childbirth education
What to Expect When Your Baby Is Not Who You Expected Him to Be: 5 Strategies for Parenting a High Needs Baby
You can never be quite sure of who this tiny human is going to be after he or she emerges from your womb. We often expect an image like this one (Artist: Brenda Burke). Mom and baby awash in the sweetness of new motherhood. You picture the days snuggling away in quiet and coos, with only occasional crying.…
Read MoreSo It Begins.
In November, The North American Registry of Midwives accepted my application into the PEP program. That should really have about eleventy-one exclamation points behind it. After all, it is the ripening of a long-blossoming fruit. The result of a dream hatched over seven years ago, when my youngest was just a baby. I called the…
Read MoreA Weighty Responsibility
Finishing up a class is always bittersweet, triggering a time of self-evaluation, reflection, and a desire to do better next time. Childbirth education is not a job where I can just show up, punch a card, and go home. It is filled with challenges as unique as each student who walks through the door. Each…
Read More7 Symptoms Every Pregnant Woman Should Know
Pregnancy is weird. There is no denying that. It often comes with all kinds of odd symptoms as the hormones of pregnancy do not limit their effect to the uterus and growing baby. Everything from morning sickness to hemorrhoids to indigestion can be a normal part of pregnancy. These things are not often a cause…
Read MoreChildbirth Education Myths 1
Over the next several weeks, Team Preparing for Birth will be debunking some common myths surrounding childbirth education classes. Check back every Monday to see the newest post. MYTH #1: “I’m having a homebirth, and my midwife will do all my education.” Home birth families often see childbirth classes as an…
Read MoreDad Matters – A doula’s perspective
Many men in our culture are fairly apprehensive about birth. Most have never seen a real birth, or talked about it outside of sex ed. They are often nervous about birth itself, seeing their partner in pain, the what-ifs, and all that may come after. They doubt their ability to support their partner in her…
Read MoreWhat You Need to Know About Birth Plans
As a doula, I require all of my clients to put together a birth plan, discuss it with their care provider, and to provide me a hard copy. I make very few exceptions to this requirement. I believe firmly that a birth plan is a critical piece of the puzzle in good perinatal care. As…
Read MoreReally?! Fear Slows Down Labor?!
It’s been awhile, birthy world! Thank you for your patience. I’ve had quite the interesting summer so far, how about you? Anyway. Today’s post. Go ahead and go read this short article before you proceed here: Fear Makes Labor Longer, Study Finds. So, they’ve “discovered” that fear slows down labor. Really? This is something women…
Read MoreIntangible Reasons
My husband and I watched “Away We Go” last night. It’s a movie about a pregnant couple’s quest to find the place where they want to give birth and raise their baby. Along the way, they meet up with a lot of old connections to try and get a feel for where they belong. During…
Read MoreDo Moms Planning an Epidural Need a Doula?
This question was posed on her facebook wall by my mentor, Desirre Andrews. I appreciate the thought that her questions provoke, and the way she challenges me to dig a little deeper and search out what my answer would be to this question. I think, overall, there is an assumption in our country that an…
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