Mindful Doula Cassandra

05/16/2026

International Doula Institute thanks so much for sharing my post! I plan to share more informative graphics about birth, postpartum and breastfeeding in the future!

Birth is just the beginning, many women spend so much time preparing for birth that they don't think to prepare for postpartum. I plan to work with you to provide your ideal birth and postpartum support.

05/15/2026

05/14/2026

We love this old reminder (popped up on memories) from Voice For Parents.

Even the best and most skilled midwife, nurse, OB, etc., cannot guarantee a birth outcome. However, skill and consistent positive support can make even the most difficult birth empowering rather than traumatic.

When choosing a care provider for your pregnancy and birth, it's so important to choose a provider you trust.

05/13/2026

So excited to start reading by Jen Hamilton ! Starting with the audio and going to buy a physical copy to add to my lending library for my doula clients soon!

05/13/2026

🚨🚨: Alarming ongoing and worsening trend in the US is the closure of maternity care providers. Nearly half of US counties lack ob/gyn care.

Maternity care deserts are counties or regions with limited or no access to OB services, defined by the March of Dimes as lacking hospitals or birth centers offering OB care, and having no obs, certified nurse midwives, or family physicians who deliver babies. These areas frequently exist in rural, low-income, and marginalized communities.

While some of these deserts are served by lifesaving and access providing CPM, traditional, and direct entry midwives, a lack of close access to a higher level of care if needed leads to worse maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.

For some families, this looks like long drives for prenatal care, less than recommended prenatal care, and even no prenatal care.

When it comes to birth, this can lead to plan and unplanned unassisted birth, scheduled inductions, limited access to higher levels of care as needed.

This is a multifaceted issue rooted in medicaid and public health funding, insurance reimbursement levels, malpractice costs, lack of autonomy for maternity care providers due to legislation, hospital system costs, etc.

Studies suggest increasing midwifery care could aid in filling in gaps, improving outcomes, and improving continuity of care. However, we still need access to maternity hospitals, neonatalogisits, NICUs, etc., for those in need of higher levels of care.

👇🏽 Did you navigate a maternity care desert during your pregnancy? Do your provide care in communities lacking access?

05/13/2026

Storing milk? Remember: First in, first out! Use those labels to keep your 'liquid gold' organized.

05/10/2026

Did you know babies have super tiny stomachs at birth?

If it doesn't feel like you have a lot of milk the first day it's because you're not supposed to. The first couple days is about telling your body baby has been born and you're ready for milk. And baby is getting tiny amounts of nutrient dense colostrum.

Because their bellies are tiny, they eat VERY frequently the first several days of life. The good news? This stage of breastfeeding isn't forever!

By day 10, they're able to comfortable consume 1
5-2oz at each feeding. This allows them to stretch time between feeds.

Over the next several weeks after a few months, they'll eventually reach peak volume and some babies might consume 2-5 ounces of breast milk. This is when babies are able to go longer between feeds.

Were you surprised by how frequently your newborn ate?

04/28/2026

🚨 Study finds women who birth at home feel empowered.

Please note this study was about planned home birth with a midwife and not planned unassisted or a precipitous birth unexpectedly at home. Not because those can't be empowering, but simply to point out the language used in this post. Home birth = planned with a midwife in this context.

Around 98.4% of US births occur in the hospital. Midwifery fell out of favor between 1900-1960s due to a systematic erasure and calculated campaigns to encourage families to birth with physicians at hospitals.

What we've learned over the years, more intervention, more money spent per birth, does not equal improved outcomes. Access to intervention is important, but intervention for all as the standard hasn't improved outcomes.

Elizabeth Collins, a graduate student looked at birth from an anthropological perspective.

When women birthed together, and when women stayed together, they were much more protected and valued, Collins said. She noted that women weren't always aware of their birth options, the option to birth at home. For those who did make the choice at home, they were often highly educated.

"Collins sees a policy-driven information gap that inhibits women from considering all choices regarding childbirth. “We have the power to make choices, so why is that information suppressed? … It’s not the science; it’s the policy, she says,"

Other countries integrate midwifery into their national healthcare systems. Unless there are higher risk factors, many only see midwives. In the US, midwives aren't always integrated and most women see an OB for their pregnancy.

Yet despite spending more money and having more seeing a higher level of care, the US has poorer outcomes.

"This this research suggests that women who choose home birth are generally well-educated. Respondents viewed hospital birth for low-risk patients as based predominately on policy and institutional convenience over patient care. They value the relationship and trust between patient and caregiver (midwife) and the control that allows them over their bodies."

Do you think the US will ever adopt more midwifery models of care?