Butterfly Kisses

I believe in total transparancy in my work and I believe as such it is my responsibility to share the statistics of my clients with you.

Bradley Clients Stats

Percentage of vaginal births 82%

Of these percentage of with no analgesia or anesthesia dring labor 86%

Percentage of vaginal births that were inductions/augmentations 19%

Percentage of cesarean births 18%

Percentage of cesarean births that were inductions/augmentations 75%

Total of successful VBACs following a trial of labor 75%

Assisted delivery 0%

Total of successful VBA2Cs following a trial of labor 100%

Doula statistics for 2011

Percentage of vaginal births 100%

Of these percentage of with no analgesia or anesthesia during labor 75%

Percentage of inductions/augmentations 18%

Percentage of cesarean births 0%

Total of successful VBACs following a trial of labor 100%

Assisted delivery 12%

Total of successful VBA2Cs following a trial of labor 100%

Fun facts about Doula babies

54% girls

Biggest baby 10 pounds 7 oz

Smallest baby 5 pounds 3 oz

One baby with short NICU stay

Babies born at Bergen Mercy, UNMC, Bellevue Medical and Home Births

When Heather Ramsey, CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) called me a few weeks ago with her news I didn't even believe it at first. She had given her 90 day notice to the University of Nebraska system and was teaming up with one of my personal favorite doctors to open a birth center here in my own city, Bellevue Nebraska. It seemed like a dream. Just a few months back I had been telling one of my doula clients and friends that it would be my biggest dream come true if Heather and this doctor went into business together.

I quickly checked my calendar and saw it was not indeed April Fools Day and the more I talked to her, the more I started to believe her! It was set to open sometime in 2011, if all went well, summer time! We talked for quite some time about various ideas and my excitement just grew and grew.

Over the next few weeks I became more and more excited and it was so difficult to quell it! I wanted to shout this wonderful news from the roof tops! I managed to somehow keep it under wraps until after I met with Heather again today.

We met to discuss many things, including bringing Brio Birth classes into her facility. We also talked about the variety of support groups that I can lead there as a counselor and birth professional as well as some really big plans for down the road as the business grows and grows. I left the meeting feeling like I was on the top of the world and am just so excited for the women and babies of Nebraska and Eastern Iowa. Finally we have a birth center of our own!!

Would you like a sneak peak of the new Birth Center's Website? It is still a work in progress but it has a great deal of basic information on it! http://bellevuebirthcenter.webs.com/

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...

As I reach the end of my first full year in business I want to reflect on all the amazing beautiful births I have had the priviledge to be a part of. This year took me in directions that I never imagined that I would go and to places I never dreamed I would be fortunate enough to see. I wanted to share with you all my official birth statistics as a Natural Childbirth Educator as well as a doula. Granted I can't take credit for all my positive outcomes, I worked with some pretty amazing couples.  I also can't take all the criticism for outcomes that weren't the way my couples had hoped, some times there are just some circumstances out of anyone's control. That being said I do believe statistics can give you a glimpse into a person's practice. This year I am very proud of my statistics and I can only hope that future years will continue to hold as strong.

Childbirth Education Stats 2010

Total vaginal births: 87%

Of those percentage unmedicated: 96%

Percentage of cesarean births: 13%

Total percentage of successful VBACs 90%

Doula Stats 2010

Percentage of vaginal births: 92%

Of these percentage of unmedicated births: 91%

Percentage of inductions/augmentations 16%

Percentage of cesarean births:  8%

Total percentage of successful VBACs 100%

Fun Facts about my Doula Babies

Girls 83% Boys 17%

Biggest baby 10 pounds 14 ounces

Smallest baby 4 pounds 3 ounces

One baby short NICU stay

Babies were born in every hospital in Omaha except for Immanuel

“You want to hire a do-what-a?” I still remember my husband rolling his eyes at me the first time I mentioned hiring a doula. He thought I was crazy and the topic was tabled for a few weeks. Then we began taking our childbirth classes. There was a doula in the class with us working on her certification. She explained what a doula did and I talked my reluctant husband into adding this third person into our equation.

Fast forward to birthing day. Our doula was amazing. She got the call around 1:30 am and was at the hospital before I was checked into my labor room. She supported my husband and I both. She made she he was taken care of so that he could provide support for me. She was another source of information for us and could be someone to remind us of what we learned in our childbirth classes as well as what our desires were. During pushing she helped to support my body physically as well as massaging out some horrible tension in my foot turning my contractions. When Becca was born they feared she had some meconium in her lungs so baby girl and my husband went into the next room for deep suctioning. If it weren’t for my doula I would have been left alone with some doctors and nurses I had never met before (my midwife hadn’t been paged until it was too late). During that time I was having some repair work done and couldn’t go with her. I was afraid for my daughter and sad that she wasn’t with me. This is where my doula really shined. She was right there, explaining everything that was going on. She helped me to find the strength to advocate for myself when I was too tired to remember my original desires. I know for certain that if we hadn’t hired a doula I would have had a very different birth experience.

After Becca was born I became a childbirth educator and eventually a doula myself. I often find a misconception in the public about what exactly a doula is and what she does for a laboring mother. I wanted to take a moment and explain this.

A doula is a textbook of information, a loving set of hands, an unwavering cheerleader, a sympathetic ear, a guide, an advocate, an expert in relaxation, really a walking heart that happens to have hands.

In your labor you need your ‘people’. The ones you know are the just to support you. They don’t have to worry about arbitrary rules, getting sued or time limits. They don’t have other patients to attend to. You are their only concern and their shift doesn’t end. Their only goal is for you to have the best possible birth experience for you and your baby. Within this goes without saying we want mom and baby to be as healthy as they can be.

So who are the best people to surround yourself with? You need to have people who care about you, are invested into your birth and who support your goals for your best birth. If you desire a natural birth having someone constantly telling you that you look like you are in so much pain and you need medication is not helpful. You need to have people who know your goals, support them, and will do everything in their power to help you achieve them.

This is where a doula comes in. One of the biggest misconceptions about doulas is that they are only for people wanting a natural childbirth. This is not true. While people desiring a natural childbirth are a big part of the client population they are by far not the only ones! It can be a long time between labor starting and the point at which an epidural can be administered depending on your situation! In other cases you may have wanted an epidural but there is a situation preventing one (low platelet level, not enough time) or maybe it just didn’t work! Having an expert in pain management techniques can be key. It can also be very hard to effectively push when medicated and a doula can help physically support you in a variety of pushing positions as well as offer alternative suggestions on ways in which you can push to move baby more effectively.

Another confusing point about doulas is how they are different from a certified nurse midwife. A midwife is your primary healthcare provider, you see her for all your medical needs. She will see you once a month for your prenatal care, she can write prescriptions for morning sickness medications as needed and with your nurse, handles all the clinical aspects of your birth. If there is a tear she will stitch it. She can also order an epidural or pitocin as you wish. Simply because you choose a midwife doesn’t mean you are locked into a natural childbirth. They see many women who desire a more medicalized approach.

A doula doesn’t do clinical tasks. She will not check your blood pressure, she will not check your cervix and she will not monitor fetal heart tones. She instead tells you what typical readings mean. She can assist you with managing the difficulty of a contraction while a blood pressure cuff is squeezing your arm. She can explain to you about cervical dilation, what a particular number means in relation to childbirth and more importantly what it doesn’t mean. She can help with positioning and hold the monitor in place so that the doctor or midwife can get an accurate reading and you don’t have to be tied to the bed. She can work with your healthcare provider to discover their goals for certain procedures and how they mesh with your desires and often times find middle ground. It has often been joked that doulas are so skilled at the art of careful negotiations that given the chance they could solve the war in the Middle East!

A lot of people fear that hiring a doula would be ‘weird’ or that they would replace your partner. This just isn’t true. It is a lot less weird having someone there for you who knows your goals and desires than it is to have some nurse you’ve never met before. It is not weird in the slightest when you get to know your doula in the same way that you get to know your healthcare provider. In fact most people report feeling more comfortable birthing in front of their doula because they knew she truly understood birth and she supported them without pause the entire time. As for replacing your partner, this would be impossible. There is never going to be a doula who knows you as well or loves you as much as your partner does. Period. A skilled doula knows how to support your partner in their goal of supporting you. It is not about replacing, it’s about enhancing.

We all know that the best weight loss programs are the ones where you have a solid source of support. The best fitness regimens are supplemented by a professional trainer/couch. In almost everything we want to do in life it is only enhanced with good support. This is even more so on the most important event of your life the birth of your child.

No matter what your idea is when you envision your childbirth a doula only can strengthen it.

What a beautiful and amazing baby girl you are. You are also so very very lucky to have a mom and dad who love you so very much.. I met your parents about 3 months before you were born and I wanted to tell you just how much your parents loved you before they even laid eyes on you. They did a lot of things to make sure you had the very best start in life. You were a little trickster as the time came closer and closer. You gave your parents a few tough times. They even went to the hospital because your mommy was bleeding and thought something might be wrong. The midwife couldn’t find anything wrong and suggested to your parents that since you were so close to your arrival date anyway that they could start labor with a pill the your mom and dad had learned about in class. Your mom and dad were so smart and strong. Although they were so very excited to meet you they held strong and told the midwife they wanted to wait until you decided it was time. This was hard for them to do, but they just knew it was in your best interest so they did it. Your mom and dad went home and tried to rest. For several days you would start contractions, making it tough for your parents to rest, but you still weren’t ready to really getlabor going yet.  Eventually things started to progress and your mommy and daddy decided it was time to head to the hospital. They were so tired! Shortly after they arrived they discovered that Kate, one of their favorite midwives was going to be working with them. What great news that was. Your mommy was having a great deal of back labor pain. Once Kate checked things out they quickly learned that you were ‘occiput posterior’ which meant your face was looking out  instead of looking at your mom’s spine. What this meant was a great deal of back pain during labor for your mom as well as a harder journey for you to get where you needed to be. The midwife suggested some ideas for your mom and dad to use to get you to turn. She suggested they go on the hospital staircase taking two stairs at a time, leaning into a deep lunge giving you room to turn the way you needed to turn. They went back to the room to rest for a bit.Your mom received sterile water injections to help relieve some of the pain.What an amazing difference this made! Your mom was finally able to rest for a short while. It was during this time your dad let me know what was going on and I was so excited to come up and assist your mom and dad as they worked together  to bring you to this world. When I first came in your mom was resting. When shewould have a contraction your dad would work with her through them. It was truly amazing to see how well they would work together. Your mom relaxing and breathing while your dad would massage and put counter pressure on her body.After a while your mom decided it was time to get to work again. We went back to the stairs. Your mom worked so hard at this! Your dad was also just amazing with his endless amounts of encouragement and support. Your mom would climb from the fourth floor to the eighth over and over again. I lost track of time during this phase, but I know she was at this for quite a long time. We went back to the room for your mom to get back on the birthing ball. Your dad was so kind and so loving to her during this. He would insist she drink some water or eat a small snack at every chance he got. They brought some energy drinks from home and these seemed to really help them both stay energetic and focused.Your mom would sit on the birthing ball, rotating her hips trying so very hard to get you to move into the right position and when a contraction would come she would complete melt against your dad. He was able to be her strength when she needed it the most.  Eventually Kate came to see if your mom had any luck getting you to move around. At this point you had moved a little but were still in the OP position. Your mom had some slight changed to her cervix, but not as much as the midwife had hoped for.Kate then decided to order some calcium to help rejuvenate the exhausted muscles. The days without sleep were really taking their toll. Then Kate came out into the stairs with us and goodness did she have your mom and dad working hard. Those contractions started to come one on top of another. Your mom was asight to behold. Your dad would hold her in his arms and they would slowly dance during the contractions. Softly moving together, working to bring you down a little lower with each one. The love your parents have for each other and for you was so strong that day; one couldn’t help but be moved by it. Time ticked on and eventually it was time for your mom to be checked again. It wasat this time Kate gently advised your mom and dad that it was time to start ani ntervention. Your parents were so educated about birth that this scared them.They knew that anytime you do something artificial in labor that there is a risk involved, however your mom’s energy clock was really starting to wind down. She was working so very hard the eventually her body was going to stop working and demand a rest. It was clear to your parents that something needed to change in order for you to be born. Your parents made a very informed choice to begin pitocin, a drug to make contractions stronger. One of the downsides of this medication is that it makes contractions significantly stronger and more painful. Most moms who are put on pitocin end up taking pain medication. Not your mom. She knew that it was so important not to have an epidural. She knew that it was risky for her labor and for your birth and despite the intensity of the pain, she knew how to handle it. It is in this moment that your parents bond truly took my breath away. Without a doubt your dad was such a source of support and love for your mom as she rode the waves of the contractions. It was just amazing. Your mom was on the pitocin for several hours working with the contractions, fighting her way to you. At one point Kate checked and you had moved! You were finally facing the right way! All that hard work your mom and dad had done was worth it.

It was around this time that your mom hit what we call transition. This is typically the time in labor when moms get really upset, panicked or even ready to give up. Not your mom. She was as cool as can be. She started to feel the urge to push but she wasn’t fully dilated yet so she had to work hard to move past that feeling. She  tried so many different positions to try to get you to keep moving down.There was no relaxing through this labor. Your mom was so hard at work, yet she did it with grace and style. Truly amazing. Your mom kept telling the midwifeit was time to push; yet she wasn’t yet dilated. Finally your mom was almost there. She pushed for a contraction then breathed through the next few. She was quickly able to finish dilating and then it was time! Your dad was doing such a great job of supporting her. He was holding her and loving her while she pushed you down. As you got closer I took your dad’s place at her side and he moved where he would be able to support her, yet be able to help catch you as you emerged. Finally we started to see your head emerging. Here you mom just knocked me over in amazement. You see you crowned for a very long time. Many other moms at this point would have pushed with all her might and hurt herself badly. Not your mom. She had the presence to go slow and easy. She could have demanded the midwife make a cut in order to open the area more, but your mom knew a natural tear was more beneficial. So she was calm, cool and collected and slowly with each push you worked your way out. Your mom pushed for over an hour. She looked in the mirror and saw your head. She was so determined. As exhausted as she was, she held on, working with you to give you the birth that you needed. Then with one last breath your mom pushed you into this world. Your daddy’s hands were the ones there to greetyou, the first person to touch you earth side. Your mom reached down and pulled you up. Your dad had tears in his eyes. It was truly one of the most amazing moments I have ever been a part of. Kate and the nurse worked to help you with your breathing. You however were exhausted after such a journey. You had breathed in a little meconium on your way out. The midwife did a quick APGAR evaluation and found your numbers to be a little on the low side. They paged in a few special nurses and took you to the next room to do some deep suctioning and make sure you were able to breath okay. Your daddy went in with you and took lots of pictures and then came back to tell your mom how wonderful you looked and how great you were doing. Your mom was catching her breath and having some repair work done by the midwife. Your dad came back out and said that the nurses wanted to know your name but your dad thought that your labor team deserved to know it first. They explained the meaning of your name. It was so beautiful. You came back to be with your mom for a few minutes. The nurses wanted to keep you for a couple of hours and your mom and dad really needed to sleep for a bit in order to be ready to be your parents!

Your parents were so excited they were to get to finally see you, touch you, and hold you. Theyare truly looking forward to spending a lifetime with you, teaching you about life and all it has to offer. You are so lucky to have such wonderful parents that love you this much already. You are a blessing to them as well. I wish you nothing but a happy, healthy, prosperous life. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to help your parents prepare for you and to be there on your very first birth day! 

As long as I can remember I always wanted to be a counselor. I remember watching "Growing Pains" as a child and thinking that what Dr. Seaver did had to be the coolest job on the planet. When I entered high school I learned of guidance counselors and I was hooked. Along the way I took many twist and turns but eventually decided to follow my original dream and return to graduate school to get my counseling degree. However I quickly learned to work in the schools you need to first be a teacher. So I obtained my teaching degree and taught for a couple of years while I earned my masters degree. I then had our twins and decided to stay home with them for a year so I could be a full time mom to them and finish my masters degree. This was no easy feat. Newborn twins were tough! A year later I returned to work part time to do my practicum and finish this dream, which I had been hard at work on for seven years. When I started finally working in the schools it was so great. I loved working with the students, the teachers and their families. I couldn't believe how amazing my dream job was. It was everything I had wanted and more. Yet something was still missing. I couldn't put my finger on it at the time. I was perfectly happy. During this year I learned I was expecting our daughter. I worked hard graduate in May instead of August like I had planned. I also started teaching a few graduate courses to supplement our income. As you probably already know during this pregnancy something changed. We knew we wanted a different birth for our daughter. We became an informed consumers and eventually had a natural childbirth.

To say our daughter's birth was life changing would truly be an understatement. I suddenly understood religious zealots who had 'seen the light'. Birth wasn't the way it was described on TV; it was something magical and amazing and I felt every should be get to have this experience. The pain in childbirth wasn't like the pain of a headache, a broken leg of really anything I had ever experienced before. With that one day the course of my entire life's work changed. I knew without a doubt I wanted to spend my life helping couples to experience what my husband I had experienced. During my maternity leave I took training to become a Bradley Childbirth Instructor and started teaching classes. Being a childbirth instructor felt like my calling in life.  I wanted to change the world with my birth work. My students quickly became friends and suddenly they were asking me to be their doula when it was time to give birth. I did some additional research, signed up for a doula training and got started!

Over the past few months my business has grown tremendously. I began to have requests for clients during the next school year. I couldn't decide what to do. I was worried about their labors starting while I was at work. I knew it was time to make a choice. Would I continue to be a school counselor, limiting my ability to be available for my doula clients or should I take a leap into this exciting but unknown territory? This was a tremendously scary idea. We recently bought a house and  depend on my income to make it work. How could we manage this? What if my business, like so many other businesses have, failed in this economy. Who would watch the kids when I went to births? So many questions, so many fears. My amazing husband and I would have endless conversations about it. He would encourage me to continue to reach for my dream, although of course he too was concerned. Eventually we closed our eyes,held hands and took that leap together.

My last day as a school counselor was last week. What a tremendously emotional day that was for me. I knew in my heart as I walked out those doors,that it was my last time as a school counselor. My life long dream was coming to an end. Of course I could return to it someday, but for some reason everything inside of me tells me I won't. Out on the horizon is something new. A new dream. The career I never knew that I always wanted. As time passes on it seems things are working out just fine. I wish you all the same. I am even starting to get full and having to refer clients who are due several months down the road. I am so blessed to get to have an amazing husband, family support and kick butt babysitter who all are willing to work to help make my calling a reality. Thank you all.

When I first heard from the laboring Mom and Dad it was around 9 in the evening. Dad told me that they had been having steady contractions for several hours. I was very excited for them, but I went to bed knowing that they would let me know if/when they needed help. I awoke around midnight to another message that there was a great deal of blood and the doctor was talking emergency cesarean with them. There was a fear that there was placenta previa or detachment. I held my breath for that entire next hour until I heard that things had checked out and the doctor was allowing them to continue laboring. I slept a restless sleep and checked in again in the morning. I was concerned about the large amount of bleeding Mom reported having. I was concerned that they had been at the hospital so long. In general I was very concerned about their labor. I took some deep breaths and prepared to meet my next series of Bradley students. All during class Mom and Dad were heavy on my mind. Class ended and I checked in with them again. The long labor was starting to take its toll on both of them so I loaded up Becca-boo and headed off to Grandma's house to drop her off with her brothers.

I arrived at the hospital around 2:30. Mom and Dad both looked exhausted. They had been laboring well over 24 hours at this time. They were going on little rest. She was given the green light to eat and drink, however she was exhausted so this was difficult for her to motivate herself to do. She however was such a rockstar that she did it inspite of how little she wanted to eat. I was surprised at how upbeat they were. The contractions were pretty close together and pretty intense but Mom and Dad were working together in perfect harmony. I was so impressed with just well she was relaxing through the contractions. I really would have thought they were totally painless by how amazingly well she was handling them.

During the first few hours we walked, talked, rested and just managed it. When a contraction came Mom would total melt into Dad and I would massage her sore spots and support them both. During this time Dad’s parents came up and brought the most beautiful flowers. They were clearly so excited and so very supportive! They didn’t stay long, just long enough to give their love and support. It was funny because it turned out that the nurse who had been supporting Mom and Dad all day long was a friend of Dad’s sister. She had even been in the sister’s wedding if I remember correctly. What a small world indeed. As things progressed she would rock, dance on the birth ball and even took a warm bath. As day turned into night it was decided that both Mom and Dad should try to get some rest. Dad covered up with his blue and white blanket that perfectly matched his blue and white swim shorts. Mom was in her adorable polka dot bikini top and honestly looked like one of the most beautiful pregnant women I had ever seen. They both rested for over an hour. When a contraction began to build I would gently start to wake her and help support her through it. She barely flinched the entire time. Don’t think for a minute this means these were not painful! She was just incredible at managing/relaxing away her pain.

After she woke things really started to pick up. Her doctor began to express concern about just how slowly she was progressing through labor. She knew it was time to really get to work and she became as active as she could be getting those contractions going. Her mom came up around this time and brought a great deal of energy back into Mom. Its funny just how amazing grandmas can be with their daughters during labor. She reported that the contractions were “ridiculous” (which may have been the funniest thing I had ever heard based on just the way she said it…Dad, her mom and I all fought off the giggles with that one) but as she once reported “I totally kicked that contraction’s butt” and really she did. She was amazing. She was peaking, and double peaking. They would arrive one on top of another. She was nauseous, throwing up, hot, then cold, confused and really starting to have some serious self doubt. Every single thing she did screamed transition. She was still managing these contractions like a pro. I am certain without any doubt she would have handled the pain and intensity for three more days if necessary. I became so excited. I knew she was making progress and baby would be there soon. This went on for about six hours until her doctor decided it was time to check her around 4 am.

Now we talk about cervical dialation a lot in class. We know that a woman can go from a 3 to giving birth in a matter of minutes. Knowing this is what kept Mom going throughout her labor. You see Mom had been a 4 for a very long time. In fact when I arrived at 2:30 she was a 4 and at the few periodic checks in between she remained a 4. Most women would have given up on their birth plan after not showing any cervical changes for well over 15 hours. Not this Mom. Mom and Dad were nothing short of amazing. They took each contraction one at a time. They worked there way through and were truly a sight to behold. Instead of feeling defeated after each cervical check she felt more determined and would work all that much harder to get her daughter in a better position.

I would love to say that at this cervical check she was a ten and pushed her daughter out shortly after. This however was not the case. I think everyone on the entire floor’s heart dropped when he reported she was still a four. In fact her doctor had to step out of the room a minute before reporting the number to get a hold on his emotions. This was not good news.

There was a lot of talk about what to do next. We had tried to get her to sleep earlier but the contractions were so right one top of another she was only sleeping for a minute or two at a time. She had been in labor/without sleep for more than 50 hours. We all know what happens to tired muscles. They stop working effectively. This is what was happening to Mom. She was so exhausted that even though her body was still doing the work, her cervix would not open up. It became fairly clear that until Mom got some rest her exhausted body would not birth this baby. The doctor and nurses were starting to get very concerned for Moms well being and were beginning to talk about a cesarean section. It was at this time that Mom knew something needed to be done. The nurse and doctor talked with her about her options. They offered some narcotic through an IV to help diminish the pain so she could try to rest or to give her an epidural so she could really sleep. I advised them that if they were going to make the choice to go with medication, then to really think about what the goal of the usage of medication was and which medication would fulfill that. Taking into account just how exhausted her body was and how overwhelming the need for sleep was they made the choice to have an epidural.

The anesthesiologist came, administered the medication and both mom and dad slept almost instantly. Mom was gently awoken a few hours later and was able to push her daughter out into this world. That moment was no less special or amazing because of an epidural. Because Mom’s body had worked so hard before the epidural was given she was able to very quickly move into the next stage once her body was rested.

I consider this birth an amazing birth story and am so proud to have been a part of it. I realize that someone reading this story might feel the need to judge their choices. In one camp you have people who will tell you that if they had just waited eventually she would have either progressed or become so exhausted she would have slept on her own without the medication. In the other camp you have the people who will tell you that’s what is wrong with having a birth plan in the first place and that she should have just had the epidural 30 plus hours ago and been done with it.

For the natural birth advocates I will say perhaps you are right. If she had waited another hour, two hours, eight hours, twenty hours, forty hours her body would have given up and she would have slept. The stress to her baby and to her body during that time was a concern. There is of course danger in pushing your body to the brink like that and her doctor was worried about the strain of it all on her body and her baby. They made a very informed and educated choice. They knew just what the risks of an epidural were. Whether or not you would have made the same choice is irrelevant. They had fought hard for a very long time.

As for those who say she should have given up the fight hours ago I strongly disagree. During that time her body was working hard. It was moving Baby girl down her body. She felt the pain and pressure move from high on her back to low within her hips and pelvis during this time. Baby girl was making progress. Epidurals are famous for stalling out cervical dilation. Can you imagine what that would have done to an already stalled cervical dilation? With all of my training and every single thing I know about birth and medicated labors I am certain that had she had an epidural earlier she would have had a cesarean. In my mind there is no doubt about that.

Never before had I been so honored to have been with a couple who knew just what they wanted and were so willing to fight for it. They were amazing. Truly truly so awe-inspiring. Their birth is truly a success story and I thank you both again for allowing me to be a part of it.

http://wonderfullymadebelliesandbabies.blogspot.com/2010/04/may-is-international-doula-month.html

May is International Doula Month and in honor of it one blogger is running a contest! Check out her link above and enter your doula into the contest!

I had the most amazing experience this weekend. I was lucky enough to attend a conference that featured Ina May Gaskin as one of the speakers. Who is Ina May? Only THE midwife. http://www.inamay.com/ will give you all the background information you need to know. Anyway her books were a huge motivator when I was preparing for my VBAC so getting to actually MEET her and talk to her was like meeting superman as far as I was concerned. I learned so much from her, including the fun little tidbits that did not make it into the books LOL. She reminded us again and again just how normal and peaceful birth could be. She talk about how beautiful a women in labor really is and if something was making a women not look beautiful it was  a clie to her that something needed to be changed. Some sort of energy in the room perhaps, or a different position. Whenever that was changed she talked about how she could then see the beauty again and she knew the woman was ready.

She talked about the importance of a healthy diet in pregnancy and beyond. She talked about the herbs and the foods they would use for optimal health on the Farm. She shared stories of how she didn't realize that brith was 'supposed' to be so difficult and as a result how it just wasn't. Listening to her left me feeling so many different feelings. Outraged that society has placed so many limits on women in childbirth that so many of us don't know what normal birth even is, thankful that so many people out there are sharing their birth stories even when others don't want to hear them helping so many of us to know there is a better way and most importantly I felt inspired. While I will not personally attend 2000 plus births in my lifetime like Ina May and her group, I can positively affect every single person I do work with. How amazing to know at the end of my career how many families I can help.