All the doctors appointments and even the hospital-provided childbirth education often leave families feeling inadequately prepared for what’s to come. Many parents-to-be feel like they don’t even know what they don’t know or where to turn for support. Everyone wants to have a great birth experience and go home with a healthy baby and live happily ever after, but most aren’t sure how to get there.

That was me and my partner in 2012. Expecting our first child, we took a childbirth class at our local hospital and actually left there feeling more uneasy and unprepared than we were going into it. The class was boring and left us with more questions than answers. I read a couple of random childbirth books and figured that would be enough, but boy, was I wrong. Nothing about my labor or birth went according to plan. A couple days later, we were sent home with our new baby, still whirling from a somewhat traumatic birth experience, and before long, my partner and I felt like we were drowning.

We were both exhausted, spread thin, at each other’s throats, just trying to survive each long night. I felt blindsided. Not only were we not prepared for birth, but why had no one had warned us about all the challenges you can face postpartum? Isn't the whole point of prenatal education to help people know what to expect and what resources are available to them? And worst of all, I was so overwhelmed in that first week home that I felt unable to fully enjoy my first days with our brand new baby. I would give anything for a do-over of those days, knowing what I know now.