Thank you Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein for writing Your Best Birth and for writing it the way you did. It is so completely honest and hails such common sense that makes it one of the best birth books I have ever read (and I've read just about all of them). As a doula I see so many things happening in birth, good and bad, and you didn't leave any of them out! A truly honest look at birth with such practical advice is a breath of fresh air in the maternity climate of today.
In reading the book and watching your promotion of the book I am very pleased that you are spreading the notion of education for mothers on their birth options and not just one way of birth. Thank you again for your hard work in promoting better birth for all women!
Most Sincerely,
Jackie Belau
Founder
Better Birth America
http://www.betterbirthamerica.com/
Monday, May 4, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
How I became a doula/birth advocate
Many people don't understand how I became a doula before I have even had children of my own, but today I will share with you my journey to my life's work.
When I was in high school, I was studying to become a pre-school teacher. I LOVE kids at that age! When I was barely 18 I started teaching in a local pre-school and quickly realized that I love playing with kids that age and watching them play. To attempt to get 14 hyper 3 year olds to do an art project was harder than herding cats! And the school I worked at didn't really appreciate their staff. So that was it for me, good-bye teaching.
While in school the best class I ever took was infant development (conception to 2 months of age) and it was taught by a doula. So we spent almost 3/4 of that semester on pregnancy and at least 3 weeks on birth. I WAS HOOKED! I thought it all was the coolest thing I had ever learned!
But I didn't gravitate towards birth right away. I finished my sign language degree program and became an interpreter for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. While working for an interpreting company as an assistant to the President, he and I were on a business trip and I was rattling on about my future as an interpreter. He turned to me and said "I don't think you are going to be an interpreter for very long." My defenses raised and I replied "What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?" In turn he stated " You are going to get bored, just like I did, and want something more for yourself." I was shocked, and mummbled "Thanks...." SO, I went home that night, recapped the discussion with my husband and was again shocked by his response. He told me he couldn't believe that I had gone through with the whole "interpreting thing". Again, jaw on the floor! He couldn't have told me this BEFORE I finished 3 years of schooling. So I sat and pondered all night. What DO I want to be when I grow up??
Then it came to me. That doula thing sounded kinda cool. So I plunked down my $600 and took the training. It was 3 days of the best stuff I have ever learned. I was in love. So I started doing births and got a job at the local birth center. Now I do almost all of the births at The Birth Center in Fair Oaks, CA and I work in the front office so I get to build a great relationships with all of the couples I will be helping in birth.
My website www.BetterBirthAmerica.com is an extention of my business skills and my passion for educating women about their options.
I LOVE MY JOBS!!!
When I was in high school, I was studying to become a pre-school teacher. I LOVE kids at that age! When I was barely 18 I started teaching in a local pre-school and quickly realized that I love playing with kids that age and watching them play. To attempt to get 14 hyper 3 year olds to do an art project was harder than herding cats! And the school I worked at didn't really appreciate their staff. So that was it for me, good-bye teaching.
While in school the best class I ever took was infant development (conception to 2 months of age) and it was taught by a doula. So we spent almost 3/4 of that semester on pregnancy and at least 3 weeks on birth. I WAS HOOKED! I thought it all was the coolest thing I had ever learned!
But I didn't gravitate towards birth right away. I finished my sign language degree program and became an interpreter for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. While working for an interpreting company as an assistant to the President, he and I were on a business trip and I was rattling on about my future as an interpreter. He turned to me and said "I don't think you are going to be an interpreter for very long." My defenses raised and I replied "What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?" In turn he stated " You are going to get bored, just like I did, and want something more for yourself." I was shocked, and mummbled "Thanks...." SO, I went home that night, recapped the discussion with my husband and was again shocked by his response. He told me he couldn't believe that I had gone through with the whole "interpreting thing". Again, jaw on the floor! He couldn't have told me this BEFORE I finished 3 years of schooling. So I sat and pondered all night. What DO I want to be when I grow up??
Then it came to me. That doula thing sounded kinda cool. So I plunked down my $600 and took the training. It was 3 days of the best stuff I have ever learned. I was in love. So I started doing births and got a job at the local birth center. Now I do almost all of the births at The Birth Center in Fair Oaks, CA and I work in the front office so I get to build a great relationships with all of the couples I will be helping in birth.
My website www.BetterBirthAmerica.com is an extention of my business skills and my passion for educating women about their options.
I LOVE MY JOBS!!!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Ignorance in American Women
ig·no·rance
n.
The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.
I know the word ignorance typically has a negative connotation, but in this instance, I do not mean it to. As you can see by the definition, it is simply being unaware or uninformed.
Most women in the United States are ignorant about the most important event in their lives, the birth of their children. They know what they are taught to do and follow blindly those who we are supposed to be able to trust. As soon as most women think they are pregnant they drive to their doctor's office, do a blood test and find out their due date. They make their next 7 minute appointment (yes, doctors appointments are on average 7 minutes long), and head to the nearest maternity store to pick out some new outfits.
They may grab a few books from the book store, usually to start reading about where they are in their pregnancy, what they should be scared of and then they stop reading and the books lie dormant on the coffee table.
After talking with friends and family members, most who have had wide ranges of experiences with their hospital births. They may hear horror stories of how one woman had to have an emergency cesarean because she just couldnt push the baby out, or another who's baby was too big so they had to pull him out with a vaccuum. Long labors, epidurals, vaccuums, episiotomies, Pitocin, and cesareans. Of course this poor woman is scared of her birth, she has heard nothing but horrible stories! But everyone is happy in the end because they have a happy, healthy baby.
When there are serious complications and something doesn't turn out right, women don't usually hear about it because no one wants to talk about the situation.
Nor do women hear about beautiful experiences, where no drugs or interventions are used. Women are simply allowed to labor as their bodies were made to do in an environment where they felt safe. THIS is a shame, that women who don't know other women who have had experiences like this.
Not to say that everyone should have an out of hospital birth or even a natural one, but it is aweful that women either don't know about the OPTION to have this kind of birth, or they are so afraid of the idea (because of their ignorance) they don't even give it a second thought.
So that has become my life's work. Not to persuade every woman to have a natural or out of hospital birth, but simply to show them ALL of their options so they can make informed, educated decisions.
n.
The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.
I know the word ignorance typically has a negative connotation, but in this instance, I do not mean it to. As you can see by the definition, it is simply being unaware or uninformed.
Most women in the United States are ignorant about the most important event in their lives, the birth of their children. They know what they are taught to do and follow blindly those who we are supposed to be able to trust. As soon as most women think they are pregnant they drive to their doctor's office, do a blood test and find out their due date. They make their next 7 minute appointment (yes, doctors appointments are on average 7 minutes long), and head to the nearest maternity store to pick out some new outfits.
They may grab a few books from the book store, usually to start reading about where they are in their pregnancy, what they should be scared of and then they stop reading and the books lie dormant on the coffee table.
After talking with friends and family members, most who have had wide ranges of experiences with their hospital births. They may hear horror stories of how one woman had to have an emergency cesarean because she just couldnt push the baby out, or another who's baby was too big so they had to pull him out with a vaccuum. Long labors, epidurals, vaccuums, episiotomies, Pitocin, and cesareans. Of course this poor woman is scared of her birth, she has heard nothing but horrible stories! But everyone is happy in the end because they have a happy, healthy baby.
When there are serious complications and something doesn't turn out right, women don't usually hear about it because no one wants to talk about the situation.
Nor do women hear about beautiful experiences, where no drugs or interventions are used. Women are simply allowed to labor as their bodies were made to do in an environment where they felt safe. THIS is a shame, that women who don't know other women who have had experiences like this.
Not to say that everyone should have an out of hospital birth or even a natural one, but it is aweful that women either don't know about the OPTION to have this kind of birth, or they are so afraid of the idea (because of their ignorance) they don't even give it a second thought.
So that has become my life's work. Not to persuade every woman to have a natural or out of hospital birth, but simply to show them ALL of their options so they can make informed, educated decisions.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
My Life as a Birth Options Advocate
I may not be the CEO of some million dollar company, but I KNOW what I do as my life's work is important.
I run a website for expecting parents to learn more about their birth options, Better Birth America (www.betterbirthamerica.com). I don't care if women decide to go natural, have drugs, get a c-section, whatever! If they have educated themselves on all of their options and trust that they have made the best decision for themselves and their families, that is what is important to me!
As a doula, when I see a woman in the throws of labor looking to me as her rock, asking me what to do, I KNOW that what I do makes a difference and I am important to that woman. I LOVE that feeling! Along with the adrenaline rush of birth, the trust a woman has in me to guide her in the most important event in her life, is what makes it worth while to me.
For those of you who work in the birth field, (well, all those but doctors) you know that doing birth is time consuming, energy consuming and you do it all with very little pay. But you also know that what you do is important to the women you work with and that is what makes it worth while.
So, I love what I do and that is the most important thing to me. More on how I got here and where I am going in future posts. Thanks for reading!
I run a website for expecting parents to learn more about their birth options, Better Birth America (www.betterbirthamerica.com). I don't care if women decide to go natural, have drugs, get a c-section, whatever! If they have educated themselves on all of their options and trust that they have made the best decision for themselves and their families, that is what is important to me!
As a doula, when I see a woman in the throws of labor looking to me as her rock, asking me what to do, I KNOW that what I do makes a difference and I am important to that woman. I LOVE that feeling! Along with the adrenaline rush of birth, the trust a woman has in me to guide her in the most important event in her life, is what makes it worth while to me.
For those of you who work in the birth field, (well, all those but doctors) you know that doing birth is time consuming, energy consuming and you do it all with very little pay. But you also know that what you do is important to the women you work with and that is what makes it worth while.
So, I love what I do and that is the most important thing to me. More on how I got here and where I am going in future posts. Thanks for reading!
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