#16: Informed choice, consent, and taking responsibility for your birth - with midwife Silja Seppänen Birthing in Finland

In today's episode I’m bringing you my conversation with Silja Seppänen, a midwife and childbirth educator. Silja discovered her passion for midwifery when she was just 9 years old and living in Kenya with her family. Our conversation today will take a deeper look into the topic of informed choice and informed consent of the birther and everything that comes with that. We spoke about informed choice as the building block for a positive birth experience, the difference between informed choice and consent, navigating risks and doing risk assessment in birth, as well as the relationship between informed choice and taking ownership or responsibility over your birth. We also talked about what you can do to make sure there is informed choice and consent at your birth, the partner’s role at being the gatekeeper of informed choice, and the midwife’s role in giving informed choice and asking for consent. Silja shared a great acronym which will help you make informed choices in the moment you are presented with options, the difference between planning for birth and preparing for birth, and why a seagull pooping on your windshield has everything to do with preparing for labor. This is a fantastic episode filled with so many gems and eye opening topics.

Show notes: 

Silja's website 

Evidence Based Birth website 

The evidence on Strep B