Use your BRAIN.

I'm usually not one for acronyms or those cute little poems that we once made in elementary school where you chose a word and create a poem using each letter of that word. What's that called? (I legit had to take a second and look this up). An acrostic poem. That's it! Buuuut no thanks. It's just never been my kinda thing.

BUT then I learned about the BRAIN acronym for decision-making.

Game changer.

Using your BRAIN to make decisions during pregnancy, labor, the newborn stage and just life in general, can be SO beneficial. I've seen it work AND I've used this tactic myself. The best thing about it (in my opinion) is that it causes you to pause and think through a decision, rather than acting in the moment or making a choice based solely on emotion. Slowing down isn't always a bad thing and that's part of what I like about this technique.

Use this when you're faced with a dilemma or making a decision. Let me lay it out for you...

B - What are the BENEFITS?

R - What are the RISKS?

A - What are the ALTERNATIVES?

I - What is my INTUITION telling me?

N - What happens if we do NOTHING? (or NOT NOW)

When faced with a decision, what if instead of putting pressure on ourselves to act quickly and be decisive in that exact moment, we took a pause and worked through it? What if we got the answers we needed to be fully informed and make a well-rounded, educated decision?

I have reason to believe we would end up feeling more confident, educated and empowered to move forward in whatever direction we choose. And this, my friends, is what I'm all about.

Peace and love,

Your doula friend,

Nicole