Preparing For Birth

With the majority of women heading to the hospital to birth their babies, planning for the impending birth has become an important aspect of preparation in the United States (though the percentage of out of hospital births is rising).  Standardized, highly medicalized, non-individualized perinatal and postpartum care has really led the way to this being [...]

I am looking for some short video clips or pictures of pairs (couples or labor support pairing) to use in my in progress on-line childbirth class series. General, activities or positions needed: Birth ball use Knee-chest Squatting Hands and knees (modified and traditional) Belly lift Rebozo use Slow dancing Labor walking Swaying Leaning Birth stool [...]

Women often ask me what does pushing feel like. As an educator and doula it is probably one of the more challenging concepts to address. Some of the imagery can be quite vulgar.  “Push like you are pooping.” Do women REALLY want the image of pooping out their babies?! Or the imagery puts pushing in [...]

This is a personal post written 10 years to the day of my third son being born. I was also birthed that day into my fullness of voice as a woman and as a full throated advocate for mothers and babies.  You see my son was a CBAC (cesarean birth after cesarean) after a failed [...]

Building a labor support team is a vital piece of conscious preparation during pregnancy in preparation for birth and life with the very newborn. Today as part of that support team many women are opting to hire a labor doula to come alongside them at the end of pregnancy through labor and delivery with some [...]

In westernized countries, television and the internet have almost completely replaced the generational teaching and learning found in the “circles” of the past. Women would gather over sewing, quilting, canning, and life events including pregnancy and childbirth. They offered support, told their stories, spoke of family life, shared their everyday knowledge, wisdom and expertise while [...]

Many times over I have heard something similar to “If only my insurance would cover the childbirth class, doula, that provider or birth location. Then I could have the birth I really want for me and my baby.” That statement sadly says to me that women are settling for a provider, birth location, type of [...]

There is much awareness and conversation of what the routine interventions are that can occur during the labor and birth process within the hospital environment.  These interventions can include induction, augmentation with Pitocin, epidural, or cesarean. In all my professional and personal roles, I am privy to a great amount of pregnancy and birth stories. [...]

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Many years ago I wrote this piece after attending my very first ICAN conference in San Diego in 2005. I read this and part of me weeps for her, for the me I was and for the women who are becoming part of this sisterhood willingly, wittingly or not.  My pain has been transformed into [...]