Nearly 4 million babies are born each year in the United States, with statistics showing a slight decline in births in 2021 to 3.7 million. Currently, the majority of births (98.4%) happen in hospital settings (1). Before the pandemic, one-quarter to one-third of birthing parents reported their births as traumatic (2). The US has the […]
I attended my first birth as a doula almost 27 years ago – a 16 year-old African American girl living at St. Anne’s Maternity Home. She was tough as nails, and would jump up and pace back and forth during each contraction, then rush to the bed to lay down in between. She didn’t need
PREPARING FOR BIRTH Read Post »
The profoundly wise and groundbreaking contributions of these pioneers in the field of childbirth have given women in the 20th and 21st century immeasurable wisdom about the challenges, realities, and deep truths of this experience. Their core concepts have informed my own teaching, as well as all professionals in the field of childbirth education, labor
HOMAGE TO BIRTH LUMINARIES Read Post »
This article describes many helpful ways to utilize positions while laboring with an epidural. We usually think that if you have an epidural, you can’t move. The optimal physiology for birth is when women are up and moving about, following their bodies’ signals, and helping their babies navigate their way through the pelvis. When women
OPTIMIZING LABOR POSITIONS WITH AN EPIDURAL Read Post »
Edited from June 2021 Interview of CNM Stephanie Tillman https://evidencebasedbirth.com/ Founder Rebecca Dekker, PhD, RN and Henci Goer, Researcher, Childbirth U. Since the 2018 ARRIVE study, many care providers and the media are telling women that 39-40 week induction is better than waiting for labor to begin on its own, that it improves outcomes and
LABOR INDUCTION TREND Read Post »
Foreword It has been more than two decades since the World Health Organization (WHO) issued technical guidance dedicated to the care of healthy pregnant women and their babies – Care in normal birth: a practical guide. The global landscape for maternity services, pregnancy classes, and birthing classes has changed considerably since that guidance was issued.
TO THE BRAND NEW MOTHER: 1. Nurse the baby in the LDR room or Recovery Room. 2. Keep baby close to ensure unsupplemented feedings every 2-3 hours for at least 20-30 minutes per feeding if the baby is willing (newborns can be sleepy and may not get into it for a few days. 3. Avoid
Breastfeeding Basics Read Post »
“Being clear about what it is that we fear is as important as determining the difference between reasonable risk and unreasonable risk….We must decide not only what we are frightened of but what the probability of that particular outcome is. We must learn to adjust our risks (of which there are many in life) by
Out-of-hospital birth: “What if something goes wrong?” Read Post »
