be able to spread the word about childbirth education and even help those who could not otherwise afford the services provided by Brio Birth. These things are essential to accomplishing our goals of a safer, more empowered birth environment for mothers and babies, but these are not easily measurable. For this reason we have broken down the issues surrounding birth to three statistically measurable areas of focus:

1. Birth Mortality Rates
2. Cesarean Section Rates
3. Breastfeeding Initiation Rates

Measuring Success Through Satisfaction

When we look at satisfaction, we are looking at a very fluid definition. Satisfaction is different for each one of us, it is based on our understanding and desires. If we don't know we're missing something, we are usually not upset if we don't get it.

When we measure success we have to measure understanding, knowledge, desires and finally the experience itself. When we do get this kind of feedback, it is difficult to compare as we do data, so we need to identify what most have in common and then try and make the changes that will improve those situations.

Our BHAG or Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal:

While our sights are set on seeing the Birth Mortality, cesarean and breastfeeding rates all be affected for the better, we decided to also come up with a goal that was so big, and so amazing that almost felt unattainable. We realized that the safety of the growing family is really paramount and it’s the mothers and babies that are unnecessarily losing their lives that drive us to accomplish our goals as quickly as possible.

So we quantified what we would love to see happen and determined that our BHAG is to help save one million lives that would have otherwise been lost during the childbearing year. We do not have a time frame on this and also see that much of the realization of this goal will come from working in underprivileged and third world countries. But if we could set our sights as high as we can imagine, this is where we found our focus.

With these areas in mind we have the following mission:

"Brio Birth exists to research, develop and provide revolutionary education to enhance life throughout the childbearing year, inspiring the best beginning for every new life."

So how do we hope to accomplish our goals of improving the cesarean rate, the drop in Birth Mortality rates while seeing an increase in breastfeeding initiation and overall satisfaction in the birth experience?

If we hope to ever make this kind of impact, we must first focus on education. Not just educating the general public but we need to work together with the entire birthing world to find ways to accomplish these goals. Brio Birth cannot do it alone.

We are starting right now with the education of the family -- of these incredible mothers, fathers, and partners who are all on this journey together. We are also focusing on their entire support structure, the doctors, nurses, midwives, doulas, and even the families that are supporting the birth experience. This educational process is the beginning. We need to be able to help get the right information into the right hands at the right times.

When we talk about how important childbirth education is, we often think of a recent popular ad campaign for a credit card company:

"You spend more than a decade (up to 16+ years) in school learning how to be a grown-up. A few hard months (sometimes years) searching, interviewing and sucking up to get the right job.

You then take however long it takes to fall in love, and then at least 6 more months and thousands of dollars to plan the wedding. Some time later you find out you will soon have a new bundle of joy and...

Then, with Brio Birth, you spend the next few months preparing to bring that new little life into the world, safely, calmly and with all the support you need.

So why should you take a Brio Birth class? Because the results are priceless.

So learn more about how our Brio Birth classes work, and find out just how amazing your birth can be!