So excited to share my podcast episode with David Arrell of Baby Talk on Bettering the Birth Space. We chatted about how working with a certified Body Ready Method Pro and using Body Ready Method can stack the cards in your favor for a more efficient birth. Take a listen here!
David’s book, Welcome to Fatherhood, is a fun read with honest reflections of someone as a support partner during pregnancy and birth.
Building community is in my blood. As an only child, I’ve spent a lifetime creating a sisterhood of friends who I’m strongly bonded to. This goes beyond my personal life and into my work as a doula. I’m proud to be a founding Board member of Birth Fest Milwaukee where we brought together nearly 30 birth workers, providers, and family oriented businesses to The Yard at Bayshore on a beautiful summer day in July to connect with families and the community.
I had the privilege of sharing a panel on the topic of “The Importance of Doula Support”. It was comforting (and affirming) to hear the OB and midwife on the panel express how delighted they are when their client has a doula to support them through labor. The medical team plays a major role in monitoring the health of the baby and mother and are not trained in providing comfort measures for the birthing person.
Birth Fest Milwaukee 2022
Bringing people together has many benefits of potential collaborations, learning about what other services are available, and strengthening relationships. It was a refreshing experience, especially after so much separation during the pandemic years. We are better together.
I am titilated to be invited to participate in the Better Birth Pro series panel on June 5th. Becoming certified in the Body Ready MethodTM has provided me a plethora of tools and knowledge on when to use them to stack the cards in your favor by optimizing the pregnant body for a more comfortable pregnancy, more efficient birth, and a smoother recovery.
Why did you, fellow birth worker, decide to work with pregnancy and/or birth?
For me, it was because I could impact a client’s birth experience with evidence based tools to help them have the birth they desired.
That’s why I didn’t even hesitate when Body Ready MethodTM asked me to join the Better Birth Pro series in a panel discussion about our responsibility of supporting physiological birth beyond comfort measures.
I get to participate in a conversation about what this responsibility means to me and why I am a huge advocate of support beyond comfort. Don’t get me wrong, comfort measures are huge and they should not be tossed aside, but there is so much more we can and should do to support our clients!
Join us, June 5, at 1p ET as we put it all out there. We can’t expect to change the norms unless we are ready to talk about ‘em… and we are ready!
This is just ONE of five information packed sessions of the Better Birth Pro Series.
Check out the rest of the events and sign up free
Hope to see you on Zoom!
PS – All who register will gain replay access to all BBP sessions! You have nothing to lose. Sign up FREE here.
The Body Ready Method is an innovative and comprehensive approach to supporting the pregnant, birthing, and postpartum body. As a Certified BRMTM Pro, I’ve been trained to understand the what, the why, and the how to prepare the body to remain strong and functional during pregnancy and to create the balance, the support and the mobility needed for a more efficient birthing process and smoother postpartum recovery. Understanding birth biomechanics to know what positions and techniques to do to encourage progress and ease at any stage of the birthing process is essential to help my clients have the best birth experience possible.
As a BRMTM Pro, I aim to minimize the need for medical interventions by understanding the physiology and biomechanics of the birthing process.
The BRMTM Pro certification was the result of four months of intense study, attending weekly classes, passing weekly quizzes, watching oodles of hours of synchronous videos, reading the BRM manual, meeting weekly with my awesome study group, and passing a rigorous capstone interview.
Why would I put myself through all this when I have been trained as a doula for years and already had a comprehensive toolkit of techniques to assist my clients? Because it is the most current and innovative approach and I believe will be the standard going forward for birth workers to understand to deliver the highest level of service possible to our clients. So, I did this for YOU. And for me to know I am offering the best care possible to those I serve.
It’s all connected. We know that. But shoes and pregnancy, really? How we hold our body and use our body throughout the day impacts our tissues and alignment. In order for your baby to more easily find her way through the inlet of your pelvis, your body needs to be in neutral pelvis alignment, ideally with anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) stacked over pubic symphysis (PS) in a vertical plane. The shoes we wear affect our alignment and posture by causing us to tip forward and shorten and tighten our calf muscles. When that happens, our posterior chain is shortened and the front of our body has to work harder to keep us upright. The lower back arches forcing the hips and pelvis out of alignment to an anterior tilt making it more difficult for baby to enter the pelvic inlet. The ribs flare to keep us upright. The head and neck are pulled forward and we strain to keep our eyes on the horizon. The body adapts to how it is used and finds a way to keep you upright and not falling forward. The compensation pattern caused by stresses and mis-alignment bring the body into a less than optimal situation. Tension in the calves ultimately affects the pelvic floor which needs to be supple and responsive in order to yield for birth. So, yes, shoes impact pregnancy and birth because they affect our posture and alignment. So, what is a person to do? If you are one who has been in a high heel for much of your life, the transition to a lower heel would be helpful. Making that transition too rapidly might painful as your muscles need to adjust. Ideally spending as much time barefoot or in a flat shoe will help your body find its biomechanical advantage.
You can check your alignment by placing your fingers on these bony markers when you are seated and standing. If the ASIS appears to be in front of the PS, this would indicate an anteriorly tilted pelvis; a very common mis-alignment in our western world and popular shoe styles. There are many tools and positions we can share that will help bring back that biomechanical advantage and draw the pelvis closer to neutral, making it easier for your baby to find her way out. And who doesn’t want an easier labor? If you would like to schedule a session for an assessment of your alignment and posture, please reach out. In the mean time, you could try a wall stretch. A wall stretch for the calves is done in front of a wall. Stand close to a wall facing it. Be slightly away from the wall. Hold the wall with both hands with palms resting on it. Place one leg ahead of the other one with toes up on the wall. Bend this forward leg and do a stretching movement while keeping the other foot behind this leg. Hold and return to starting position. Do this three times. Do the exercise with the opposite leg also. You can also check out One Strong Mama, an exercise program designed for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum which addresses a comprehensive body alignment.
Labor and birth are unpredictable. Let’s start with that. However, there are things you can do to significantly affect your birth experience. Choosing your birth team is the first thing you can control. Many women think they should stay under the care of their gynecologist who they’ve had a relationship with for years. This may not be the best medical professional to care for you during your pregnancy and birth however. Once you develop a birth plan, a thoughtful guide to how you’d prefer your birth to go, you might find that your obstetrician is not in accord with your desires or regularly attends the type of birth you want. If that is the case, change! It is challenging to micro-manage a medical provider’s approach and makes for an uncomfortable relationship when that occurs. Consulting your doula for who in your area might be a better fit is a good place to start. It may be an obstetrician in a hospital, it could be a midwife in or out of hospital, or it could be in a stand alone birth center with a midwife. You have many choices and it is important to take the time to ask your medical provider questions during your visits to make sure they are the right person for you.
The next thing that you have control over is when to leave home for the hospital or birth center. Laboring at home for as long as possible is ideal. You will labor easier, faster, and more comfortably in your own home surrounded by your smells, food, pets, bed, etc. Feeling safe and secure is important for your body to open and release your baby and that feeling is best experienced in your own home. Typically, we suggest you leave for the hospital when you are 4-1-1. Your contractions are four minutes apart, lasting one minute long, and this has continued for one hour. This would put you in active labor and chances of the transition to the hospital slowing your labor at this point is less likely. You will avoid unnecessary interventions if you are closer to active labor when you arrive.
Lastly, know your options and what is normal. Work with your doula to learn skills that help labor progress and you be more comfortable. Your doula will provide some childbirth education during your prenatal visits. She’ll practice comfort measures and labor positions with you so you will be comfortable with these techniques when labor begins. She’ll offer you referrals to local bodyworkers including pelvic floor physical therapists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists if needed. She’ll support your partner, in addition, so s/he can give the birthing person effective comfort measures.
Take advantage of the things you can control to influence the type of birth you will experience. Birth is a transformational experience in your life unlike any other, take charge and use the tools available to you to have the best experience possible. Find your doula today to help you control what you can.
Labor and birth are unpredictable. Let’s start with that. However, there are several things you can do
Beyond the flowers and Hallmark cards, Mother’s Day offers an opportunity to pause and reflect on what mothering is and who wears that mantle. This beautiful prayer from Rev. Ongiri affirms all those who identify in those roles.
On Mother’s Day, let us mark how beautiful and complex it can be to mother and be mothered:
To those who have mothered, we thank you.
To those who rejoice in the work, the role, the presence of mothering and mothers, we celebrate with you.
To those who are in the thick of parenting children of any age, we appreciate you.
To those who experience loss through infertility, abortion, miscarriage, adoption or running away, we mourn with you.
To those who have lost their mothers, we grieve with you.
To those who have endured abuse at the hands of their mothers, we acknowledge you.
To those who experience pain at the marking of this day, we witness you.
To those who are single moms, grandmoms, stepmoms, foster moms, adoptive moms, mentor moms and spiritual moms, we need you.
And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising, we anticipate with you.
May we reflect with gratitude on the wide spectrum of mothering that happens in our lives and in our communities.
Words by Rev. Leah Ongiri
To the mothers and children in my life – I am grateful for your teaching me what life is all about.
World Doula Week has been productive!
*Porch meeting with new client to drop off my packet of information we’ll cover at our prenatal meetings. So nice to meet this couple in person as we’ll be conducting our prenatal visits virtually.
*Prenatal visit with client to review my childbirth education materials and begin to develop their birth plan.
*Driveway visit with past client who is moving out of state to bid farewell. I cherish the relationships I develop with clients and appreciate the honor of being welcomed into their lives at a sacred time.
*Attended a DONA International Mood Disorder workshop. Being aware and informed about postpartum depression and anxiety and knowing how I can better help clients is important to me.
*Met with the Milwaukee BOMB doulas to learn more about the valuable work they are doing to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in our city.
*Conducted two initial conversations with potential clients seeking virtual doula support.
*Supported a recent client to get them through some breastfeeding challenges of the early weeks. This is part of my standard birth doula service.
*Attended the DONA International Regional Meeting where I connected with other Wisconsin doulas and learned about what DONA is doing to shift to using inclusive language and lots more to lead the birth world in serving birthing families.
*Read Welcome To Fatherhood: The Modern Man’s Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Fatherhood by David Arrell.
*Awaiting call from client with expected due date of April 1st to support them through their labor and birth.
*Giving thanks for the opportunity to do the sacred work of supporting families during this special time of their lives. I love being a doula!!
*Celebrated an early Easter with my immediate family in person. The reason I adhere to the strictest protocols on safety with COVID-19 is so I can be with the people I love the most.
*Oh! and was filmed to be in a movie! Actually, my hand was filmed writing a paragraph in cursive Italian for a movie about Nuvolari, an Italian race car driver.
No two weeks are ever the same as a doula. That’s what I like about this work, there is always more to learn, more people to connect with, and more to do to make for better birth on earth. NOW THAT’S A PRETTY GOOD WEEK!
As this difficult year comes to a close, we can only hope for better tomorrows as the calendar page turns for the final time in 2020. If we pause long enough to reflect, we find hope in history of overcoming hardships and creating better days. This poem by Howard Thurman, an American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader, invites us to look to the “growing edge”. And in the birth world, there are so many beautiful metaphors for the growing edge: the joining of the sperm and egg to create new life, the surprise of previously unknown abounding love a baby brings to a family, the actualization of the power of woman to birth.
May you and yours experience the growing edge in the new year and may we enter days of good health and healing, equality and justice, balance in all things.
The Growing Edge
All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new lives, fresh blossoms, green fruit. Such is the growing edge! It is the extra breath from the exhausted lung, the one more thing to try when all else has failed, the upward reach of life when weariness closes in upon all endeavor. This is the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on when times are out of joint and men have lost their reason, the source of confidence when worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash. The birth of a child — life’s most dramatic answer to death — this is the growing edge incarnate. Look well to the growing edge!
—Howard Thurman
In the days of COVID-19, doula support has morphed into a new way of providing services to clients. Since March with the Safer at Home orders, I’ve been conducting all prenatal visits via Zoom. We’re fortunate to live in an era when we have access to excellent technology to allow us to meet “face-to-face” yet be safe.
Here is what my living room looks like after a visit. Prior to the visit, I’ve delivered a packet to the client with all the handouts that we are going to review. All the information is also available in my online Resource Library for those who prefer to see it that way. The client is in their living room and I’m in mine and together we review the packet of childbirth education materials, practice comfort measures and laboring positions and answer questions. Some clients are actually preferring the virtual support as they don’t have to get childcare, and, it gives the supporting partner or husband a greater hands on role.
As a bonus, my Birth Plans now include much of the Postpartum Preparation that I offered as a separate contract prior to the pandemic. That makes the Birth Plans a great value and more comprehensive. Since many parents are not having the previously expected support of family and friends coming into the home once baby arrives, intentionally and carefully creating a postpartum plan is even more essential now. We review preparedness for baby’ care and mom’s recovery, discuss plans for sleeping, feeding, diapering, and household needs.
“The way hospitals, OB’s, and nurses are set up there is very little coaching or support during the labor and even delivery until your wife/parter is ready to push. Then the whole team comes rushing in ready to catch the baby. Having a doula (especially Jo Ann) to support us through the whole process (even virtually) helped ensure a more positive outcome not only in physical health for mom and baby but in mental and emotional health as well. This is something every woman should strive for and be able to achieve. Being that JoAnn now has virtual options (thanks to the pandemic) no matter where you are located, she is able to support you, so give her a call and see if she is the right fit for you. “
Testimonial from virtual support father 2020
If you are wondering if virtual birth doula support is for you, please give a call and we can see if it (and I) are the right fit to support you during this very important time of your life (414) 301-7729. Because doulas are part of the non-medical support team of your pregnancy, we are not issued PPE as are medical staff in the hospital and minimizing the number of people in a delivery room is strongly recommended to keep everyone safe, virtual doula support is an excellent option for those who still want the expertise of an experienced, certified doula but not the added risk and contagian of in-person contact.
