Evidence Based Birth®

In this episode, I interview certified birth doula, postpartum doula, parent educator and breastfeeding counselor Nubia Jones. Nubia is a mother of five, and her journey of supporting women and families began 18 years ago during the birth of her first child. She went on to become involved in her local birth community, determined to help many families have positive and peaceful births, especially in hospital settings. Now, she serves a diverse population throughout New York City. As an Evidence Based Birth Instructor, Nubia’s mission is to support families by respecting their personal choices and providing evidence based information. She also serves as a Certified Attachment Parenting International Educator, and a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, so she has much information to offer her clients and members of the community. Among her main areas of focus are guiding families on paths to avoid preventable cesarians, as well as supporting young mothers and mothers of color. Her most recent endeavor

Lisa Marie Sanchez Oxenham has been a birth worker for over 25 years, serving the last 10 as a licensed midwife. She works full time with her husband, Richard, who is currently pursuing his CPM. They specialize in water birth and past trauma, and travel all over Southern California to provide in-home care. Together, they work to include the partner in birth - especially men, who are often mis-portrayed in birth environments in the media. Lisa and Richard support all birthing parties with comprehensive relationship building with a focus on trust. They find that utilizing both men and women in birth seems to really help men - which helps their birthing partners - and dispels the belief that brith belongs only to women. They also believe that water birth is particularly helpful for victims of rape and sexual abuse. Listen in as we discuss Lisa’s journey and mission, as well as the evidence on misoprostol for induction and details about water birth. Contact Lisa Marie on Instagram, Facebook, and at sacredjourneym

This week, I discuss the concept of due dates - as well as the free webinar I am hosting soon, the Evidence on Induction at 39 Weeks! I want to provide an overview on this topic so you can be prepped for the webinar, which will include discussions on the controversial ARRIVE study. Tune in as we discuss what it means to be full term, the accuracy of due dates, and how they are calculated. This is important, because inductions for non-medical reasons have been rising globally in the last 30 years. Studies show that inducing labor because the pregnancy is full term, close to the due date, is the number one reason for induction in the United States. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Read EBB’s Signature Article, The Evidence on Due Dates (link: ebbirth.com/duedates) Register for our webinar, The Ev

In this podcast we discuss inducing labor in someone who is 35 and older. Over time in the United States, for the past four decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who are giving birth for the first time at age 35 and older. Today, roughly one in ten first time mothers is now considered advanced maternal age.  We will examine the risks and the evidence for induction in this population. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program.

This week, we talk about the evidence on induction for having a suspected big baby. I discuss the assumptions that lead to high rates of cesarean and induction for big babies, and whether the research shows these assumptions to be true. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program.

This week, we cover the evidence on inducing labor versus waiting for labor to start on its own, when water has broken before the start of labor. For this podcast, we focus on when water breaks at 37 weeks of pregnancy or later. This is also known as pre-labor rupture of membranes, or PROM.  PROM is a common situation - researchers say that about one in ten pregnant people will have their water break before the onset of labor. Join me as we examine the evidence to see how pregnant people can make the best decisions for themselves when faced with the choice of inducing or waiting.  For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program.

Jenn D’Jamoos is a CAPPA-certified childbirth educator and Evidence Based Birth Instructor, human rights activist and mom of four who lives in Michigan. She founded the Livingston County Birth Circle in 2013 to serve the needs of families in her area. While the stated goal of the LCBC is to provide non-judgmental support to expectant and new families, the organization also works to elevate conversation surrounding the birth experience.  Jenn recently enrolled in White Woman School through Mothering Justice to explore opportunities for anti-racism work in the context of perinatal education. Jenn and I discuss the importance of birth settings and putting care provider relationships into proper perspective, as well as the use of motivational interviewing to help guide people through changes without telling them what to do. We also brainstorm ways to help people birth experiences with supportive dialogue, without reigniting feelings of trauma or stress. Connect with Jenn at EarthMamaBirth.com, on Facebook, and

Kelsi Kennedy is a birth doula serving women in the New York City and Westchester, NY area, and is also a grant writer for non-profit called The Birthing Circle in the greater Washington D.C. area. She has a Masters in Applied Psychology from NYU, and spent two years volunteering and interning as a data analyst for a human trafficking rescue, Restore NYC. Kelsi is also CEO & founder of a brand new ethical fashion business called rev thread.  When she first connected with The Birthing Circle she was a new mom, briefly living in Maryland, and was impressed by the resources they offered. “I realized that every woman deserves this kind of support in her pregnancy and birth,” she said. The organization provides childbirth education, doula services, breastfeeding support and facilitates donations of baby supplies to families in need. The Birthing Circle is also promoting the hashtag #mybirthtoo - a sister campaign of the #metoo movement. While Kelsi currently practices in a very supportive community, where the

In this week's podcast I interview Cheri Grant RN, ICCE, CLC, ICD, CLD, CD BDT(DONA), known in the birth world as "the peanut ball lady.” She is the founder, chief contributor and inspiration for Premier Birth Tools. For over 42 years, she has served women as a labor and delivery nurse, childbirth educator, lactation consultant, national speaker, author, doula, and doula trainer. She has helped with well over 2,700 deliveries in the span of her career. Cheri is also the founder of Tulsa Doulas, a community group that has helped train and support doulas for over 20 years. Cheri’s interest in peanut balls began when she first saw their use in labor in 1985. At that time, they were just straddled. In the 2000’s, the usage of peanut balls was refined to the side-lying position, and interest in them began to grow among birth professionals. They are used with and without an epidural, and can be effective in shortening labor. Premier Birth Tools promotes education via its website, as well as Peanut Ball Ambassadors

Amber Ginn is a birth and postpartum doula in Puerto Rico. She had her first child at 15, and is dedicated to providing essential support to pregnant adolescents. Amber’s first birth was a traumatic experience, with interventions she was not educated or informed about, and she felt her concerns and questions were dismissed by her providers. She also battled postpartum depression with little support. Despite these challenges, Amber finished high school and college while caring for her son. These experiences led her to her career in birth work, and she hopes to shine a light on the support that is needed - and often lacking - for young mothers. Amber is an EBB Professional member, and is also working towards certification as a lactation consultant. She and Rebecca discuss postpartum depression in adolescents, and the existing resources and research available on caring for young pregnant people and new moms.  Resources mentioned in this episode: Science and Sensibility: Welcoming All Families; Working with Te

April Oglesby is a nurse and monitrice in Amarilo, Texas. She has been a nurse for 13 years, specializing in all types of care for mothers and babies. Recently, she left hospital work to start her own business, Welcome Baby! Throughout her hospital nursing career, she began to see huge deficits in the knowledge, education, empowerment and support for expecting families. She was frustrated watching patients receive care that was not evidence-based, and was often unnecessary. From that, Welcome Baby! was born, offering evidence based childbirth classes, doula and monitrice care, home visits for breastfeeding support and newborn care, as well as placental encapsulation. April shares her journey of providing education and empowerment to birthing families in her community. She also asks Rebecca her advice on building bridges and personal relationships with local providers. Connect with April on the Welcome Baby! Facebook page, Instagram account, and website. For more information and news about Evidence Based Bi

Katie Rachanow leads the Military Birth Resource Network at the largest overseas installment in Europe, and has specialized knowledge of the military birth system. Katie is a doula, yoga instructor, and Evidence Based Birth instructor practicing in Germany. She recently moved there following a two-year tour in Colorado Springs and a five-year tour in the UK.  Katie shares how having her first child in the UK launched her career as a birth worker, and how she operates exclusively in a military setting. She notes that the main problem for birth in the military is continuity of care. “Everybody is moving around constantly - nobody ever stays put.” Additionally, people often end up birthing on their own, as their partner may be deployed or on duty, and their families cannot afford to travel to where they are. “I’ve had a lot of instances where moms have been alone - just by themselves - until it’s time for delivery,” she said. Together, Katie and I brainstorm ways to promote funding of doula support for military

Juliet Swedlund is the director of the Topeka Doula Project, a nonprofit offering evidence based doula support to teen mothers, incarcerated and reintegrating mothers, and low-income mothers and their families. Juliet has worked as a birth doula for four years, and has 16 years experience working in health and wellness. She achieved her DONA Birth Doula certification in 2016, and became an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor in 2018. Juliet discusses her organization’s beginnings and her inspirations, as well as the unique challenges of the underserved populations she works with. “Some of the women I work with who are incarcerated… so much is out of their control, and they do feel like the system gets to decide what it looks like,” she said. “So part of our job as doulas for those women is to help them understand that they can take an active role in what they do have control over - in what they can find autonomy in in that birth setting.” She and Rebecca also discuss funding strategies for non-profits.  Learn

This wrap-up of pain management series covers the many different drug and non-drug comfort measures during labor. Learn our overall takeaway. To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

Many childbirth classes teach breathing for pain relief during labor. But is there evidence that this is effective? Which breathing techniques work best? To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

Is relaxation for pain relief effective? Learn techniques that can be used during labor and find out which (if any) are supported by evidence. To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

In this podcast, we look at the evidence for listening to music during labor. Does it help with pain relief? What is the best music for relaxation? To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

We discuss the evidence on using massage for pain relief during labor and for pain in general. What benefits does massage provide? What types of massage might be helpful during labor? To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/

In this podcast, Rebecca gives you a sneak peek into what's coming for Evidence Based Birth® in the second half of 2018 and early 2019! Learn about the Signature Articles we're creating, the workshops and classes we're creating, our upcoming speaking events, and the new website for Higher Education institutions! Resources mentioned: Comfort Measures for L & D Nurses: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/comfort-measures-for-l-d-nurses-lexington-ky-tickets-45818534470 Toronto EBB event: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/explore-the-evidence-with-dr-rebecca-dekker-tickets-47035880585?aff= Higher Ed Program: Contact info@evidencebasedbirth.com Childbirth Class Pilot: https://ebbirth.com/childbirthclass Wait list for EBB Instructor program: https://ebbirth.com/instructor Migraine program Rebecca joined where they're teaching her how to use the Keto diet: https://www.mymigrainemiracle.com/ (not an affiliate link!)

In this podcast, Rebecca shares how the Evidence Based Birth® Signature Articles are created, and some important updates that were made to the Group B Strep and Erythromycin Eye Ointment article. Resources: About Signature Articles: https://ebbirth.com/about-evidence-based-birth/ Find Signature Articles: https://ebbirth.com/blog/ Become a newsletter subscriber: https://ebbirth.com Group B Strep: https://ebbirth.com/groupbstrep Eye Ointment: https://ebbirth.com/eyeointment