Evidence Based Birth®

In this episode, I am joined by one of our Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class parents, Bethany Clay. Bethany has an 11-month old son, and lives in South Carolina. She works part time as a music teacher, and is passionate about sustainability and gardening. She was one of the first people to take the EBB Childbirth Class in 2018, with Instructor Mary Kury. Bethany describes her birth experience as long, peaceful, and wonderful, all at the same time! Hear how her birth preparation helped her form realistic expectations, and how she felt empowered and amazed when her baby arrived. 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: Learn more about the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class here. To find an EBB Childbirth Class near you, click here.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Stephanie Edmonds and Dr. Nicole Loew, both PhDs in nursing. Stephanie (who also has a Masters in Public Health) specializes in pre-conception health, family planning, health services quality improvement, and veterans. Nicole has more than five years of sexual and reproductive health research experience, including the topics of responsible sexual behavior, risk communication and health communication. Together Stephanie and Nicole are hosts of The Woman Centered Health Podcast, advancing sexual and reproductive health communication between families and providers. They are particularly passionate about provider communication with clients. We discuss strategies to ramp up communications about women's health across a variety of populations. We also talk about mindfulness when communicating about sex, non-judgmental language, and being a trusted resource. 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 Woman Centered Health Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and other podcast platforms. Follow Stephanie and Nicole via their website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

In this episode, I am joined by bestselling author and award-winning blogger Leonie Dawson to discuss her experience with hyperemesis and postpartum depression and anxiety. Leonie is an artist and entrepreneur based in Australia with a huge following. I asked her to join me on the EBB podcast because she's blogged extensively about her experiences with hyperemesis and her difficult postpartum journey. Leonie details her pregnancy and birth experiences, as well as what she learned about herself through some incredible challenges and early parenthood. She also addresses the pressures of perfectionism and idealism, and how to overcome them. 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 Leonie on her website and Instagram. Download Leonie's free illustrated zine on hyperemesis gravidarum here. Check out Leonie's illustrated goals workbooks here.

In this episode, I am joined by Melissa Cassity to talk about her experience taking the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class, and how it came into play during her unexpected pre-term birth. Melissa has a 13-month old son and lives in South Carolina with her husband, Kelby. She works as an instructional designer for an educational technology company. She and Kelby were among the first students of the EBB Childbirth Class, which they took with EBB Instructor Mary Kury. Melissa has a longstanding passion for maternal health, and had wanted a natural birth for a long time. Her son Ezra arrived early - at the tail end of 34 weeks - so Melissa and Kelby actually had him with them at their final few childbirth classes, and were able to share their birth story with fellow students. Listen today to hear how, even though almost all aspects of her birth were unexpected, Melissa and Kelby felt prepared, involved, and respected during a birth with many interventions. 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 more information on the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class! Click here for information from March of Dimes on preterm labor and premature birth. For the Evidence Based Birth Signature Article on Premature Rupture of Membranes, click here.

In this episode I am joined by Aza Nedhari, co-founder and executive director of Mamatoto Village, a non-profit training and deploying community health workers to support women through pregnancy, childbirth, and the first months of parenting. Nearly 90 percent of the organization's clients are African American women who, as a group, suffer dramatically worse maternal health outcomes than other women. Aza pioneered the organization's comprehensive perinatal health worker training, which uses the community health worker model as a blueprint for creating pathways for women of color in human services and maternal health professions. Aza is a midwife and family counselor, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in human services. With a concentration in organizational leadership and management, her goal is to cultivate innovative models of perinatal care. She is also currently working on legalizing certified professional midwives in the District of Colombia. We discuss systemic racism and barriers facing the midwifery profession in the U.S., as well as the benefits of the community birth worker model. We also talk about Aza's extremely pivotal role in the development of my book, Babies are Not Pizzas. 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: Visit the Mamatoto Village website here, or connect on Facebook, on Twitter, or Instagram. Click here to see Advancing Birth Justice: Community-Based Doula Models as a Standard of Care for Ending Racial Disparities, from Black Mamas Matter Alliance. Get my book Babies are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered, on Amazon.

In this episode, I am joined by my midwife, Karen Brown. Karen is a certified professional midwife, located in Central Kentucky, who practicing in 2007. She is a mother of four children; her youngest was born at home. In 2011 and 2013 Karen attended the home births of two of my children, which are featured in my new book, Babies are Not Pizzas! I'm excited to talk to Karen about her career, as well as my own birth experiences. I wrote and published Babies are Not Pizzas to address the preventable trauma that is happening in childbirth facilities all around the world. My hope is that by sharing my own story, we can begin to create change together. Babies are Not Pizzas is written for parents, professionals, and anyone who is interested in babies or childbirth. It's available as an e-book, audiobook, or in paperback and hardcover. 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: Get my book, Babies are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered, on Amazon! Please be sure to leave a review once you have read it! Click here for more information on Babies Are Not Pizzas, to submit your purchase receipt for the free Companion by September 20, 2019, and to download social media shareables!

My new book, Babies Are Not Pizzas, is slated for release next week! To get ready for this exciting event, I want to share with you the first chapter from the book. Listen as I read Chapter One: Naive, and get a first glimpse into my story. You'll hear the details of my first daughter's birth, how it sparked the passion for what I do, and how it started me on the road to founding Evidence Based 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: Get all the details on Babies Are Not Pizzas here - join the wait list to be among the first to know when copies are available!

In this episode, I am joined by Reid Johnson, a former student of mine! Reid graduated from university this past May with honors, majoring in biology. During his course of study he took my seminar on childbirth, called Babies Are Not Pizzas. I was honored to be asked to write his reference letter for medical school, and was so excited to hear that he was accepted. He starts his program this fall. I invited him to the EBB podcast to talk about what it's like to be a med student. ​ Reid shares his undergraduate and med school application journey, as well as his expectations for the future. We also get real on what life is like for doctors, and strategies to avoid professional burnout. 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: Get the latest updates on my book, Babies are Not Pizzas! Join the waitlist here.

Evidence Based Birth has just released a new Signature Article about routine male newborn circumcision. We have been receiving requests to cover this topic for years; I know that opinions on newborn circumcision are diverse and very emotionally charged. In this podcast episode I explore circumcision in detail, including discussion on relevant human anatomy, where circumcision came from, why some parents choose non-religious circumcision today, how common it is around the world, and the procedure itself. I also review the evidence on circumcision for infection and disease prevention (including the limitations of that evidence), the potential health risks and complications that can occur during and soon after circumcision, and I discuss the evidence in light of ethics and human rights. 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: Access the new Evidence Based Birth Signature Article on the Ethics and Evidence on Circumcision here

In this week's Bonus Book Update podcast, I cover the overarching theme of Babies Are Not Pizzas. It was a surprising realization for me at the end of the writing process! What is the book about? Mainly, preventable birth trauma in a broken health care system. This is a complex topic. Listen as I cover all the nuances of this theme, and reveal to you some of the other areas of exploration in the story. RESOURCES: Get all the updates on my new book, Babies Are Not Pizzas! Click here to get on the wait list. Follow Evidence Based Birth on Facebook and Instagram to see the newly-released cover image for Babies are Not Pizzas!