Evidence Based Birth®

April Oglesby is a nurse and monitrice in Amarilo, Texas. She has been a nurse for 13 years, specializing in all types of care for mothers and babies. Recently, she left hospital work to start her own business, Welcome Baby! Throughout her hospital nursing career, she began to see huge deficits in the knowledge, education, empowerment and support for expecting families. She was frustrated watching patients receive care that was not evidence-based, and was often unnecessary. From that, Welcome Baby! was born, offering evidence based childbirth classes, doula and monitrice care, home visits for breastfeeding support and newborn care, as well as placental encapsulation. April shares her journey of providing education and empowerment to birthing families in her community. She also asks Rebecca her advice on building bridges and personal relationships with local providers. Connect with April on the Welcome Baby! Facebook page, Instagram account, and website. 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 and our Instructor program.

Katie Rachanow leads the Military Birth Resource Network at the largest overseas installment in Europe, and has specialized knowledge of the military birth system. Katie is a doula, yoga instructor, and Evidence Based Birth instructor practicing in Germany. She recently moved there following a two-year tour in Colorado Springs and a five-year tour in the UK.  Katie shares how having her first child in the UK launched her career as a birth worker, and how she operates exclusively in a military setting. She notes that the main problem for birth in the military is continuity of care. “Everybody is moving around constantly - nobody ever stays put.” Additionally, people often end up birthing on their own, as their partner may be deployed or on duty, and their families cannot afford to travel to where they are. “I’ve had a lot of instances where moms have been alone - just by themselves - until it’s time for delivery,” she said. Together, Katie and I brainstorm ways to promote funding of doula support for military members, and build relationships among birth workers in new communities. Connect with Katie on her website, Facebook, LinkedIn and the EBB Instructor Directory. 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 and our Instructor program.

Juliet Swedlund is the director of the Topeka Doula Project, a nonprofit offering evidence based doula support to teen mothers, incarcerated and reintegrating mothers, and low-income mothers and their families. Juliet has worked as a birth doula for four years, and has 16 years experience working in health and wellness. She achieved her DONA Birth Doula certification in 2016, and became an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor in 2018. Juliet discusses her organization’s beginnings and her inspirations, as well as the unique challenges of the underserved populations she works with. “Some of the women I work with who are incarcerated… so much is out of their control, and they do feel like the system gets to decide what it looks like,” she said. “So part of our job as doulas for those women is to help them understand that they can take an active role in what they do have control over - in what they can find autonomy in in that birth setting.” She and Rebecca also discuss funding strategies for non-profits.  Learn more about Juliet and her work at her website. You can also follow Topeka Doula Project on Facebook and Instagram. Contact Juliet at julietswedlund@topekadoula.org. 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 and our Instructor program.

This wrap-up of pain management series covers the many different drug and non-drug comfort measures during labor. Learn our overall takeaway. To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

Many childbirth classes teach breathing for pain relief during labor. But is there evidence that this is effective? Which breathing techniques work best? To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

Is relaxation for pain relief effective? Learn techniques that can be used during labor and find out which (if any) are supported by evidence. To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

In this podcast, we look at the evidence for listening to music during labor. Does it help with pain relief? What is the best music for relaxation? To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

We discuss the evidence on using massage for pain relief during labor and for pain in general. What benefits does massage provide? What types of massage might be helpful during labor? To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

In this podcast, Rebecca gives you a sneak peek into what's coming for Evidence Based Birth® in the second half of 2018 and early 2019! Learn about the Signature Articles we're creating, the workshops and classes we're creating, our upcoming speaking events, and the new website for Higher Education institutions! Resources mentioned: Comfort Measures for L & D Nurses: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/comfort-measures-for-l-d-nurses-lexington-ky-tickets-45818534470 Toronto EBB event: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/explore-the-evidence-with-dr-rebecca-dekker-tickets-47035880585?aff= Higher Ed Program: Contact info@evidencebasedbirth.com Childbirth Class Pilot: https://ebbirth.com/childbirthclass Wait list for EBB Instructor program: https://ebbirth.com/instructor Migraine program Rebecca joined where they're teaching her how to use the Keto diet: https://www.mymigrainemiracle.com/ (not an affiliate link!)

In this podcast, Rebecca shares how the Evidence Based Birth® Signature Articles are created, and some important updates that were made to the Group B Strep and Erythromycin Eye Ointment article. Resources: About Signature Articles: https://ebbirth.com/about-evidence-based-birth/ Find Signature Articles: https://ebbirth.com/blog/ Become a newsletter subscriber: https://ebbirth.com Group B Strep: https://ebbirth.com/groupbstrep Eye Ointment: https://ebbirth.com/eyeointment