Evidence Based Birth®

In this episode, I interview certified birth doula, postpartum doula, parent educator and breastfeeding counselor Nubia Jones. Nubia is a mother of five, and her journey of supporting women and families began 18 years ago during the birth of her first child. She went on to become involved in her local birth community, determined to help many families have positive and peaceful births, especially in hospital settings. Now, she serves a diverse population throughout New York City. As an Evidence Based Birth Instructor, Nubia’s mission is to support families by respecting their personal choices and providing evidence based information. She also serves as a Certified Attachment Parenting International Educator, and a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, so she has much information to offer her clients and members of the community. Among her main areas of focus are guiding families on paths to avoid preventable cesarians, as well as supporting young mothers and mothers of color. Her most recent endeavor is working with a charter high school in Brooklyn that has a high number of teen parents and expecting mothers. She has joined the school’s parent support initiative with other staff members, as the only birth professional in the group.  Nubia and Rebecca discuss the evidence on cesarean rates, as well as other birth experiences, for teen moms. They also talk about the upcoming Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Education course, which a select number of EBB Instructors will be able to teach as early as January 2019. Connect with Nubi at  https://www.doulavivabirths.com/, and on Instagram. 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.

Lisa Marie Sanchez Oxenham has been a birth worker for over 25 years, serving the last 10 as a licensed midwife. She works full time with her husband, Richard, who is currently pursuing his CPM. They specialize in water birth and past trauma, and travel all over Southern California to provide in-home care. Together, they work to include the partner in birth - especially men, who are often mis-portrayed in birth environments in the media. Lisa and Richard support all birthing parties with comprehensive relationship building with a focus on trust. They find that utilizing both men and women in birth seems to really help men - which helps their birthing partners - and dispels the belief that brith belongs only to women. They also believe that water birth is particularly helpful for victims of rape and sexual abuse. Listen in as we discuss Lisa’s journey and mission, as well as the evidence on misoprostol for induction and details about water birth. Contact Lisa Marie on Instagram, Facebook, and at sacredjourneymidwifery.com. 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.

This week, I discuss the concept of due dates - as well as the free webinar I am hosting soon, the Evidence on Induction at 39 Weeks! I want to provide an overview on this topic so you can be prepped for the webinar, which will include discussions on the controversial ARRIVE study. Tune in as we discuss what it means to be full term, the accuracy of due dates, and how they are calculated. This is important, because inductions for non-medical reasons have been rising globally in the last 30 years. Studies show that inducing labor because the pregnancy is full term, close to the due date, is the number one reason for induction in the United States. 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. Read EBB’s Signature Article, The Evidence on Due Dates (link: ebbirth.com/duedates) Register for our webinar, The Evidence on Induction at 39 Weeks (link: ebbirth.com/webinar)

In this podcast we discuss inducing labor in someone who is 35 and older. Over time in the United States, for the past four decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who are giving birth for the first time at age 35 and older. Today, roughly one in ten first time mothers is now considered advanced maternal age.  We will examine the risks and the evidence for induction in this population. 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.

This week, we talk about the evidence on induction for having a suspected big baby. I discuss the assumptions that lead to high rates of cesarean and induction for big babies, and whether the research shows these assumptions to be true. 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.

This week, we cover the evidence on inducing labor versus waiting for labor to start on its own, when water has broken before the start of labor. For this podcast, we focus on when water breaks at 37 weeks of pregnancy or later. This is also known as pre-labor rupture of membranes, or PROM.  PROM is a common situation - researchers say that about one in ten pregnant people will have their water break before the onset of labor. Join me as we examine the evidence to see how pregnant people can make the best decisions for themselves when faced with the choice of inducing or waiting.  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.

Jenn D’Jamoos is a CAPPA-certified childbirth educator and Evidence Based Birth Instructor, human rights activist and mom of four who lives in Michigan. She founded the Livingston County Birth Circle in 2013 to serve the needs of families in her area. While the stated goal of the LCBC is to provide non-judgmental support to expectant and new families, the organization also works to elevate conversation surrounding the birth experience.  Jenn recently enrolled in White Woman School through Mothering Justice to explore opportunities for anti-racism work in the context of perinatal education. Jenn and I discuss the importance of birth settings and putting care provider relationships into proper perspective, as well as the use of motivational interviewing to help guide people through changes without telling them what to do. We also brainstorm ways to help people birth experiences with supportive dialogue, without reigniting feelings of trauma or stress. Connect with Jenn at EarthMamaBirth.com, on Facebook, and Twitter. Other resources:  Ladder of Empowerment - “From White Racist to White Anti-Racist: the Life-Long Journey” by Tema Okun Mothering Justice          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.

Kelsi Kennedy is a birth doula serving women in the New York City and Westchester, NY area, and is also a grant writer for non-profit called The Birthing Circle in the greater Washington D.C. area. She has a Masters in Applied Psychology from NYU, and spent two years volunteering and interning as a data analyst for a human trafficking rescue, Restore NYC. Kelsi is also CEO & founder of a brand new ethical fashion business called rev thread.  When she first connected with The Birthing Circle she was a new mom, briefly living in Maryland, and was impressed by the resources they offered. “I realized that every woman deserves this kind of support in her pregnancy and birth,” she said. The organization provides childbirth education, doula services, breastfeeding support and facilitates donations of baby supplies to families in need. The Birthing Circle is also promoting the hashtag #mybirthtoo - a sister campaign of the #metoo movement. While Kelsi currently practices in a very supportive community, where the movement toward doulas and holistic care is growing, she advocates for more education and access to care in other areas which don’t have the same support. In this podcast, we discuss how some communities and underserved populations lack access to evidence based education and advocacy - and how the birth community can bridge that divide. Resources mentioned in this episode: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh   Connect with Kelsi on Instagram @kelsi102 or @doulakelsi or website doulakelsi.com. Any women who have experienced any sort of discrimination, violence, trauma, or anything that has had a lasting impact on them from pregnancy or birth to use the hashtag #mybirthtoo, or visit https://mybirthtoo.com/. For more on The Birthing Circle, visit their website here. 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.

In this week's podcast I interview Cheri Grant RN, ICCE, CLC, ICD, CLD, CD BDT(DONA), known in the birth world as "the peanut ball lady.” She is the founder, chief contributor and inspiration for Premier Birth Tools. For over 42 years, she has served women as a labor and delivery nurse, childbirth educator, lactation consultant, national speaker, author, doula, and doula trainer. She has helped with well over 2,700 deliveries in the span of her career. Cheri is also the founder of Tulsa Doulas, a community group that has helped train and support doulas for over 20 years. Cheri’s interest in peanut balls began when she first saw their use in labor in 1985. At that time, they were just straddled. In the 2000’s, the usage of peanut balls was refined to the side-lying position, and interest in them began to grow among birth professionals. They are used with and without an epidural, and can be effective in shortening labor. Premier Birth Tools promotes education via its website, as well as Peanut Ball Ambassadors and Authorized Peanut Ball Trainers. Cheri discusses peanut ball positions and other new information on this tool. Resources mentioned in this episode: Connect with Cheri at the Premier Birth Tools website and Facebook page. Contact Premier Birth Tools for a free information packet for doulas, L&D nurses, midwives and nursing instructors. 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.

Amber Ginn is a birth and postpartum doula in Puerto Rico. She had her first child at 15, and is dedicated to providing essential support to pregnant adolescents. Amber’s first birth was a traumatic experience, with interventions she was not educated or informed about, and she felt her concerns and questions were dismissed by her providers. She also battled postpartum depression with little support. Despite these challenges, Amber finished high school and college while caring for her son. These experiences led her to her career in birth work, and she hopes to shine a light on the support that is needed - and often lacking - for young mothers. Amber is an EBB Professional member, and is also working towards certification as a lactation consultant. She and Rebecca discuss postpartum depression in adolescents, and the existing resources and research available on caring for young pregnant people and new moms.  Resources mentioned in this episode: Science and Sensibility: Welcoming All Families; Working with Teen Parents Midwifery Today: Doulas Supporting Teens Research article: Going Beyond the Call of Doula More research available on PubMed.gov Connect with Amber at her website, VillageBirthandPostpartumCare.com, Facebook page, and Instagram. 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.