DoulaWise
Offering experienced doula and lactation support for your pregnancy, birth, and beyond.
Category: Uncategorized
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Childbirth Education and Outcomes
We’ve all been asked questions about our pregnancy by everyone we know and everyone we don’t know. When are you due? Is it twins? Where are you giving birth? Will you use a midwife or an OB? Epidural or natural? Do you have a doula? What classes are you taking? What’s the nursery theme? How
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Breathe
When we hear someone tell us to stop and breathe, have you mentally reacted with: But I AM breathing?! But what does that actually mean when someone asks you to breathe? Is it just that same in-out-in that we do without thinking? Breath work means a lot more than just the automatic function our brains
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Delaying Cord Clamping
Cutting the cord of a newborn baby has been a hot topic for about 50 years now. There are those in the camp of clamping immediately after vs those who want to wait a minute, a few minutes, or until the pulsing has stopped, and even waiting for the placenta to fall away from the
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Being a Community Doula
While reading an article written by an OB on why she hired a doula for her birth, it got me to thinking about the differences between what I do at the hospital that hired me vs what I do for my clients that hire me directly. In both cases I’m here to serve the birther.
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What to Write on a Birth Plan
Have you heard nurses laughing at birth plans? Have you encountered OB’s tossing them to the side and saying, “No,” to them? Or gone over your ideal birth with a group of pregnant people and had your ideal plan picked apart? But you want to make certain that some things do or do not happen
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Who is the Right Doula for You?
There’s an interesting article written last week on CNN where they interviewed a labor and delivery nurse. The article talks about advocating for yourself in labor and mentions hiring “the right doula for you.” The nurse has a phenomenal approach to individual birth spaces, and I loved her candor when she spoke about having the
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Variation of Normal
There are too many stigmas, way too many ways to judge, and far too many families feeling alone and under qualified, under prepared, and underappreciated. It’s time that we see every healthy, informed choice, not as good or bad, but as a variation of normal. It’s time to learn from one another. It’s time to
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A Thought from a Pediatrician
Dr. Kennell is a pediatrician who saw the changes in birth outcomes, the difference in how births unfold, how babies respond to a supported birther, and decided not only to endorse doulas at births, but to go on to help build an organization to train people in the art of support. The slogan of the
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Birth is Birth
When most doulas get hired for attending a birth, our thoughts are on the birth of a beautiful baby. We don’t anticipate anything other than that. But too often that’s not the case. Some doulas are hired specifically because they have grief and loss training. Other doulas stumble into the role. Still others become doulas
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Odd Labor Tools: The Toilet
Welcome back to the series! This is our fifth and final series of odd labor tools you have around the house that can help with labor! Thanks to a wonderful doula friend at A Caring Doula, TaKiesha Smith, who helped me when I was stumped on what to write about, giving me the idea for
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