Birth Professional
5 Reasons Your Midwife Wants You to Hire a Doula
Not only does evidence tell us a doula can have measurable benefits for both mothers and their babies, but their intangible benefits are also felt every day by those who hire them for their expert support. Doulas are fast becoming standard-of-care, as they should. Women have always surrounded women in their childbearing year, from girlhood…
Read MoreDoulas and Home Birth
Is there benefit to hiring a doula for a home birth? I say YES absolutely. An oldie but a goodie, from Desirre, in honor of International Doula Month. As a seasoned doula who has attended home births as labor support and now an intern midwife who clinically supports the mother, I believe that many women…
Read MoreA Guide to Finding Your Doula
Building a labor support team is part of conscious preparation during pregnancy for your labor, birth and life with the very newborn. Hiring a labor doula continues to gain in popularity for the expecting family. Your doula comes alongside you in pregnancy through labor and delivery with some additional early postpartum follow-up. For additional after…
Read MorePicking Your Care Provider – Interview Questions
Being an active participant in your pregnancy and birth journey begins with choosing your provider. You can begin the search for the right provider fit prior to becoming pregnant, in early pregnancy or anytime before your baby is born. So much of how your pregnancy and birth unfold are directly related to your care provider…
Read MoreWhat’s in the job?
I wonder if most of us really know what the scopes of practice are for the providers we may choose for pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and for the baby. Keep reading to see if you really know what the jobs encompass. As you go through the list I would like you to…
Read MoreCreating a relationship 10 minutes at a time
It has occurred to me through my time with doula clients and students, that many care providers serving hospital birthing mothers do not ask any questions of their pregnant patients during the 7-10 minute prenatal visits that lead to a substantive working relationship. I have also learned that too often the pregnant “patient” does not…
Read MorePosptartum and the Great Abyss
The postpartum period is a critical time for the health, attachment and emotional adjustment for both mother and baby. It has become the expected norm that women are left with very little medical or care provider support/assistance in handling the many norms, transitions and stumbling blocks that present in the first 6 weeks postpartum with…
Read MoreGrateful For My Birth(s) Carnival
I am so thankful to all of the submissions I received for this Why I am Grateful for my Birth(s) blog carnival. I have found no matter what a woman can learn something and be grateful for something in every birth experience no matter how difficult or wonderful. Enjoy these quips and please go to…
Read MoreWhy Childbirth Education?
I sit here and ponder Why childbirth education is important?. I am an educator because I think it can be a vital piece to the preparation puzzle prior to welcoming a baby. I use the word “can” versus “is” due to the fact that all educational offerings are not created equally. It is known that…
Read MoreChoosing Your Childbirth Class
Being a childbirth (perinatal) educator is a position that affords great opportunity to positively influence women in the childbearing year and far beyond. It is also a great responsibility that ought include: self-assessment, continuing education, evidence-based curriculum, the ability inform with discernment and the willingness not to teach a good patient course. With all of…
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