Labor & Birth Related Articles & Blog Posts

Did you know that much of your baby’s blood is outside of it’s body at the moment of birth? And, that in the United States and Europe, this blood will never make it to your child? You read that right, the umbilical cord in most births in 1st-world nations is cut before your baby has received [...]

In the United States Cesarean sections are performed on about a third of women giving birth, more than in any other country. The routine practice after surgery is to separate the mother and baby which interferes with skin-to-skin contact. Even after a C-section, there are many benefits to having mom hold her baby as early [...]

The most classic definition of ‘Skin-to-Skin Care’ (which is the same as ‘Kangaroo Care’) refers specifically to sessions of 60 minutes of continuous touch between baby and mom in the first moments, hours and days after baby is born. First, baby is placed on mother’s chest immediately after birth, where the cascade of normal hormonal [...]

Becoming a birth doula was one of the best and most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made. I cannot express with words the sheer joy I have experienced at each and every one of the 50+ births I’ve attended throughout my career as a doula. Although most of my “work” as a doula at the present [...]

When it comes to dads and doulas couples can have a myriad of concerns, but the truth is both play a very important role.  As a doula and mother who knows firsthand how important dads and doulas can be, I’d like to address some of the most common concerns – because dads and doulas make [...]

Many women and couples are now choosing to hire a professional birth doula to support them during their birthing journey. If you’re considering hiring a doula, here are some tips on where to find one, and what you should ask her before you seal the deal. If you are looking for a birth doula, I [...]

Tick tock. Tick tock. TICC TOCC. At the moment of birth, only about 2/3 of the baby’s blood is in the baby. The remaining third is still in the umbilical cord and placenta. During the third stage of labor, which lasts from the delivery of the baby to the delivery of the placenta, the cord [...]

Get Yourself a Doula. Trained labor support is worth its weight in gold, especially through a VBAC.  If your previous birth ended in a cesarean after a long, hard labor – or, if you never got to labor at all – you may need an experienced support person present through your VBAC to help keep [...]

Before you even get pregnant, start searching out a supportive VBAC provider. Simply asking your provider if they support VBAC may not be enough.  The answer may be flatly no, but it could also be “Yes, but…” 

In the nearly two years since my VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), I have had the pleasure of bearing witness to a plethora of other VBAC stories through my connection to the birth community. Many mothers know they want a VBAC, but they may not be clear on what steps to take to get there.