Dr. Jillian Doyle:

I suppose in talking about control, it is so important that we give women as much control and empower them as much as we can whatever sort of birth they will move towards. Oftentimes if I am talking to a woman about the kind of birth she wants to have, we try to explore why she wants that type of birth. Often a women will go in wanting one type of birth and will end up having a very different sort of experience. It is to try to explore how she feels in control, how we can help her to have the best experience she can have and be as supportive as possible in doing that and how we can help staff guide her through that. There is a really important piece around helping staff move towards trauma-informed care and making sure women understand what is happening, making sure women can give consent and that it is not rushed and making sure there is time and support and that afterwards there is time to reflect on what happened and to integrate it.