Bringing Integrative Care into Obstetrics

Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care should support the whole person, physically and mentally. In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker talks with board-certified OB/GYN and perinatal coach Dr. Jessica Vernon about how integrative medicine can create a more holistic and personalized approach to obstetric care.

Dr. Vernon explains how integrative care combines traditional Western medicine with complementary approaches such as therapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, yoga, breathwork, meditation, and nutrition. She also shares how her own experience with postpartum anxiety and depression transformed the way she practices medicine and deepened her understanding of the physical, emotional, and identity-related transitions into parenthood. Plus, get practical guidance for changing providers, asking informed questions after a prior Cesarean, and navigating the overwhelming, and sometimes unreliable, health information found through social media and artificial intelligence.

(00:02:03) Dr. Vernon's journey into obstetrics and the influence of midwifery (00:05:47) Understanding matrescence and the transition into parenthood (00:07:14) What integrative medicine looks like in pregnancy and postpartum care (00:09:59) Bringing perinatal mental health and integrative medicine into obstetric practice (00:12:19) Gaps in traditional perinatal care and the need for individualized support (00:16:59) Supporting parents after infertility, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, or a difficult postpartum experience (00:21:32) Why it is okay to change providers (00:24:31) How infertility and pregnancy loss can shape a subsequent pregnancy (00:27:25) Practicing evidence-based, person-centered care that protects patient autonomy (00:29:02) Finding trustworthy pregnancy information online (00:32:27) Balancing medical evidence with personal intuition and individual circumstances

Resources

Connect with Dr. Vernon and learn more about her 1:1 perinatal coaching: https://www.drjessicavernon.com/

Follow Dr. Vernon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.jessicavernon/

Then Comes Baby: An Honest Conversation About Birth, Postpartum, and the Complex Transition to Parenthood by Dr. Jessica Vernon: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/then-comes-baby-9781538195925/

Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood by Lucy Jones: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714054/matrescence-by-lucy-jones/

Free Postpartum Support International online support groups: https://postpartum.net/get-help/psi-online-support-meetings/

PSI Perinatal Mental Health Provider Directory: https://postpartum.net/get-help/provider-directory/

For more information about Evidence Based Birth and a crash course on evidence based care, visit www.ebbirth.com. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube! Ready to learn more? Grab an EBB Podcast Listening Guide or read Dr. Dekker's book, "Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered!" If you want to get involved at EBB, join our Professional membership (scholarship options available) and get on the wait list for our EBB Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the EBB Childbirth Class.