Top 4 Places To Get CEUs To Improve How You Care For LGBTQ+ Families in 2019

Are you in need of continuing education units this year? Do you also want to do better in caring for LGBTQ+ clients as a birthworker? We have some ideas for you. Midwifery Care for Every Body: Integrating Gender Inclusive Practices for the Benefit of All Clients You have to act fast for this one! This introductory level course from queer midwife Ray Rachlin will be held this Saturday (October 19th, 2019) in Philadelphia, PA. Topics include vocabulary related to care for transgender clients, approaches to informed consent, inclusive infant feeding, and more. Space is limited, but still available, at $70 for those needing CEUs. A sliding scale is available for birthworkers of color. 2 Contact Hours (ACNM) Contraception Care for Transmasculine Individuals on Testosterone Therapy This course focuses very specifically on a single topic that is exactly as the title suggests: contraception for people who were assigned female at birth and currently on testosterone therapy. ... Read More

The Faster Than Expected Home Water Birth of Lucia

by S. Bower I’m finally writing my birth story, almost twelve weeks later! I meant to since the week after Lucia was born, but more went into it than I expected! But I am so excited that I finally got my home water birth! I woke up on July 3rd feeling a bit miserable. I had another night of pain in my pelvis, backache, and needing to pee every few minutes, and mild waves that I’d been having for over two weeks! I was planning to take my son to the zoo that day, but I was so tired. My mom came over to visit and brought us breakfast, and I ate almost a whole box of kolaches myself! We took for a walk and joked about how I would probably birth that day since I was already exhausted. But the waves stopped while I was up and moving and the rest of the walk was calm except all the kolaches gave me really bad heartburn. I got really grumpy as the day went, and guessed I was just tired from not sleeping great for several days. I needed to do some paperwork that was already over due, so ... Read More

Not All Families Are Built The Same: A Look At Surrogacy

by Chelsea Lanai Kimball Surrogacy In Pop Culture: Over the past few years, surrogacy has started to be made more public. In pop culture, and on the news, we have started to hear more about surrogacy in a positive, and negative light. The first thing that comes to mind is movies and television. "Baby Mama" the 2008 rom/com starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Hilarious, but problematic to the reality of surrogacy. When the Bough Breaks (2016), A Surrogate's Nightmare (2017), and A Deadly Adoption (2015) are the first movies that pop up if you google "Surrogacy Movies". All problematic and unrealistic. On the other hand, a lot of celebrities have gone public with tales of how their families came to be via surrogacy. Tyra Banks, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Pompeo, Nicole Kidman, Elton John, Ricky Martin, and others have all been quoted, gushing about their experiences using a gestational carrier (a surrogate who is not biologically tied to the baby). Far from the images we see on ... Read More

What Is A Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist?

by Tulsi Desai (Physical Therapist) A lot of birth workers have heard about pelvic floor. They know it’s important. Some are very well aware about what it exactly means either because they have been in the birthing profession for a long time, or have friends who are pelvic PT, or some have personally gone through pelvic floor rehabilitation after their babies. But there are so many others who think they kind of know what pelvic floor is? But not really. And they are not sure who to ask for more accurate answer. My name is Tulsi Desai. I am a pelvic floor physical therapist. You would ask why is pelvic floor physical therapy any different from regular physical therapy? Hope I can answer this as accurately as possible. Every physical therapist has to go through basic physical therapy degree either Bachelors, Masters (common degrees for more experienced therapists who graduated long time ago) and/or Doctorate in physical therapy/DPT (I won’t go into too much detail about the degree ... Read More

Postpartum Depression Tried To Kill Me, Community Saved Me

by A. Jones Content warning: mention of traumatic birth, attempted suicide, postpartum mood disorders, unplanned cesarean, and failure to thrive in a newborn. My baby was born in the hospital that was across the street from my apartment. My OB was the first one that came up on my insurance’s website. They were convenient, and I trusted their credentials completely. They knew what they were doing, so I didn’t have to. I didn’t take a childbirth class because my doctor reassured me they only help women who are trying to suffer through without an epidural. I didn’t hire a doula because my doctor promised me they would start an epidural as soon as I had contractions and I would sleep through labor. I came in for an induction on my due date. I never went past 2cm dilation. I had a cesarean for failure to progress. After, a nurse reassured me that I would never have to go through labor again. Any other births would be scheduled surgeries. I had never wanted an intervention free birth, ... Read More

Podcasts for Birthworkers

Looking for some new listening material? Check out a few of these birth, birthwork, and midwifery themed podcasts. The Full-Spectrum Doula Circle Podcast This podcast is an extension of the Full-Spectrum Doula Circle. The podcast started out in the fall of 2018 as a means of improving access to interviews that had previously been done for webinars by the same creator. Since starting, new content has been added also. past interviews include activists, authors, care providers, and more, including Melinda Morales, Indra Lusero, Mishka Terplan, and Renee Bracey Sherman talking about subjects like nonjudgmental support for pregnant teens, abortion doulas, and drug use in pregnancy. Find it on Apple Podcasts and Spreaker. Birth Kweens A doula and midwife teamed up to create this San Diego, CA based birth podcast. While their primary audience seems to be birthing people more than birthworkers, topics like the history of how menstruation has been managed, weight stigma in ... Read More

Intact Cord Resuscitation: An Infographic Review

A new study out of Nepal has found what many a midwife already knows: babies can be resuscitated with their cords intact, and often fare better when they remain connected to their placentas during resuscitation. You can find the full study here. Of note in this study, while both groups had comparable rates of NICU admissions, the mortality rate was 0% in the group where cords were left intact and newborns were resuscitated at bedside, versus a 3.1% mortality rate among newborns where the cord was cut immediately and baby moved to a resuscitation station. ... Read More

Finding Connection Through Resistance

by Aliena "Ali" Davis, DC She was born in 1941 and died in 2013. Into those 71 years, she packed more life experiences than most could fit into three lifetimes. In all honesty, she is still influencing the world in a way that makes her unforgettable, mischievous grin surface readily in my mind. In fact, it’s her influence in large part that brought about the reason for this article. She proudly bore the title of my “Gramma” - although we had no blood relation, she was more a part of my family and my life than most who did share a blood relation, and continues to be even in her absence more present than some who are still physically present. As a child, I would marvel at her fascinating, and at times erratic, speech. Later I would learn that she had lived with mental illness in a time that was even less kind to people with mental illnesses than our own time currently is. In my battles with my own mind, I reflect on her experiences with awe and gratitude, drawing ... Read More

Babies Are Not Pizzas: An Interview With Rebecca Dekker

The Birth Mag connected with Rebecca Dekker, PhD, RN of Evidence Based Birth regarding her new book, Babies Are Not Pizzas, in which she shares her own birth experiences. We got the chance to ask her a bit about her journey in writing the book, experiences with birth before having children of her own, and thoughts about how the birth community can do better. Babies Are Not Pizzas is available now here! After years of sharing research through Evidence Based Birth, what inspired you to write about your own story? Rebecca Dekker: So, I’ve shared little snippets here and there. Most people know that I had a first traumatic birth where I was separated from my baby for hours, followed by an empowering birth several years later with a midwife who provided evidence based care. But for the most part, I kept my personal experiences to myself. For example, I did not talk publicly about how my traumatic birth occurred at the academic medical center associated with my own university, ... Read More

Book Review: Babies Are Not Pizzas

Book: Babies Are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered Author: Rebecca Dekker, PhD, RN Review by: Vanessa Morales, D.C.  Had I not had experience with author Rebecca Dekker’s Evidence Based Birth®, I probably would have passed up this book in all honesty. The front cover is very cute, as is the title, but it does not lend a hand as to what is to be expected. Is this a book about the process of making babies? Perhaps about the childbirth process itself? Even reading the table of contents was unhelpful in determining what the book itself would be about. As someone who has followed Rebecca’s EBB® work, and even as someone who has taken her course to become an Evidence Based Birth® instructor, I was prepared to read about the evidence surrounding different perinatal procedures, along with tips on how to better decipher the evidence, and become a better healthcare consumer. While I was partly on track, I was pleasantly surprised with the contents.  Rebecca takes readers, ... Read More

  • The Birth Mag is looking for a couple of staff writers. Might that be you? Experience with birth work is strongly preferred, but previous publication isn't required. Email a resume, a writing sample or two, and your thoughts on what you would want to write about if this platform was regularly available to share your work on. thebirthmag@gmail.com #thebirthmag #magazine #callforsubmissions #birthwork #inclusivebirthworkers
  • Did you know that Native American and Indigenous midwives account for only about 1% or less of the midwifery workforce? Today, for Indigenous Peoples' Day, let's lift up Indigenous birthworkers. Some birthworkers and birth work organizations you may want to consider following, supporting, or donating to: @tewawomenunited @onkwehonwemidwives @indigenousmatriarch @maytethewombdoula @n5gonzales #changingwomaninitiative @parteramidwifery @matrizmidwife @luzdemilcolores @daphnesingingtree Please share if you know of others! #indigenouspeoplesday #indigenousmidwifery #indigenousmidwife
  • Gorgeous pic by @evadianaphotography of gestational carrier Chelsea (@chelseakimballdoula), who just shared a great article with us dispelling some myths about surrogacy, and intended mother with newborn born through surrogacy. #gestationalcarrier #surrogacy #birthsupport #birthphotographer #birthphotography
  • What's new on www.thebirthmag.com? We're talking surrogacy and pelvic floor health! @activebodyactivelife @chelseakimballdoula #thebirthmag #surrogacy #gestationalcarrier #birthwork #pelvicfloor #pelvicfloorphysicaltherapy #postpartumrecovery
  • Are you a care provider attending births in a birth center or homebirth setting? Would you be interested in writing about practical adaptations for making hospital based neonatal resuscitation protocols work outside the hospital? Let us know if that's you! #homebirth #birthcenterbirth #midwifelife #midwives #midwifery #midwiferyskills #neonatalresuscitation
  • #Repost @birthbruja • • • • • • Please help spread the word! ••• I am SO honored and excited to be teaming up with @Cornerstone.Doula.Trainings to offer an intensive online training for folks passionate about exploring the intersections of sexual violence and birthwork. *Deepen your understanding of the workings & impact of sexual violence *Unveil the ways in which trauma can manifest for survivors through birth, pregnancy, & postpartum *Identify and strengthen your abilities to best be of support There is a detailed course breakdown available through the workshop's page on Cornerstone's website <3 Check it out! If ya'll haven't been following the badassery that is @Cornerstone.Doula.Trainings then let that be remedied right now. If you are into radical, anti-oppression based birthworker training they are for you <3. #SupportingSurvivorsWhoBirth #HealingFromSexualAssault #WhenSurvivorsGiveBirth #Birthworker #Birthkeeper #BirthworkersOfColor #Doula #DoulaLife #Midwife #MidwifeLife #L&DNurse #DecolonizeBirth #EmpoweredBirth #BirthBruja
  • #Repost @rushesandwaves • • • • • • I did a little emotional/nervous hiccup when I captured this moment because I was holding back a flood of tears thinking about how amazing it was to watch this family achieve their VBAC. I have the coolest job ever ❤️ #birth #birthing #vbac #birthdoula #birthphotographer #birthphotography #epiduralbirth #newborn
  • #Repost @matrizmidwife • • • • • • An open letter to all the aspiring midwives out there. Every so often I get an email a PM of another aspiring midwife. Many times someone I've never met, but they heard of me through the grapevine. Or perhaps they follow me on social media. The questions pour into my inbox. Is it hard? How are you doing it? What school? Who takes care of your kids? How are you making cash? How did you pay for school? So on and so on. And all I want to say is DON’T DO IT!!! Don't do if you value your sleep, don't do it if you value your family time, don't do it if you value a steady pay check, don't do it if you value your health, don't do it if you value everything you love. Because when it's time for a baby to come into this world, you need to put it all aside. It is your honor and your burden to be the one who guides and protects the birthing person and baby as they walk the thin line between this world and the spirit realm. You will drop everything and run, get a speeding ticket to get to that birthing person and baby at all cost. And you must do it with love, courage and above all grace. They have no business knowing that you left your two toddlers at home with your 17 yo because your nanny couldn't get there in time. Your partner at one time or another will grow resentment; your children will become disappointed more than one time. Because yet again you missed another school function. You will feel the need to come home from a birth sleep deprived and still wear a smile on your face. Play with your children who miss you, breastfeed the little one. Listen to your teenager’s life complaints and cook a meal so your husband feels good about the fact that you were gone for the last 24 hours. You will stop going out to your usual community gatherings and favorite hang out spots because you just know that you will be called out to a birth and you can't afford to be too tired this weekend. And really you should spend all your free time with your family anyways because they miss you so darn much when you’re gone. And hello, you have a shit load of midwifery homework to finish! Finish reading in my stories .