Category Archives: doula work

biz

Posted in doula work by

bidnessi worked on some self-made business cards yesterday. i’m hoping to get some spread out around town this weekend. building a doula business is different than building other clientele. I’m not pitching, say, “let me work on your website” or “yeah, i can do your taxes. getcha bigger refund too!”  i’m saying “yeah, i totally want to see you push something out of your yoni” which can be a bit awkward. not for me because i have very few social boundaries but i’m sure it’s a bit squirmy for mommas to be looking at my face and saying “is this the lady i want to see my lady bits stretch open roughly the size of a large grapefruit?”

i’ve strayed off topic a bit because really what i wanted to say was:

look at what i made! aren’t they cute???

ps. and the answer is yes. i am the lady you want to see your lady bits all stretched out. love you. mean it.

winningz

Posted in doula work, giveaway by

managrabbag

midwife bag

my MANA prize package came yesterday. Woot Woot! lots of good stuff in there that made me very stoked. I’m looking forward to adding some of these to my doula bag. i haven’t watched Penny Simkin’s Comfort Measures for Childbirth since my training weekend so i’ve got some new and old study materials to visit. I’m very thankful to MANA for holding such a great giveaway and thankful to the universe that i was the recipient.

lucky

Posted in doula work by

there are days, even on the heels of a great birth and a fantabulous prenatal sesh, that i question my calling to birth work.

yesterday i was sending up little conversations to the cosmos asking for guidance and some reassurance that i’m on the right path. lo and behold, i received a notification that i was the winner of a national contest from The Midwives Alliance of North America for their Doula Love package. i am so pumped!

and immediately after i received a message requesting an interview for services next year.

thank you, universe, HP, and MANA. i am feeling like one lucky lady today. sharing another one of these great vid-yos just to celebrate.

and this.

Posted in doula work by

dear santa,

please, please bring me this. i will wear it proudly around my neck while helping parents bring their babies into the world.

smiles.

pregnantbelly

i wasn’t going to do another post about an material item that i want but this is sort of a celebratory post. i just got to witness another amazing birth. and this time something just clicked. i’ve been grooving along on this path for a while but today pieces fell into place. momma’s got a whole new bag of tricks.

today is the day i became a doula.

hypnobabies

Posted in doula work by

when i did my DONA doula training my instructor spent a good bit of time speaking about Hypnobabies. i loved the idea of it then and have often thought i would seek Hypnobabies education for myself whenever wrucker #2 is on the way. through my involvement with Birthworkers of Central Ohio i have been able to meet and get to know a few Hypnobabies instructors, one being the sweet miss Maloree Munn. Maloree and her cutie pie son were kind enough to meet up with us for a play date and us mommas got to talk birth. i’ve asked Maloree to answer a few questions about the Hypnobabies program.

ladies gestating babies take note. enter Ms. Munn:

1) can you sum up in 3 sentences or less the essence of hypnobabies?

Oh boy! Ok, Hypnobabies is a COMPLETE childbirth course that also teaches moms to use Hypnosis during their birthing time. Our moms are able to walk, talk, change position and move around during their labor by using our Eyes Open Childbirth Hypnosis. Our Hypno-moms and their birth partner also learn four other hypnosis techniques, which enables the mom to enter hypnosis easily and aids her in an easy, comfortable birth.

2) does hypnobabies differ from other childbirth prep courses? how so?

Yes, it sure does. The Hypnobabies course is very detailed. We teach our moms everything they need to know about natural childbirth, staying healthy and low risk, and how to incorporate hypnosis during their birthing time. Our “Eyes Open Childbirth Hypnosis” is completely unique to Hypnobabies, and is a very popular reason why people choose Hypnobabies. We are the only course that teaches this technique of Hypnosis, which allows our moms to remain comfortable and completely anesthetized while being mobile in their birthing time. One of the most powerful things that our course does for moms is eliminate fear that is associated with pregnancy and birth. We do this by literally re-programming the mom’s brain through Hypnosis CDs, Hypnosis scripts, and their “Daily Pregnancy Affirmations” CD which provide positive suggestions to the mothers about their pregnancy and birth. We also have changed many of the traditional words used in childbirth classes and birth to more positive words. Our classes are taught in a very positive way. And our moms also are taught to have a “Protective Bubble of Peace” which ensures their mind will only accept the positive views on pregnancy and birth.

3) what is your own personal experience with hypnobabies?

When I was pregnant with my son I came across a forum on babycenter.com that was titled “Hypnosis for Childbirth”. I was completely freaked out by the thought of people being Hypnotized to have babies but I was also intrigued. I started reading the posts in this forum. I read comments like “un-medicated and pain free birth”, “30 hours of labor that felt like 10 hours”, “5 hour labor for a first time mom” “really comfortable birth without an epidural.” After hours of reading birth stories and watching Hypnobabies birth videos I knew this was something I had to do. I started the Hypnobabies course when I was 20 weeks pregnant and it was amazing how different my pregnancy was from 20 weeks and on. The second half of my pregnancy was much more positive, I was much more in-tune
with my body and baby, and I just felt better. My confidence level was so much higher when it came to natural childbirth. And I was able to make some really tough decisions at the end of my pregnancy. When my birthing time started I was so calm and relaxed and I knew just what I needed to do. My “pressure waves” really did only feel like pressure. And I was so comfortable the whole time. My husband/birth partner was such a great support and was very involved as well. After 7 hours, and 25 minutes of pushing, I was able to meet the sweetest baby boy that has ever entered my life. My midwife had never seen a first time mom be so calm and relaxed before. She had many questions for me over the next couple of days.

Because my birth experience was so relaxed and peaceful, I am able to remember it so clearly. Once I had my Hypnobabies experience, I had to recommend it to every pregnant woman I came in contact with. Which led me to become an instructor. And it really is the best feeling to be teaching other women how to give birth peacefully. I just love it.

4) what is your most important piece of advice for expecting moms?

Well, I will tell you what I always tell expectant moms: Please look into Hypnobabies if you plan to have a natural birth. It is amazing how peaceful and comfortable your birth can be. And please don’t let anyone tell you how your pregnancy and birth will be for you. Not all moms experience morning sickness, not all moms are miserable their last month of pregnancy, not all moms experience pain or discomfort in their birthing time. Every woman and her body and baby are so different, and your pregnancy and birth can be positive!

I look forward to learning more from Maloree this coming year. If you’re in the Columbus, OH area and are looking for a childbirth education class please consider Hypnobabies education with Maloree! Her information can be found at her page Special Deliveries.

“like a bull”

Posted in doula work by

i’m boning up on some of my childbirth and labor support material for the birth coming up in just a few weeks. i wanted to share this short passage from Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth:

Barbara’s Reflections by Barbara Wolcott

I guess the most important thing I figured out was that your attitude and how you approach your birth is of utmost importance. In other words, it is important to face each birth like a bull, with full force, no fear or hesitation, with the attitude that you can do this and you aren’t going to hold back. This is your opportunity to remember your power as a woman, inhibitions not allowed. Those contractions are power surges, and each one gets the baby closer to birth. Your baby feels your strength and also your fears. The midwives helped me so much with this and kept reminding me of my strength.

sibling participation

Posted in doula work by

in my pursuit of doulaship, i’ve watched my fair share of birth footage and i’ve been drawn to the pictures and footage of older siblings present at the birth of their youngers.

this ideal appeals to me and while i don’t know how realistic it will be for our family in the future, it’s an option that i’d like to explore further.

usually in these online examples the elder siblings are only a few years older than the newest member of the family. i think this is great because it provides an example of normal birth for children at a young age.

but i had a chance to witness sibling involvement with a greater age difference. i was honored to share the support space with a teenage girl as she attended her mother’s labor and birthing. i can’t help but think about how wonderfully impactful that experience would be to a young female.

i’ve thought about my own theoretical future births and the idea of having a friend who hasn’t yet experienced birth be a part of my support team – no one specific picked out – so that the female gets to experience what birth can be like as an observer.

i feel like this kind of involvement, such as that of the girl attending her mother, is a step in mending the fabric of community around birth. birth used to be much more communal. women would have helped with or at least witnessed births before coming to their own time. they would have come to their labors with a knowledge base instead of the current status of most first time mothers – having seen one birth video somewhere in school and all other labor and birth input is from melodramatic television programming.

i was so impressed with the maturity and willingness to tend and care from this young woman. it felt very appropriate to have her presence there. i think some of these young women can handle it. i think it’s possible that it might be a necessary missing piece to our birth structure.

it’s something to think about – involving our children and young females in the birth experience. i’m not 100% sure but i’m willing to discuss it.

what do you think?

birth matterz

Posted in doula work by

i’m helping another wonderful mama and papa bring their little one into the world today. I’m feeling so incredibly thankful and excited.

in honor of this event, i wanted to share a few birth related items i’ve come across this week.

I found two interesting articles on Marvelous Kiddo:

the first is an article from science daily about new research findings in regards to limits of gestation length in humans. it’s long been theorized that cephalo-pelvic relations (i.e. baby’s head size in comparison to mom’s pelvis) contributed to the end of the mother’s pregnancy term. new evidence shows the end of gestation has more to do with metabolic rate. full article here.

the second article is about Oxytocin. Oxytocin is a delightful hormone that plays a big part in labor and birth, and a whole lot more in life for that matter. Oxytocin stimulates uterine contractions. It also helps mom get an endorphin rush post contraction helping mom cope with labor pain AND oxytocin helps establish momma + baby bond immediately after birth. what a wonderful little hormone! Pitocin is the synthetic form of oxytocin that is sometimes administered during labor to start and/or strengthen contractions. Beware – evidence shows the brain doesn’t react to pitocin the same way as oxytocin naturally occurring in the body. mom may not get the beneficial endorphin rush post contraction and it can make contractions longer and stronger than would be in natural labor. full article here.

and i saved my favorite for last. I snagged this study summary from Mary Catherine Hamelin Birth + Family Arts. The study shows evidence that 100% of women benefit from supported birth:

Overall, women who received continuous labor support were less likely to experience:
•    Epidural or other regional analgesia •    Any analgesia/anesthesia, including epidurals and opioids •    Birth with vacuum extraction or forceps •    Birth by cesarean •    Dissatisfaction or a negative rating of their experience. The authors concluded that all women should have support throughout labor and birth.

the last two lines are the most important. it doesn’t matter your chosen method of birthing your baby, it matters how satisfied you are with your experience. doulas help give mom the optimal emotional support to compliment their optimal medical support. think of what our maternity care system could be like if we had a doula for every mother.

this article is from the site childbirthconnection.org. this site is packed full of information. any expecting parents should check it out!

hope you enjoyed this influx of birth information. looking forward to sharing more info and experience as time goes on.

the wonderful story of how you were born

Posted in doula work, parenting apparently? by

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last weekend i was perusing in a used bookstore and i came across the most amazing vintage book geared toward explaining procreation. it’s everything i’ve been looking for in an appropriate explanation of sex, procreation, birth and nursing….and it was written in 1952.

The Wonderful Story of How You Were Born is a pretty fantastic resource by Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg. Besides the fact that it’s a lovely little vintage book with great illustrations and fun to look at, it’s very matter of fact about procreation for all life on earth. Gruenberg doesn’t shy away from using medical terms- seeing the word vagina in a 50s children’s book is pretty cool- but explains them in tangible terms. i feel the book is very respectful to the Creator without being overtly religious. it even explains genes in a way a small child could understand.

i’ve started reading some parts of it to darla but mostly i’ve been reading and re-reading as a way of internalizing the way the author explains the birds and the bees so i have some good material for when the off the cuff conversations come about.

if any of you parents are looking for a good resource i suggest getting a copy of The Wonderful Story of How You Were Born. an updated version from 1971 is also available but the 50s version is much prettier.

oh and i also found a book about Gnomes that i’ve been coveting for a long time. it actually does cover gnome procreation…and a little book of western songs. it was a good day at the bookstore.

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