Worthy One Doula Care

04/16/2023

So fight hard to have a good team, tribe, and family around you as you care for them, cause you are going to need some help regarding your emotions while providing 24/7 regulation for baby!

Quote of the Day

04/09/2023

Pregnancy causes the smooth muscles to relax, all over, not just where we need them to! Here's an easy breathing exercise you can do anywhere if walking isn't an option.

Another way to conquer heartburn is to walk after every meal. This also stabilizes and reduces blood sugar spikes, as the sugar finds its way more quickly into your muscles from your blood.

Good luck! Remember, it's temporary!

04/04/2023

When medical care is too far and difficult to reach, some rural Canadians are turning to unassisted home births for lack of a better option.

03/05/2023

Pregnancy is an ever changing, unknown story unfolding inside us and around us. All we can do is prepare for the best and have support there In case of the worst. How ever pregnancy goes it will touch you deeply and teach you to Feel more than you thought possible.

"Since our photos are being shared a lot again, I figured it would be a good to introduce y’all to my sweet Echo-Louise.

So before I get into it, I guess I should apologize for how cold I may seem online. Originally when took these photos of my daughter, I never thought they would be shared as many times as they have been. My daughter has been seen around the world, but I was NOT prepared for that. On top of her impending death, I was met with a s**t ton of comments. Most praising my little miracles and sending congratulations. Some were of curiosity, wondering why my precious Echo wasn’t in the NICU. But a large handful were nasty. Unfortunately, I remember those and they still sting. So now, when people choose to not read my captions, or share her story without explanation I get a little upset. So for that, I may have come off strong to genuine wonder.

We (my ex husband and I) walked into our 20 week ultrasound to to find out if our little peach was male or female. We were sooooooo excited to find out that we were having a little girl! Then the tech got quiet, and asked if we were off on our conception date. I told her no, as she was planned. Anyways, she proceeded to tell me that we had IUGR and was going to send us to Maternal fetal medicine to get a better understanding of what was going on. We got a blood test and her diagnosis came back for Down’s syndrome. She also had a bad heart that would need surgery right after birth. This was hard news, but I was sooo happy that she would be able to live.

The doctor wanted to be sure and urged me to get an amniocentesis. I did, smiling through the procedure because I knew my baby girl was a warrior. At 28 weeks the geneticist called us to inform us that our baby actually had a rare chromosomal conditioning called triploidy. She explained that it was a tripling of ever chromosome. She had 69 chromosomes and it was “incompatible with life.” I was also informed it was too late to terminate and that she would not be born alive. At the same time, I was told that most babies never make it this far in pregnancy with this condition. It was the first case she’s seen in her career.

So, I continued with my pregnancy as normally as I could. I made preparations to bring my daughter home. I shopped and bought her soooo many outfits. I just never accepted that my baby girl wouldn’t be born alive. The day finally came when my water broke. I was so afraid of my daughter passing away during a vaginal birth (because of her condition, her skill never formed completely) I begged for a section. My ob prepped me, cut me open and laid my perfectly formed, 1 lb 12 oz baby girl on my chest at 11:12 pm.

She took a breath and made a little squeak. I was absolutely In love.

I was told that she only had maybe 2 hours to live before she expired, so they never took her off of me to clean her up! I wouldn’t let her go. After about 4 hours they finally cleaned her up and I got to see her cute little face without the vernix lol! Absolutely stunning she was!

Rachel came to take photos of her so we could cherish, and we posted them on here! We never intended for so many people to see them!

A few days later, my perfect baby girl grew tired, closed her eyes on my chest and took in her last breath. I felt her first and last breath. As hard as it was, knowing her was a true gift.

She was my angel on earth and now she’s my angel in spirit."

~ Written and shared by Echo's mama, Ebony ❤️

03/05/2023

Often mothers that I work for see homebirth as rose petals floating in a birth pool and woman J breathing their baby out. But what birth really is, is vomit, sweat, and tears with some “I can’t do it anymore”. 

I do my best to prepare women for the work of birth, and in my heart always knowing that each and everyone of them can do it, I’m just their to remind that they can.

Once the birth is over you get this incredible gift, plus the empowerment that your body did this incredible thing! Sometimes it takes a minute before that empowerment materializes and that’s ok.

When this momma was in the throws of transition I could tell she was struggling from the inside but on the outside she was cool and calm so I took a video of it to show her later on. She could not believe it was the same person.

Birth is hard work and we can do it!

Thanks for choosing me to be your midwife ❤️😘

02/23/2023

Our very own senior student, Ashley Jungjohan is a twin herself. When I asked her what’s the most important thing for me to know about twins, she responded immediately that they don’t like being apart. Even in birth.

And when baby A was waiting for her sister, we made sure to remind her that her sister was safe and joining her soon.
When sister finally joined us, we put the babies cheek to cheek and all the crying immediately stopped.
I don’t know if it was the exhaustion, or the triumph or simply the holiness of the babies being reunited, but there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

(Dutch Mama Doula and Photographer)

02/05/2023