Enneagram + Birth | Type 1

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1: THE REFORMER

“The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic.”

“Ones are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards, but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with resentment and impatience. At their Best: wise, discerning, realistic, and noble. Can be morally heroic.

INSIGHTS:

• Ones can be perfectionists and planners. If that is true for you, try to work through your urge to plan everything. I personally do advocate for having a birth plan, but it may be in your best interest to call it a “birth wish list” or “birth goals” as opposed to calling it a “plan.” That way, you have an understanding that things may have to happen differently.

• Because ones have a strong sense of right and wrong, you may be inclined to think that whatever way you choose to birth is the RIGHT way. Be open to listening to other’s experiences and let yourself learn from others. There’s no right way to give birth.

• It may be difficult for a one to trust their intuition or “gut” when faced with statistics or figures, even if they are given without full context (i.e. “X intervention is needed because going past your due date makes you twice as likely to…” even when the numbers are 0.1% and .2%)

HOMEWORK:

• Take a moment to go through your birth plan step by step and imagine what would happen if something changed. How would you feel? What can you do to help prepare yourself for that possibility?

• Talk to your birth team about your enneagram number and what that means for you. Ones go to Fours in times of stress (ahem, labor) so you may find yourself reacting to changes in a “moody or irrational” way and your birth team should be prepared.

• If you’re dealing with an urge to “over plan” your birth, try to put that energy into making a plan for how your partner can support you. Work on specific phrases or tools you can use together. 

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