healthy premie!

In early September, I received a call from a client of mine who was due mid-October. She was on her way to the hospital because she thought her bag of waters had broken. We talked for a short time on the phone and then kept each other informed over the next few days. It turns out her water did break (for an unknown reason), but they wanted to keep her without inducing her so she could hit the 34 week mark before having her baby. We emailed back and forth and had a few phone conversations throwing around ideas for her options in such circumstances. The induction took a long time and was a rather difficult process as her body wasn't yet prepared to undergo labor, but after only four or five pushes (!), their little boy was born at 4lb 3oz. The most amazing part - he was breathing completely on his own! He stayed in the NICU for a short time but was amazingly strong and only needed help with eating as his suck/swallow reflex had not developed at the time. Now he is even stronger at 7lb - living life at home with his parents and breastfeeding well.

I am amazed at this story for so many reasons. First of all, my clients were both incredibly calm and accepting throughout the entire experience, taking each piece of the process as it came to them and making the best of it. To have a baby six weeks early must be difficult for so many reasons, but they simply opened their arms with excitement and said, "Here we go!" To think that such a tiny babe could breathe on his own also fills me with admiration - at a baby's abilities, at a woman's body... And now to see his growth and his progress makes me really happy and contributes to my belief in the benefits of breastmilk. I am also thankful that we live in a place where this babe could get the help he needed, even if it was only a bit of assistance. Many babies need more help than this, and we are very lucky to have access to some exceptional care.

Here's to happy endings...

Costume Swap in Swarthmore

I will be one of the local, green vendors at the following event. Come out and join us Friday, October 7th for what looks like an entertaining evening! Details below... 

The Swarthmore Community Center is located at 715 Harvard Ave. Swarthmore, PA 19081. 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Childbirth Educator

"I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand." -Ancient Chinese Proverb

I spent the past weekend attending an intense childbirth educator training. Through discussion and interaction within the group, I learned a great deal about birth and discovered a bundle of fun and enticing teaching tools. Now that I am creating my own childbirth classes, I am enjoying the process of deciding not only what to teach but also how to teach. Instead of telling and telling and telling some more, I love figuring out how I can get the class out of their seats, learning through doing. I also hope to instill within women the confidence necessary to trust their bodies as well as their intuition. I remember a moment during my labor when I couldn't seem to progress further. I felt stuck (or rather, my son felt stuck). A few ideas were given to me, but I didn't like any of them, and when I did what my body told me to do, I progressed, and my son was born shortly thereafter. That was not something I learned in my childbirth class, but by emphasizing our natural ability to give birth, women will learn to feel confident enough to understand and to follow what their bodies are telling them. Within our culture, it is hard to believe in our bodies. Apart from how "sexy" women are supposed to be, our bodies don't get much attention. Instead, the focus is on how we can "help" our bodies along. In reality, in most cases, we don't need any help when it comes to birth. But we still have to learn, understand, and believe that to be true.

I hope that my classes enable women and their partners to discover the ideas and techniques that will help them to have their best birth. I hope that my clients will leave with greater confidence and understanding - in birth and in themselves.

Meet the Doulas at Studio 34!

Join us on Thursday, April 21st at Studio 34 in West Philadelphia (4522 Baltimore Ave) for a discussion of why doulas are beneficial during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. Local doulas will be in attendance to answer questions and discuss options and availability with expecting families. Bring your questions and your friends!

Hope to see you there...
kate.

Meet the Doulas.
April 21st.
7pm.
Studio 34 - 4522 Baltimore Ave. West Philadelphia.
facebook invite here

let the contractions begin!

"surprisingly, each fetus determines when it wants to be born. a small specific area of the brain sets in motion a series of events that will lead to the beginning of labor."
-klaus & klaus.

i attended a birth yesterday that was full of reminders for me as a doula. my client's water broke early in the morning. late morning she went to see the midwives at the hospital for antibiotics because she was group b strep+. they suggested considering induction and insinuated that she probably would not start contractions on her own. she decided to leave the hospital after the antibiotics were through in order to try some at-home methods of induction. castor oil, homeopathy, acupuncture, etc. - hours went by, and still no contractions. the midwives had encouraged her to wait 12 hours at the most before induction. my client decided to return to the hospital only when her second round of antibiotics was needed - 15 hours after her bag of waters broke! and here's the beauty of it - her contractions began one hour before she went back in. she ended up having a lovely birth. from the time her contractions began, her labor lasted only 7 hours. this was her first baby. i cannot assume what her labor would have looked like had she been induced, but it would have been an unnecessary intervention - and the contractions from the induction would have been more difficult than the ones her body was producing naturally, making it harder for her to have the birth experience she was hoping for.

i was really proud of my client for trusting her body enough to leave the hospital in order to pursue home induction. she wasn't willing to risk infection, but she felt that she needed to at least try to let her body do its own thing. and it worked. i spoke to her about an hour before her contractions began, and at that time, i began preparing myself for an induced labor. i was thrilled when i found out her labor started on its own and was reminded of the natural beauty of the workings of our bodies.

now it is time to educate others to trust their bodies the way my client did - to trust without being reckless.

a birth yesterday...

I attended a birth yesterday and had a rather shocking and pleasant experience. When my client's doctor came into the room after my arrival, he immediately introduced himself, shook my hand, and told me he was glad I was there. That, in itself, was shocking - I am not usually welcomed by the medical team working with my clients, particularly if the caregiver is a doctor as opposed to a midwife. I continued to be amazed throughout my client's labor. He only came in the room a few times, but every time he told my client that she was doing great, that she had a great team. He was gentle and didn't try to force her into any decision. After the baby was born, he had to stitch up a small tear. He explained to the new father that "in the old days" they used to perform episiotomies, but they realized that it only made the tearing worse and now just let the skin tear if it needs to. Before we parted ways, he asked me for my card so he can refer his interested clients to a doula in the area. I was literally amazed and found myself wondering why doctors have such a hard time accepting doulas into the labor room. Of course, this man was a family doctor, and in my limited experience, I have found a great difference between family doctors and OBs. I won't make any firm judgments because everyone is different, but as someone's doula, I would recommend a family doctor over an OB every time.

The birth itself was incredibly lovely as well. A startling experience all around...

postpartum hemorrhage

Two weeks after my son was born, I suffered a severe hemorrhage that was unexpected and incredibly scary. Thankfully we went to the hospital where I received the necessary treatment to fix the problem. Every year, more than 500,000 women around the world die from pregnancy-related complications - many of them due to postpartum hemmorhage. These lifewraps work to stabilize a woman until she can receive whatever treatment she needs. What a difference they can make, especially in the developing world. I love them and hope to learn how to use them in the near future.