Evidence Based Birth®

This episode concludes our series of interviews we conducted live from the 2019 Evidence Based Birth Conference - Bringing the Evidence to Life. EBB Instructor and Professional Membership Coordinator Chanté Perryman interviewed several different panels of attendees, hearing from them the most pressing issues in their communities, and how they plan to affect change.  This week, we hear from some inspiring birth workers of color: doula, certified lactation counselor, and student midwife Divine Bailey-Nicholas; nurse, doula, certified childbirth educator and certified lactation counselor Carmen Southall-Wamhoff; and midwife, doula, monitrice, and advocate Ms. Charlotte Marie Shilo-Goudeau. Hear each of these dynamic change makers describe the challenges they are facing and how they are making an impact for the women and families they serve. In addition to the conference interview, I am pleased to continue the conversation with further insights from Carmen! 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: Evidence Based Birth offers a fantastic cross-professional community in our Professional membership! Get more information here. As long as minority mothers and babies are dying at disparately high rates, I am committed to offering scholarships for our membership for birth professionals of color. Learn more here.

This episode is the second in our series of interviews we conducted live from the 2019 Evidence Based Birth Conference. EBB Instructor and Professional Membership Coordinator Chanté Perryman interviewed several different panels of attendees, hearing from them the most pressing issues in their communities, and how they plan to affect change.  This week, we hear from midwives: CPM Paige Dickinson, CNM Jen Matera, and direct entry midwife Rachel Mueller. Hear about the cultural climate towards midwifery in each of their areas, how they are interacting with their hospitals and birth centers, and the challenges being faced within the midwife community. After the interview, I discuss the research evidence on birth centers. 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 Association of Birth Centers: https://birthcenters.org Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers: https://www.birthcenteraccreditation.org/ Declercq et al. Listening to Mothers SM III. New York: Childbirth Connection, May 2013. MacDorman, M. F. and Declercq, E. (2018). Trends and state variations in out-of-hospital births in the United States, 2004-2017. Birth;00:1–10. Stapleton (2013). "Outcomes of Care in Birth Centers: Demonstration of a Durable Model." J Midwifery Women’s Health 58: 3-14.  Birthplace in England Collaborative Group (2011). Perinatal and maternal outcomes by planned place of birth for healthy women with low risk pregnancies: the Birthplace in England national prospective cohort study. BMJ;343:d7400. Evidence Based Birth offers a fantastic cross-professional community in our Professional membership! Get more information here.

This episode is the first in our series of interviews we conducted live from the 2019 Evidence Based Birth Conference - Bringing the Evidence to Life. EBB Instructor and Professional Membership Coordinator Chanté Perryman interviewed several different panels of attendees, hearing from them the most pressing issues in their communities, and how they plan to affect change after being inspired at the conference.  This week, we will hear from nurses and doulas: doula Rebecca McKinney, doula Sara Pixton, and labor and delivery nurse Paula Richards. Listen as they highlight some of the challenges faced between the two professions, and how both can work together to support women in labor. After their brief interview, I talk about the research evidence on the challenges of doulas and nurses working together, and offer potential solutions for collaboration! 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: Facebook Group for Doulas and L & D Nurses working collaboratively together: here Goer & Romano (2013). Optimal Care in Childbirth. Classic Day Publishing. Morton & Clift. (2014). Birth Ambassadors. Texas: Praeclarus Press. Bohren, M. A., Hofmeyr,  G. J., Sakala,  C., et al. (2017). Continuous support for women during childbirth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD003766.  Bohren, M. A., Berger, B. O., Munthe-Kaas, H., et al. (2019). Perceptions and experiences of labour companionship: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD012449.  Roth, L. M., et al. (2016). “North American Nurses’ and Doulas’ Views of Each Other.”J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs 45(6):790-800.  Veltman (2007). Disruptive behavior in obstetrics: a hidden threat to patient safety. Am J Obstet Gynecol 196(6): 587e1-4, discussion e4-5. Tumblin and Simkin. “Pregnant women’s perceptions of their nurses’ role during labor and delivery” (2001). Birth 28(1): 52-6  Bowers. “Mothers’ experiences of labor support: exploration of qualitative research.” (2002). J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs 31(6): 742-52.  McNiven et al. “Supporting women in labor: a work sampling study of the activities of labor and delivery nurses.” (1992). Birth 19(1): 3-8.  Gagnon, Waghorn. “Supportive care by maternity nurses: a work sampling study in an intrapartum unit.” (1996). Birth 23 (1): 1-6.  Gale et al. “Measuring nursing support during childbirth. (2001). Am J Matern Cild Nurs 26(5): 264-71  Miltner. “More than support: nursing interventions provided to women in labor.” (2002). J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs 38(2): 753-61.  Barnett. “A new way to measure nursing: Computer timing of nursing time and support of laboring patients.” (2008). Computers, Informatics, Nursing 26(4): 199-206. Evidence Based Birth offers a fantastic cross-professional community in our Professional membership! Get more information here.

In this episode, I am joined by two of our distinguished keynote speakers from the 2019 Evidence Based Birth Conference, “Bringing Evidence to Life”: Dr. Sayida Peprah, Psy.D, licensed clinical psychologist, trained birth doula and founder of Diversity Uplifts, Inc., and Heather Thompson, MS, PhD, a molecular and cellular biologist, clinical researcher, birth worker and deputy director of birth justice organization Elephant Circle. The 2019 Evidence Based Birth conference brought together an incredible mix of birth workers and advocates from many professions and backgrounds. Listen as the three of us debrief the conference - what was impactful, what went right, and what went we would do differently in the future. Hear their perspectives as members of a non-dominant cultures, and what they and their communities experienced in a diverse and intense conference setting.  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. Sayida Peprah via her website, Instagram, and LinkedIn. For more information on Diversity Uplifts, Inc., click here. Visit the Elephant Circle website here. Click here for the Evidence Based Birth Podcast episode, "How to Disagree on Birth Topics - Respectfully!" with Cristen Pascucci.

In this episode, I explore the latest evidence on the use of saline locks! A saline lock - sometimes called a “hep-lock” in reference to how it used to be used - is an intravenous (IV) catheter that is threaded into a peripheral vein, flushed with saline, and then capped off for later use. Nurses use saline locks to have easy access to the vein for potential injections. They can be useful in administering drugs as needed, and in the event of emergency surgery. What is the latest research on the use of saline locks in labor and delivery? What is the evidence for the saline lock in someone who wants an un-medicated birth or wants to avoid medical interventions as much as possible? Should a saline lock be in place “just in case” it may be needed? I’ll cover the evidence on this topic, along with the risks and benefits. 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: Bailey, J. M., C. Bell, R. Zielenski (2019). “Timing and outcomes of an indication-only use of intravenous cannulation during spontaneous labor.” J Midwifery Womens Health 00:1-7.  Bateman, B. T., M. F. Berman, et al. (2010). “The epidemiology of postpartum hemorrhage in a large, nationwide sample of deliveries.” Anesthesia and analgesia 110(5): 1368-1373. Maki, D. G., D. M. Kluger, et al. (2006). “The risk of bloodstream infection in adults with different intravascular devices: a systematic review of 200 published prospective studies.” Mayo Clin Proc 81(9): 1159-1171. Newton, N., M. Newton, et al. (1988). “Psychologic, physical, nutritional, and technologic aspects of intravenous infusion during labor.” Birth 15(2): 67-72. Rickard, C. M., D. McCann, et al. (2010). “Routine resite of peripheral intravenous devices every 3 days did not reduce complications compared with clinically indicated resite: a randomised controlled trial.” BMC Med 8: 53. Want evidence on more topics? Access all of the Evidence Based Birth Signature Articles at our blog.

In this episode, I am joined by reproductive justice advocate Danielle Jackson. Danielle is a wife, mother, doula, and co-host of the podcast Birth Stories in Color. She works to empower women to birth without fear, and has focused her career on helping families recognize their strengths and build healthy support systems. She became a doula in 2016. Issues in her community of Columbus, Ohio drew Danielle to the organization Restoring Our Own Through Transformation, as a change agent in the ongoing fight for birthing justice in the area. Birth Stories in Color grew from a shared experience with her co-host, Laurel Gourrier, at a training for doulas of color. They quickly realized that in that environment, women of color felt liberated to speak their truths and share their experiences with birth. They now provide that space via their podcast. Hear Danielle and I talk about strategies to be change makers in our communities, fostering healthy disruption and questioning the status quo. 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: For more on the podcast Birth Stories in Color, click here. () Follow Birth Stories in Color on Facebook, and Instagram. Learn more about Restoring Our Own Through Transformation here.

In this episode, I am joined by Bess English, a mother of two who lives near Pensacola, Florida.  Bess describes her first hospital birth experience as traumatic. When she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class to learn more about advocacy tools and comfort measures.  Bess’ attempted VBAC home birth did not go as planned - and she and her husband found themselves back in the hospital setting making some difficult choices. But this time, it was a different story. Hear Bess tell her birth stories, how she processed her birth trauma, and utilized advocacy tools to navigate and feel empowered in her complicated second 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: For more information on the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class, click here. To find an Evidence Based Birth Instructor and EBB classes near you, click here. Get your copy of my book, Babies Are Not Pizzas, here. It’s the story of my traumatic first birth, interwoven with the latest evidence surrounding common birth interventions.

In this episode, I am joined by Gail Tully - author, childbirth educator, midwife and creator of Spinning Babies. The Spinning Babies approach connects understanding of birth anatomy to fetal rotation and easier childbirth, and is recognized around the world by midwives, nurses, childbirth educators, doulas, and parents. Gail’s ability to recognize the spatial relationships between the soft tissue pelvis and the baby has contributed to a paradigm shift in childbirth care and education. She began practicing as a midwife in a small, independent practice, and she now works worldwide, educating parents about her innovative approach. We talk about why some births are easy, while some are long and hard. Gail addresses the relationships between birth, physiology, and mentality, and covers the practical aspects of accessing the Spinning Babies method and instruction. 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 Spinning Babies on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can access the Spinning Babies blog here, and contact the organization via email at info@spinningbabies.com. Join Evidence Based Birth for a FREE public webinar, The Evidence on Natural Induction! Attendees will also learn how to earn contact hours through EBB. Register here! The Evidence Based Birth Professional Membership is on sale! Get a monthly or annual subscription at 20% off for a limited time. Learn more here.

In this episode I am joined by Ngozi Tibbs, a certified childbirth trainer and educator through Lamaze International, an international board certified lactation consultant, and co-founder of the Pittsburgh Black Breastfeeding Circle. With a Bachelor’s degree in maternal child health and a Master’s in public health, Ngozi has served as a private and community based doula, currently provides childbirth education and lactation consulting, and is involved with the non-profit Healthy Start. Often known to share her personal birth stories - including her fifth child’s birth in a car - she believes the best way to approach birth and breastfeeding is through lots of support, and humor. I had the privilege of listening to Ngozi speak quite a few years ago at a conference, andI was so impacted by her presentation that I included a story about experience that in my book, Babies Are Not Pizzas. In this interview, we have a candid conversation about community support, racism, and the needs of today’s birthing families. 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: Join the Evidence Based Birth® free webinar - The Evidence  on  Natural Induction! Register here. Connect with Ngozi via her doula and lactation support practice, Sankofa. You can also reach her on Facebook. Learn more about the Pittsburgh Black Breastfeeding Circle here. For more information on Healthy Start, click here.

In this episode I am joined by Jen McLellan, author, speaker, and founder of the website Plus Size Birth and the Plus Mommy blog. She is also host of the popular podcast Plus Mommy, and is a certified childbirth educator, wife, and mother. With more than four million page views on her blog, Jen is passionate about helping others navigate the bumps along the road of motherhood. Jen notes that her doula’s recommendation to look into the midwife model of care changed the course of her first pregnancy. As she had first began care under an obstetrician and researched plus size pregnancy online, she had started to believe that she was at high risk due to her size. However, she had an empowering natural birth with no complications. As Jen developed her blog, she realized the great need for plus size pregnancy support. While she covers a variety of topics, one of her main areas of focus is helping women to connect with a care provider who will not make them feel ashamed. We discuss practical tips for finding a supportive and welcoming provider, as well as some of the biased messages women of size commonly hear during the course of their care and 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: Follow Jen on Facebook,  Instagram, and Twitter.  Check out Plus Size Birth, the Plus Mommy blog and the Plus Mommy podcast. Use coupon code “EBB” to get 30% off Jen’s book, My Plus Size Pregnancy Guide. For a directory of plus-friendly providers and doulas, visit SizeFriendly.com.