Spring Birthing Services

08/29/2021

Alllll of this!

✨The 3 R's of Labor✨
During labor, a mom who is coping well and feels safe and supported goes through a series of coping mechanisms: relaxation, rhythm, and ritual.
🌸RELAXATION
During early labor, the mom might be able to relax during and/or between contractions. This is an important part of the labor process. Anything that you find calming can help during this time. Resting, shower, massage, music, breathing, etc.
🌸RHYTHM
Doing the same relaxation technique in the same way makes it become a rhythm. Some moms rock back and forth or sway, some like to count through their contractions, some find visualization and their thought process helpful.
🌸RITUAL
Repeating the same relaxing rhythm through each contraction makes it become a ritual. Most women do change their ritual from time to time throughout labor, but during this time the only person who should change the ritual is the mom herself. Changing it or causing disruption can throw her off since she can begin to rely on this to get through contractions.
*Photo source unknown, so if you know who's it is let me know so I can properly credit them.

06/03/2021

Truth!

I believe the power of a birth plan is not the plan itself but the act of creating one.⁠
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The time spent researching your options.⁠
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The contemplation of what you may or may not want for your birth.⁠
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The understanding that birth isn't something you can plan, but the reality that you have more rights and options than you are led to believe!

05/23/2021

So much this!

05/18/2021

As precious as babies are, don't forget about you! You need the most support during labor and pregnancy! It's the beginning of many decisions you'll make as a parent. Make sure you start off on the right foot with the best prenatal care! Ask me how a doula can benefit you!!

📷 BeccaLeigh Photography

05/14/2021

During any of your births, did you hire a doula?! I know I should’ve!

05/07/2021

Whoah!! Incredible! How many babies do you have?! I’ll answer in the comments!

A Malian woman has given birth to nine babies at once — after expecting seven, according to Mali’s Minister of Health and the Moroccan clinic where the nonuplets were born.

It appeared to be the first time on record that a woman had given birth to nine surviving babies at once. https://abcn.ws/3f1R8ql

04/29/2021

This. All of this.👏👏

04/21/2021

03/12/2021

Let's talk baby!!
How much did your baby/babies weigh at birth?

02/23/2021

All of this!

02/05/2021

We welcomed little Miss Ruby into the world this week! ❤
Her delivery was long and exhausting but her mama did NOT give up and achieved a successful VBAC! Proud is an understatement!

PROMO: Book Spring Birthing Services for your birth and I will throw in a FREE mini session (5-7 images) to capture those first moments!
ENDS: SEPTEMBER 2021!

📷 BeccaLeigh Photography

01/30/2021

This here is the one!

This needs to be addressed.

01/20/2021

Throw your due date out the window!

Your baby will decide when to enter earth side. I promise it won’t be forever. If you listen closely, your body will tell you when the end is near. 🙃

“DUE DATES: Did you know that doctors still calculate expected date of delivery using a method formulated at the start of the 19th century. The method is known as Naegele’s rule; You take the first day of a expectant persons last menstrual period, add a year, subtract three months, and add seven days. How confusing is that! Naegele’s rule is based on the assumption that the birth person has a 28-day menstrual cycle, with ovulation on day 14, but cycles range anywhere between 21 and 35 days. These issues might help explain why Naegele’s rule isn’t very accurate and, therefore, why due dates aren’t, either. Babies simply do not care about due dates, and turn up when they feel like it and when they are perfectly ripe: the motivation for being born is something that, as yet, scientists cannot fully explain. Some babies will be ‘early’, some ‘on time’ and some ‘late’, in fact, only about 4% of babies arrive on their actual due date, and research has shown that the length of pregnancy can vary by up to five weeks. So, like in Uganda, instead of having a due date, have a due month”

🌿✨ Art by -
Words by .hill from Positive Birth 📚

01/11/2021

Haven’t thought about delayed cord clamping?? Look it up. Get informed of all the amazing benefits of doing so!

See that baby’s cord, how it looks white and limp.
This baby received its full blood volume. Approximately 30% of a baby’s blood volume transfers to them from the placenta through their cord after they are born.

That is of course only if the cord is left attached until it is white.

Wait for white.
Unsure of the benefits?
Look up optimal cord clamping benefits.

Welcome to the village little one ❤️

📸
Shared via
Repost Shari Criso RN, CNM, IBCLC

11/16/2020

Whoops!

11/10/2020

Have y’all seen this circulating?! 🤯🤯🤯

Let’s just take the time to appreciate the progressiveness of medical science.

11/02/2020

Happy November!!!! Can we say hello Christmas?! Just me? 🙈

I am officially ready for clients!
If you know someone that knows someone, let them know they need a doula in their life and you know just the one! 😉

**I need to attend 3 births to obtain my certification. Be the first to book for a special promo!**

Thank you!! ❤️

10/26/2020

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

“My baby is too big, I need to be induced!”
“I have low fluid levels, I need to be induced or my baby will die!”

I hear it so often I figured I should share about ultrasounds used to predict fetal weight, size, and amount of amniotic fluid.
How accurate are ultrasounds? It is claimed that they are nearly 95% accurate but they are also claimed to be safe when there are no real unbiased studies available proving such. I decided to look into studies to see how accurate these measurements were.

It is not rare for a woman to have a suggested ultrasound in the 3rd trimester to determine baby’s size or to measure fluid levels. From my findings, this is a terrible suggestion. Firstly, ultrasounds are not accurate in the 3rd trimester. After 28 weeks gestation there is less than a 50% average chance the results will be accurate.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16098852]

Ultrasound measurements in the end of pregnancy can be off by more than 2lbs when measuring for fetal weight. YIKES! Choosing to induce or having a major abdominal surgery (cesarean) based on an ultrasound that has less than 50% chance of being accurate? Would you?

Doctor Aaron B. Caughey, who helped develop the 2014 guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said “We really urge caution because our tools for identification of a large fetus are so poor, “We just aren’t very good at predicting birth weight — every study in the literature would tell you that.” He was not lying! There are other means of measuring size of baby as well as gauging amniotic fluid level. Manual palpitations are an easy option to gauge these predictions. This is practiced in the art of midwifery, not as much in obstetrics and gynecology. OBGYNs are trained to medicalize pregnancy and birth as much as possible. Add as many procedures/medications as can be used for financial gain.

Also, size of baby shouldn’t be something to fear. Our bodies can deliver a baby regardless of our frame size or possible weight of the baby expected. A 100lb woman can absolutely deliver a 10+ lb baby, I’ve seen it! Actually, it is said that delivering a larger baby is easier over all compared to that of a small baby. Our bodies do not grow babies they cannot bring forth (for the most part, of course there will be exceptions!).

Our human form was not created to fail, though it can. Thankfully, we have facilities to assist in these rare occurrences! Never, should a woman agree to induction or cesarean due to the projected size of baby.

Those women with a GD diagnosis are often told they must be induced due to fetal size gathered via ultrasound. They are one of the most targeted populations to suggest ultrasounds for week after week in the 3rd trimester. Why? Why are they doing this when it’s proven an inaccurate way to gauge in a diabetic pregnancy?

[https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(13)01433-6/abstract; 335: Accuracy of third trimester ultrasound in predicting macrosomia in patients with diabetes in pregnancy]

Measuring fluid levels via ultrasound is another that is often followed by a suggestion of induction or cesarean. Again, in the 3rd trimester ultrasounds aren’t that accurate as we already found. It is also found to be an insufficient way to measure amniotic fluid levels. This study below shows exactly what I see occur insanely often – the over diagnosis of oligohydramnios. Oligohydramnios is the deficiency of amniotic fluid (having low fluid levels). Providers like to use this as a means of suggesting induction or cesarean. I’ve seen first hand, providers claim that baby will suffocate with out the amniotic fluid (face palm, that’s not how this works!). Such terrible suggestions come when they get an ultrasound reading of low levels, when they aren’t even accurate!

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11430959]

Moral of the story is ultrasounds are not accurate to measure fluid levels or measure size & weight of a baby near the end of pregnancy. The tools used currently are not sufficient, as Dr. Caughey stated. This was to be a short article but here we are with a book. I’ll conclude here with leaving a few more links.

Accuracy of all predictors worsened progressively as pregnancy proceeded - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/1950881/
Routine ultrasound in late pregnancy does not confer benefit on mother or baby - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26121659/…
Routine ultrasound in the third trimester is unnecessary - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/11685852/…
https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-for-induction-or-c…/