Naturally Earth Bound

02/04/2020

Hello everyone, I've been taking a much needed break from photography & doula-ing.
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But I'M BACK 🎉 📸
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Please message me for photography services & while I do plan to continue posting birth positive & doula related content, I will be unavailable as a birth doula for now.
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My page will be getting some work done, to help newcomers find my information so keep an eye out for upcoming specials ❤

10/01/2019

06/09/2019

Prepare to say all the “awwweeee”s because this boy is seriously the cutest! 😍 Happy first birthday Rowyn!
Also, Rowyn’s mom makes rugs and other creations from recycled plastic bags and clothes! 🌎

05/17/2019

How cool are placentas?
Here's a few interesting placenta facts:

- The placenta is made up of 50% cells from the mother and 50% of the cells from the baby. If you know anything about organ donation, you will know how amazing it is that the mother’s body doesn’t reject it.

- The s***m is responsible for creating the placenta and umbilical cord. So, technically, the placenta is *his* organ- growing in your body, supporting the baby you both created. How beautiful is that?

- The baby’s blood and the mother’s blood never actually meet. The mothers blood carries all the oxygen and nutrients to the placenta which then filters out any impurities or toxins, then transfers the ‘goods’ into the vessels to the babies blood.

- A placenta is typically about 1/6th the weight of the baby (1-3 lbs).

- A baby can send stem cells through the placenta to heal its mother organs if they are struggling, including the brain, liver, kidney and lung. The placenta also creates cells to protect the mother’s heart and fend off breast cancer.

- The placenta performs the duties of a lung, liver, kidney and its own endocrine system providing all the hormones for both mama and baby throughout pregnancy.

*information taken from doulaspot.com*

05/15/2019

Partners: your presence matters. You may think you don't know what you're doing...you may be uncertain if you have what it takes...

But the truth is that all you need to do is BE WITH your partner. Hold space. You don't have to fix it or make it go away. You just need to exist with and honor the person that you love...the person that you love who is bringing your baby earthside.

Josh and Casey illustrated this so beautifully during the birth of their first born daughter. Josh held her hand, never left her side. You can see the empathy in his face and the passion in his embrace. THIS is what birth can look like. It can be the most incredible depiction of the love you share...

05/15/2019

Interesting read

Everyone should have this information. 👇🏼
This way, if you choose to have IV fluids and or need them, newborn weight and loss/gain can account for this in the first weeks.
In 2011 a team of Canadian researchers published a study which linked routine IV fluids with excessive weight loss in newborns. The study concluded that it takes about 24 hours for babies to correct their fluid state and therefore a true birth weight should be done at 24 hours. Here's the issue with with weighing baby at birth with a mother who received IV fluids: those fluids not only over saturate the mother (throwing her into an electrolyte imbalance), but this same thing happens to baby!
So let's say you had the typical hospital birth..labored for 12 hours with fluids being pumped into you the entire time. Baby is born weighing 8lbs 8oz. You go to your 3 day postpartum checkup and baby is down to 7lbs 5oz! Well..thats over a whole pound lost. The provider you see suddenly encourages you to supplement with formula because your baby is losing too much weight. You wonder how could this be...youve been nursing round the clock, changed plenty of wet diapers. How could this happen? .
You spent months researching breastfeeding and all its benefits for it to come down to this?..and at only 3 days postpartum! You feel like you've failed, but you fear that your baby is starving. So what do you do? You supplement...with formula. Next your milk supply drops because you're not bringing baby to the breast, but rather to the bottle. Before you know it you have an exclusively formula fed baby. .
This scenario is SO common, and I believe receiving IV fluids in labor is a HUGE part of the problem. As if the obstetric community hasn't failed women enough..now their "harmless" interventions caused you to lose all confidence in your ability to feed & nourish your baby from your breasts. .
So what can you do???
1. STAY OUT OF THE SYSTEM!
2. Say NO to routine IV fluids
3. Bring this study to attention if this happens to you
4. Continue nursing your baby. Bring baby to breast as first solution when she cries
5. Nurse in demand NOT on schedule



Edited to add:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1948093/

References:
https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1746-4358-6-9

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3174114/pdf/1746-4358-6-9.pdf

https://www.nfaap.org/sso/sso.aspx?nfredirect=https%3A%2F%2Fpediatrics.aappublications.org%2Fcontent%2F127%2F1%2Fe171.abstract%3Fsso%3D1%26sso_redirect_count%3D2%26nfstatus%3D401%26nftoken%3D00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000%26nfstatusdescription%3DERROR%253A%2520No%2520local%2520token&no-redirect

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine put this as well in one of its 2017 protocols.
https://abm.memberclicks.net/assets/DOCUMENTS/PROTOCOLS/3-supplementation-protocol-english.pdf

https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/08/15/study-shows-link-between-maternal-iv-fluids-and-weight-loss-in-newborns/

Good info form evidence based birth.
https://evidencebasedbirth.com/iv-fluids-during-labor/

05/12/2019

I LOVE the representation birth workers have been getting in the media lately! Congrats to Amy Schumer and her positive birth experience ❤️
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mother.ly/amy-schumer-doula-support-2636893868.amp.html

And everyone else who supported her during her hard pregnancy.

05/11/2019

What is a Doula?

05/10/2019

Hey Guys!

It's today! Which means I am here as promised to bring you a full gallery from this incredible birth journey of my beautiful clients and friends, Angie, Sam and John.

I will start by saying that if blood, or birth or breast feeding babies make you woozy, scroll on past (or go ahead and unfollow ) because this won't be the place for you.

I will briefly give you a run down of this before I leave you to this beautiful story.

This birth was preceded by another birth the night before, and my surrogate client was texting me to keep me updated that she thought perhaps they would be trying some at home stuff to get this babe to fancy coming out. I had just nicely arrived home from the first birth and got the call from Angie that it was time for me to come. I changed my clothes, scarfed down a meal, swapped out my memory cards and hit the road. I arrived to find Angie with her doula, midwives and intended fathers by her side. She was using the breast pump as seen in the first photo to try to bring on the contractions, and get things moving.

I was in total awe of this entire experience. I knew Angie was fierce, and very motivated to birth this baby in her own home, and with the support she had, I knew right away it would happen.

Surrogacy is an experience like NO other. I had so many emotions running through my veins the entire time. I took a quick break at one point in time and quietly sobbed in Angie's bathroom, because I was in complete awe of how much love there was floating around. Every nook and cranny of this house was filled with gratitude and appreciation and love.

After some intense labour, and some stalling with the waves, things picked back up and happened quickly after that.

The plan had been a water birth, but a couple of strong contractions on her couch later and Angie and the guys were face to face with their beautiful miracle. A very emotional exhale of "We did it guys. We DID it" followed, which ensured there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

I am sharing these photos here to show you home birth. I am sharing these photos to illustrate surrogacy. I am sharing these photos to share birth photography, and what the investment in me as your birth photographer provides you. Each gallery looks different because your stories are different. I will always honour your stories.
Please know, that this page is love. It will only ever be love, and anything other than love will never last long here. My clients are my heart, and sharing your heart makes you vulnerable. Please, please admire these with LOVE.

AND.....As always. SHARING IS CARING.
The best way to support small businesses like mine, is to SHARE, COMMENT, LIKE these photos. So that this beautiful story can be seen.

With love, Meagan
xo

05/09/2019

05/07/2019

When your birthing journey as a mother starts with an emergency early c-section...but then ends up here.

My dear friend gave birth to her 6th baby at home - a safe, peaceful, and joyful birth.

Her water broke in the early morning. She rested...not feeling contractions, only cramps...until suddenly they were coming on strong.

I got to her house 15 minutes later, and I could tell we were about to have a baby. Her midwives weren't here, but she knew exactly what to do and where to go. She birthed her baby boy into the water just minutes after they walked through the door.

Her oldest daughter watched from the corner of the room. Her other kiddos stumbled in to meet their brother after sleeping through his birth.

They snuggled together, cried together, laughed together.

Homebirth isn't just about mom or baby...it's about family being at the center of the birth experience.

05/07/2019

EVERY MOM DESERVES A DOULA!

"She's 37, first birth. I don't know... Let's see how that goes."

05/06/2019

In the early morning in mid-December, I met my baby.

She's nearing 5 months, and I find myself returning to these images almost daily. Birth matters. I truly believe our birthing days stay with us for the rest of our days.

Her birth was holy. Intense yet gentle.

These images are real and some of them are raw. If you don't like placentas, or birth or blood...then you might want to move on. But if you believe that birth is powerful and transformative and beautiful (like I do!) I think you'll like seeing this album.

And I share in hopes that more people can approach their own births with hope, anticipation, and joy.

Thanks to the Denver Center for Birth and Wellness for providing such a powerful and safe space to meet my baby. And thank you Rebecca for being my partner...and taking these images for me. They are priceless.

05/04/2019

**INFORMED CONSENT and REFUSAL**

One thing I often spend a good deal of time talking about in prenatals is informed consent and informed refusal in the birth space.

There are so many people who don't know that they are allowed to (and encouraged to) speak up and ask questions when being told things. Even if the medical provider words questions as statements, you have the RIGHT to receive all the information you need, so that you can confidently consent OR refuse what they are offering.

This chart is a good thing to memorize and the acronym makes it easy!

As an example the doctor may say "We need to break your water now, so that your labor picks up."

You may want more information, so ask:

~ "Is this an emergency?"

If they say no, then ask the following questions:

~ "What are the benefits of breaking my water?"
~ "What are the risks to breaking my water?"
~ "Are there any alternatives we can try first to speed labor up?"
~ "What happens if we do nothing?"

Then ask yourself:

~ "what is my intuition telling me after hearing those answers? What about my partner's?"

If, after hearing the answers to those questions you decide to consent, wonderful. If you decide to refuse, wonderful!

The key here is that you were fully informed on the procedure and you were able to make an educated decision.

Remember to use your BRAIN in the birth space!

04/30/2019

04/26/2019

This baby made eye contact with both of her parents immediately after birth. She looked up at her mama right away, and then turned to her papa, who had lifted her up from the water and into their family's arms. Amazing!
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📷 & words:

04/23/2019

04/14/2019

You guys should follow my Instagram page! Instagram.com/naturallyearthbound
🌎🌙♥️