

Evidence Based Birth®
Rebecca Dekker, PhD, RN
In the Evidence Based Birth® podcast, we cover the research evidence on hot topics about pregnancy and childbirth! Our mission is to help birth workers build the evidence based knowledge, skills, and power they need to protect families' ability to give birth with empowerment. The work we do has a huge impact on parents who are searching for accurate information to empower their prenatal, birth, and postpartum experiences!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 4, 2020 • 34min
EBB 118 - How to Have a Healthy Postpartum Transition with Dr. Alyssa Berlin
In this week’s episode I interview Dr. Alyssa Berlin, a clinical psychologist specializing in pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting. She is also creator of the AfterBirth Plan Workshop, a program preparing couples for a physically and emotionally healthy postpartum transition - for the baby, for each partner, and for their evolving relationships. Dr. Berlin has specific expertise working with emotional concerns that may arise before, during, or after birth. She and her husband, Dr. Elliot Berlin, are the co-founders of the Berlin Wellness Group, and are proud parents to four children. Dr. Berlin offers practical analogies to help put postpartum in perspective as a human experience, as well as strategies for anticipation and prevention of emotional and situational triggers. We also talk about the importance of postpartum doulas and other professional and personal supporters. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Follow Dr. Alyssa Berlin on Instagram. Learn about the AfterBirth Plan Workshop here. Connect with the Berlin Wellness Group on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and at doctorberlin.com. Find Episode 85 of the Evidence Based Birth Podcast with parent Ashely Smith on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Feb 26, 2020 • 55min
EBB 117 - The Evidence on Inducing for Due Dates
In this episode, we discuss the evidence on inducing versus waiting for labor when you’re going past your due date. I am joined by Evidence Based Birth researcher Anna Bertone, MPH, to explore all the latest on this topic and talk about the brand new Evidence Based Birth Signature Article - The Evidence on: Inducing for Due Dates. **TRIGGER WARNING: In this episode, we talk about stillbirth and newborn death.** For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Check out the new Evidence Based Birth Signature Article on this topic - The Evidence on Inducing for Due Dates here (INSERT NEW ARTICLE LINK). Be sure to expand the Resources box at the bottom of the article to see all linked references. See the original Evidence Based Birth Signature Article, The Evidence on Due Dates, here

Feb 19, 2020 • 41min
EBB 116 - Inclusion for Queer and Trans Parent Families with Danie Crofoot
In this episode, I am joined by Danie Crofoot of Full Spectrum Doulas, an organization dedicated to creating dialogue around topics such as LGBTQIA+ inclusion, cultural competency, racial issues, and much more within the birth community. Their goal is to create space and support for people to have the power to write their own birth and postpartum stories. Danie is a childbirth educator and sex educator, and is known as a “traveling doula” - splitting time mostly between Los Angeles and New York. Danie and I discuss a number of issues relating to queer and trans parents, including the evidence on trans people, hormones and pregnancy, trans masculine people and pregnancy, mis-gendering, hospital logistics, and how the academic world can build a more rubust body of research on topics relating to LGBTQIA+. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Connect with Danie Crofoot on Instagram (@of.earth.and.salt), Facebook, and at ofbirthandsalt.net. Learn more about Full Spectrum Doulas here. See the Genderbread Person visual here.

Feb 12, 2020 • 42min
EBB 115 - Self-Advocacy in Birth, and Tongue and Lip Tie with Michelle Odoerfer
In this episode I am joined by Michelle Odoerfer, a mother of two young girls living in Clinton Township, Michigan with her husband Andrew. Michelle experienced two very different births - her first, in a hospital, was tense as she had to endure verbal and physical aggression from an attending OB. Her second was a peaceful, unattended home birth, with just herself and her husband (baby came so fast the midwife didn’t make it). Hear Michelle share how she learned some tough lessons about self advocacy - not only during her first birth, but also through her newborn’s undiagnosed tongue and lip tie. Many health care providers missed the ties, and Michelle had to figure out on her own why her baby wasn’t gaining weight. She also committed to a journey of sourcing donated breast milk, and crafting her own supplemental nursing system. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES:

Feb 5, 2020 • 43min
EBB 114 - Fighting for Birth Needs as a Single Parent with Jenny Russell
In this episode I am joined by new parent Jenny Russell, a registered nurse from Tennessee. Jenny struggled with infertility during her previous marriage, became unexpectedly pregnant in a new relationship, and took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class as a single parent without a support person. Her EBB Instructor taught the class and also served as her doula. Jenny works full time as a clinical analyst in evidence based nursing documentation. She is also a full time caregiver for her mother, who has early onset Alzheimer’s. Jenny candidly shares the incredible pressures she faced in her prenatal care, including her traumatic and stressful experiences in choosing the right providers to work with her, and switching care to a midwife just weeks before her due date. We also talk about the importance of doulas, and the crucial role Jenny’s amazing doulas filled during her birth and postpartum care. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Click here for information about tongue tie from the Mayo Clinic. Click here for an article explaining the dramatic rise in tongue and lip tie. Visit KellyMom for an article about breastfeeding a baby with tongue or lip tie. Click here for information on tongue and lip tie from La Leche League International. Click here to see the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act. Visit the Evidence Based Birth blog for all of our Signature Articles, such as The Evidence on: Erythromycin Eye Ointment for Newborns, and The Evidence on: Fetal Monitoring. Follow Jenny on Facebook and Instagram. Click here for the Evidence Based Birth Signature Article, The Evidence on: Doulas. Click here for the Evidence Based Birth Signature Article, The Evidence on: Birthing Positions. Find an Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class near you with this interactive map.

Jan 29, 2020 • 44min
EBB 113 - The Evidence on VBAC
In this episode, I am excited to share the evidence on vaginal birth after Cesarean, or VBAC. We have received many requests at Evidence Based Birth to cover this topic, so I want to share with you the information on VBAC that I present in a class we teach in the EBB Higher Ed program. In this podcast, I define some common terms related to VBAC and talk about the history of the procedure. By the end, you will have the facts on the prevalence and risk factors for uterine rupture, and you’ll understand some of the maternal, fetal, and newborn risks of VBAC, elective repeat Cesarean, and Cesarean birth after Cesarean. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists/ Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (2018). Placenta accreta spectrum. Obstetric Care Consensus No. 7. Obstet Gynecol, 132, e259-275. Click here. Free full text! Bujold, E., Goyet, M., Marcoux, S., et al. (2010). The role of uterine closure in the risk of uterine rupture. Obstet Gynecol, 116(1), 43-50. Carlton Fagerberg, M. and Källén, K. (2019). Third trimester prediction of successful vaginal birth after one cesarean delivery - a Swedish model. Acts Obstet Gynecol Scand. (Epub ahead of print.] Click here. Grobman, W. A., Lai, Y., Landon, M. B., et al. (2007). Development of a nomogram for prediction of vaginal birth after cesarean delivery. Obstet Gynecol, 109, 806. Click here. VBAC calculator for use at first prenatal visit: https://mfmunetwork.bsc.gwu.edu/PublicBSC/MFMU/VGBirthCalc/vagbirth.html\ Guise, J.-M., Eden, K., Emeis, C., et al. (2010). Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No.191. (Prepared by the Oregon Health & Science University Evidence-based Practice Center under Contract No. 290-2007-10057-I). AHRQ Publication No. 10-E003. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Click here. Free full text! Landon, M. B., Hauth, J. C., Leveno, K. J. et al. (2004). Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Associated with a Trial of Labor after Prior Cesarean Delivery. N Engl J Med, 351, 258-2589. Click here. Free full text! Landon, M. B., Grobman, W. A. and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Maternal–Fetal Medicine Units Network (2016). What We Have Learned About Trial of Labor After Cesarean Delivery from the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Cesarean Registry. Seminars in perinatology, 40(5), 281–286. Click here. Free full text! Metz, T. D., Stoddard, G. J., Henry, E., et al. (2013). Simple, validated vaginal birth after cesarean delivery prediction model for use at the time of admission. Obstet Gynecol, 122, 571. Click here. Free full text! VBAC calculator for use at time of admission for birth: https://mfmunetwork.bsc.gwu.edu/PublicBSC/MFMU/VGBirthCalc/vagbrth2.html Sandall, J., Tribe, R. M., Avery, L., et al. (2018). Short-term and long-term effects of caesarean section on the health of women and children. Lancet, 392(10155), 1349-1357. Click here. Silver, R. M., Landon, M. B., Rouse, D. J., et al. (2006). Maternal morbidity associated with multiple repeat cesarean deliveries. Obstet Gynecol, 107(6), 1226-1232. Click here. Smith, G. C. S., Pell, J. P., Cameron, A. D., et al. (2002). Risk of Perinatal Death Associated With Labor After Previous Cesarean Delivery in Uncomplicated Term Pregnancies. JAMA, 287(20), 2684–2690. Click here. Free full text! Vlemminx, M. W., de Lau, H. and Oei, S. G. (2017). Tocogram characteristics of uterine rupture: a systematic review. Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 295(1), 17–26. Click here. Free full text! Access the International Cesarean Awareness Network’s "Terminology: What is a CBAC?” here. Visit VBAC Facts here. Visit ICAN here. See the Association of Ontario Midwives Clinical Guidelines Statement on Vaginal Birth After Previous Low-Segment Cesarean Section here. Get the Association of Ontario Midwives handout, Thinking About VBAC: What’s Right for Me, here. Get information on VBAC from Power to Push here (http://www.powertopush.ca/birth-options/types-of-birth/vaginal-birth-after-cesarean/). Click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/the-evidence-for-skin-to-skin-care-after-a-cesarean/) for the Evidence Based Birth® Signature Article, The Evidence on: Skin to Skin Care After Cesarean.

Jan 22, 2020 • 45min
EBB 112 - How Evidence Based Birth®️ Changed Me as a Nurse with Jessica Hazboun
In this episode, I am joined by Evidence Based Birth Instructor Jessica Hazboun, a childbirth educator and registered nurse with a background in labor and delivery. Jessica created her own birth business, Nearly Nested, to help empower new parents with evidence based information. Hear Jessica detail her two very different birth stories, and how evidence based information changed her entire perspective on birth and how she relates to her clients and patients. In her words - “everything about the Evidence Based Birth culture completely knocked me off my feet!” For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Follow Jessica at Nearly Nested on Instagram, Facebook, and at nearlynested.com. Want to learn more about becoming an Evidence Based Birth Instructor? Applications for the Spring 2020 cohort open soon, and we are hosting a series of Q&A webinars all about the program, staring next week. Click here for all the details!

Jan 15, 2020 • 52min
EBB 111 - Positioning Breech Babies with Dr. Elliot Berlin
In this episode I am joined by Dr. Elliot Berlin, an award-winning prenatal chiropractor, childbirth educator, and labor support body worker. He is the co-founder of Berlin Wellness Group in Los Angeles, California, hosts The Informed Pregnancy podcast, and served as executive producer of two documentaries about birth - Head’s Up: The Disappearing Art of Breech Delivery, and Trial of Labor. Dr. Berlin is a labor support doula who attends births and provides laboring parents with body work such as massage, reflexology, accupressure, counter pressure, and chiropractic adjustments to help keep the birthing person relaxed, comfortable and focused for a smooth birth. He attends labor at hospitals, homes, and birth centers, and he works with several hundred breech babies each year. Listen to our fascinating discussion on vaginal breech birth, cesarean, and things to find out about your baby’s positioning as you enter the late stages of pregnancy. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Connect with Dr. Berlin via his website, InformedPregnancy.com (), and Instagram (). Get the Informed Pregnancy Podcast here ()! Evidence Based Birth® Signature Article, The Evidence on: Breech Version. EBB’s article on the Evidence for using Moxibustion to Turn Breech Babies.

Jan 8, 2020 • 34min
EBB 110 - Inside an Unplanned, Unassisted Home Birth with Parent Sabrina Tran
In this episode, I am joined by Sabrina Tran of Alabama, who recently had a daughter, and took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class with Instructor Traci Weafer. Sabrina, a therapist, is now a stay at home mom. Sabrina had a precipitous - or, extremely fast labor and delivery. She describes it as exciting! Hear her tell her story of how her baby was born before the midwife could make it to her home. I also share the evidence on perineal tearing, and the relationships between tearing, provider experience, and home birth. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Click here for great images explaining perineal tears on the Mayo Clinic website. More references: Albers, L. L., Sedler, K. D., Bedrisk, E. J., et al. (2005). Midwifery care measures in the second stage of labor and reduction of genital tract trauma at birth: a randomized trial. J Midwifery Womens Health. 50(5): 365-372. Mizrachi, Y., Leytes, S., Levy, M., et al. (2017). Does midwife experience affect the rate of severe perineal tears? Birth. 44(2): 161-166. Begley, C., Guilliland, K., Dixon, L., et al. (2018). A qualitative exploration of techniques used by expert midwives to preserve the perineum intact. Women Birth. Kopas, M. L. (2014). A review of evidence-based practices for management of the second stage of labor. J Midwifery Womens Health. 59(3):264-76. Shorten, A., Donsante, J. and Shorten, B. (2002). Birth position, accoucheur, and perineal outcomes: informing women about choices for vaginal birth. Birth. 29(1): 18-27. Sandall, J., Soltani, H., Shennan, A., et al. (2013). Midwife-led continuity models versus other models of care for childbearing women. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. (8): CD004667. Hutton, E. K., Cappelletti, A., Reitsma, A. H., et al. (2016). Outcomes associated with planned place of birth among women with low-risk pregnancies. CMAJ. 188(5): E80-E90. Hastings-Tolsma, M., Vincent, D., Emeis, C., et al. (2007). Getting through birth in one piece: protecting the perineum. MCN AM J Matern Child Nurs. 32: 158-64. Landy H. J., Laughon, S. K., Bailit, J. L., et al. (2011). Characteristics associated with severe perineal and cervical lacerations during vaginal delivery. Obstet Gynecol. 117(3): 627-35 Klein, M. C., Gauthier, R. J., Jorgensen, S. H., et al. (1992). Does episiotomy prevent perineal trauma and pelvic floor relaxation? Online J Curr Clin Trials. 10. Klein, M. C., Gauthier, R. J., Robbins, J. M., et al. (1994). Relationship of episiotomy to perineal trauma and morbidity, sexual dysfunction, and pelvic floor relaxation. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 171(3): 591-8. Aasheim, V., Nilsen, A. B. V., Reinar, L. M., et al. (2017). Perineal techniques during the second stage of labour for reducing perineal trauma. Cochrane Database of Sys Rev. 6: CD006672 Alliman, J. and Phillippi, J. C. (2016). Maternal Outcomes in Birth Centers: An integrative review of the literature. J Midwifery Womens Health. 61(1): 21-51. Cheyney, M., Bovbjerg, M., Everson, C., et al. (2014). Outcomes of care for 16,924 planned home births in the U.S.: the Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project, 2004 to 2009. J Midwifery Womens Health. 59(1): 17-27. Hutton, E. K., Cappelletti, A., Reitsma, A. H., et al. (2016). Outcomes associated with planned place of birth among women with low-risk pregnancies. CMAJ. 188(5): E80-E90. Click here to access the EBB Signature Article, The Evidence on: Waterbirth.

Jan 1, 2020 • 21min
EBB 109 - Evidence Based Birth®️ in 2020!
This week, I am excited to bring you inside Evidence Based Birth and let you know what we will be up to in the coming year! I look back at all we accomplished in 2019 (and wow - what a year it was!) and how we are rolling right into 2020 with some amazing new projects and initiatives. I have to tell you, just looking at my list of goals really gets me excited about what is to come. You won’t want to miss the announcements I have to share in this episode! For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Find my book, Babies are Not Pizzas, on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Audible! Find a list of our current Spanish article translations here. Access all of the Evidence Based Birth free, full-length Signature Articles here.