Tri City Birth Collective

02/23/2026

To all of my Mae Health clients! Here is a prenatal yoga class happening tomorrow! Please join us!

02/23/2026

Sure does!

Emotional and physical birth support doesn’t compete with medical care; it complements it.💪🏽

Medical providers are responsible for monitoring health, managing risk, and making clinical decisions. Doulas focus on continuous, non-medical support: offering comfort measures, emotional reassurance, physical positioning, breathing support, and help navigating decisions as labor unfolds.

Doulas don’t replace doctors, midwives, or nurses. They work alongside them, staying with families throughout labor while medical teams may rotate or move between patients. Together, this creates a more supported, informed, and grounded birth experience, and improves medical outcomes.

As part of our February series, ‘Birth Support, Explained’, we are going back to basics on the power of doula care.🙌🏽 Stay tuned for more!

02/19/2026

👇 This is why we Doula. Justice.

Friendly reminder that birth work is rooted in justice work.

Everyone deserves dignity and safety in birth AND life.

02/19/2026

💚 If you didn't already know...you should know!! 💡
In Michigan, Doula care is covered by Medicaid! 🤯
If you have one of the health plans listed below, 👇or even straight Medicaid you qualify for Doula care services! (Being pregnant is the catch 😉)
📋 That's 12 visits (any combo of prenatal and postpartum visits) PLUS the continuous labor & birth support of a perinatal professional that is equipped to advocate for you, and is skilled in physical and emotional techniques of care!
🤰 Here are a few of the many topics covered at prenatal visits with a Doula:

✔️ Childbirth education
✔️ Unpacking past birth experiences
✔️ Labor position practice with a partner

💚 If you would like to schedule a free, virtual meet 'n greet for Doula care, use the contact form 👇 in the comments to connect! You birth story deserves to be held along with you and your baby.

Warmly,

Krystal Barnhart, CD(DONA), LCCE
☎️(989)820-2817
🌐www.tricitybirthcollective.com
📧tricitybirth@outlook.com

02/18/2026

💚 Just wrapped up a Lamaze series with the cutest couple expecting their 1st baby! 🥰 Seeing their transition from doutful and a bit fearful, to full-on belly laughs and confident smiles from Mom & Partner...magnificent! 🤌
📢 Did you know you can Lamaze in your own living room!? YESSS!!
Offering in-person, private sessions in the home of client's is surely a gift for this educator. 🫂

02/17/2026

❗️📢 Attention (all + future) clients! 📢 ❗️
If you have a participating Michigan Medicaid health plan, this is an important aspect to your care! Sign up today!

A doula is a non-medical birth companion who offers physical, emotional, and educational support during your pregnancy, when you give birth, and after your baby arrives, when you’re postpartum.

🤰🏾 Your doula will help you maintain a healthy pregnancy through nutrition and movement education. Provide childbirth education, and teach you comfort measures as you prepare to give birth.

🏥 Your doula will provide continuous support when you are in active labor in the hospital and work to ensure you feel seen and your birth plan wishes are honored as much as possible.

🤱🏾 After your baby is born, your doula will provide postpartum support in the form of lactation guidance, newborn care, and support adjusting to life with your baby. She is there to provide emotional support while you recover.

Thinking a doula may be right for you? See if you're eligible for covered doula support through Mae!

Sign up for Mae💜 today at MeetMae.com/SignUp

02/17/2026

😍 There's still time to register!

02/17/2026

💚 I've been laying low for a few reasons my friends!
❓️Which secret do you think I've been keeping? Use the heart key below 👇 to vote in the comments!

💜 Tri City Birth Collective is expanding to a multi-doula agency.

🧡 Krystal Barnhart will soon be a nationally certified Child Passenger Safety tech which = more help for new parents.

💛 Our lead Doula is in the process of publishing a book.

💙 Accesible Doula care is expanding to include more Medicaid health plans here at the TCBCollective.

Stay tuned for answers dear friends and growing families!
🎉💖😊👍

#

02/14/2026

💚 With all of the testing, measuring, timing, and data...it's easy to forget that we can trust our inner voice, too. Not all information has to come from external sources to be considered valid. Making space for listening to & following your intuition during labor and birth creates a safer and more empowered experience.

💚 How did your intuition surface during your pregnancy and birth? Share in the comments 😊👇

02/09/2026

💚 It's very important to remember that practices and procedures during labor & birth change over time. Often times seeking improvement...there is a tendency for medicine to go over-board. The few generations just prior to those giving birth now experienced some very harsh interventions. Twilight sleep is a great example of "comfort" being marketed to women by the medical system...if you aren't familiar with what twilight sleep entails look into it. 👀🤭

💚 My point is this: 🤰 To keep a low-risk labor & birth low risk, we must relearn to trust birth as an entire society. 🤰
‼️More than half of the often frightening and "emergent" cesarean births are an unnecessary and direct result of providers just doing "too much" - while not doing enough actual physical support during a physical process. ALSO routine cervical exams prenatally and during labor are also not evidence-based care - You can absolutely decline!

Warmly,
Krystal Barnhart CD(DONA), LCCE, Owner of Tri City Birth Collective located in Midland, MI while serving families in all of lower Michigan.

02/09/2026

💚 Doulas really are so much more than "nice to have". We are not all "crystals and sage" while chanting your baby out (although, we absolutely will if that's what your-best birth looks like!). 🥰 Check it out! 👇

A 2023 meta-analysis showed how doula support improves maternal health and birth outcomes.

This comprehensive review of data from 16 peer-reviewed studies confirmed what many of us have long observed: doula support matters and it is associated with improved maternal and infant health outcomes.

These studies found that doula support was associated with:

✅️ Reduced Cesarean and Premature Birth Rates
✅️ More Positive Lactation Outcomes
✅️ Shorter Labor and Less Pain Medication Use
✅️ Improved Emotional Well-Being

Doula care isn’t just “nice.” Doula support is evidence-based care associated with better health and emotional wellness outcomes.

Read more about the meta-analysis here:
https://internationaldoulainstitute.com/2026/02/how-doula-support-improves-maternal-health-and-birth-outcomes-insights-from-a-meta-analysis/

02/09/2026

👏👏👏 Love this so much. Support is growing for growing families!!