Evidence Based Birth®

In this episode, we discuss the evidence on inducing versus waiting for labor when you’re going past your due date. I am joined by Evidence Based Birth  researcher Anna Bertone, MPH, to explore all the latest on this topic and talk about the brand new Evidence Based Birth Signature Article - The Evidence on: Inducing for Due Dates.  **TRIGGER WARNING: In this episode, we talk about stillbirth and newborn death.** 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. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Check out the new Evidence Based Birth Signature Article on this topic - The Evidence on Inducing for Due Dates here (INSERT NEW ARTICLE LINK). Be sure to expand the Resources box at the bottom of the article to see all linked reference

In this episode, I am joined by Danie Crofoot of Full Spectrum Doulas, an organization dedicated to creating dialogue around topics such as LGBTQIA+ inclusion, cultural competency, racial issues, and much more within the birth community. Their goal is to create space and support for people to have the power to write their own birth and postpartum stories. Danie is a childbirth educator and sex educator, and is known as a “traveling doula” - splitting time mostly between Los Angeles and New York. Danie and I discuss a number of issues relating to queer and trans parents, including the evidence on trans people, hormones and pregnancy, trans masculine people and pregnancy, mis-gendering, hospital logistics, and how the academic world can build a more rubust body of research on topics relating to LGBTQIA+. 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 scholarsh

In this episode I am joined by Michelle Odoerfer, a mother of two young girls living in Clinton Township, Michigan with her husband Andrew. Michelle experienced two very different births - her first, in a hospital, was tense as she had to endure verbal and physical aggression from an attending OB. Her second was a peaceful, unattended home birth, with just herself and her husband (baby came so fast the midwife didn’t make it). Hear Michelle share how she learned some tough lessons about self advocacy - not only during her first birth, but also through her newborn’s undiagnosed tongue and lip tie. Many health care providers missed the ties, and Michelle had to figure out on her own why her baby wasn’t gaining weight. She also committed to a journey of sourcing donated breast milk, and crafting her own supplemental nursing system. 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 memb

In this episode I am joined by new parent Jenny Russell, a registered nurse from Tennessee. Jenny struggled with infertility during her previous marriage, became unexpectedly pregnant in a new relationship, and took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class as a single parent without a support person. Her EBB Instructor, Heidi Duncan, taught the class and also served as her doula. Jenny works full time as a clinical analyst in evidence based nursing documentation. She is also a full time caregiver for her mother, who has early onset Alzheimer’s. Jenny candidly shares the incredible pressures she faced in her prenatal care, including her traumatic and stressful experiences in choosing the right providers to work with her, and switching care to a midwife just weeks before her due date. We also talk about the importance of doulas, and the crucial role Jenny’s amazing doulas filled during her birth and postpartum care. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on F

In this episode, I am excited to share the evidence on vaginal birth after Cesarean, or VBAC. We have received many requests at Evidence Based Birth to cover this topic, so I want to share with you the information on VBAC that I present in a class we teach in the EBB Higher Ed program. In this podcast, I define some common terms related to VBAC and talk about the history of the procedure. By the end, you will have the facts on the prevalence and risk factors for uterine rupture, and you’ll understand some of the maternal, fetal, and newborn risks of VBAC, elective repeat Cesarean, and Cesarean birth after Cesarean. 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. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: American College of Obstetric

In this episode, I am joined by Evidence Based Birth Instructor Jessica Hazboun, a childbirth educator and registered nurse with a background in labor and delivery. Jessica created her own birth business, Nearly Nested, to help empower new parents with evidence based information.  Hear Jessica detail her two very different birth stories, and how evidence based information changed her entire perspective on birth and how she relates to her clients and patients. In her words - “everything about the Evidence Based Birth culture completely knocked me off my feet!” 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. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Follow Jessica at Nearly Nested on Instagram, Facebook, and at nearlynested.com. Want

In this episode I am joined by Dr. Elliot Berlin, an award-winning prenatal chiropractor, childbirth educator, and labor support body worker. He is the co-founder of Berlin Wellness Group in Los Angeles, California, hosts The Informed Pregnancy podcast, and served as executive producer of two documentaries about birth - Head’s Up: The Disappearing Art of Breech Delivery, and Trial of Labor. Dr. Berlin is a labor support doula who attends births and provides laboring parents with body work such as massage, reflexology, accupressure, counter pressure, and chiropractic adjustments to help keep the birthing person relaxed, comfortable and focused for a smooth birth. He attends labor at hospitals, homes, and birth centers, and he works with several hundred breech babies each year. Listen to our fascinating discussion on vaginal breech birth, cesarean, and things to find out about your baby’s positioning as you enter the late stages of pregnancy. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.

In this episode, I am joined by Sabrina Tran of Alabama, who recently had a daughter, and took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class with Instructor Traci Weafer. Sabrina, a therapist, is now a stay at home mom. Sabrina had a precipitous - or, extremely fast labor and delivery. She describes it as exciting! Hear her tell her story of how her baby was born before the midwife could make it to her home. I also share the evidence on perineal tearing,  and the relationships between tearing, provider experience, and home birth. 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. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Click here for great images explaining perineal tears on the Mayo Clinic website. More references: Albers, L. L., Sedle

This week, I am excited to bring you inside Evidence Based Birth and let you know what we will be up to in the coming year! I look back at all we accomplished in 2019 (and wow - what a year it was!) and how we are rolling right into 2020 with some amazing new projects and initiatives. I have to tell you, just looking at my list of goals really gets me excited about what is to come. You won’t want to miss the announcements I have to share in this episode! 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. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. RESOURCES: Find my book, Babies are Not Pizzas, on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Audible! Find a list of our current Spanish article translations here. Access all of the Evidence Based Birth free, fu

This episode concludes our series of interviews we conducted live from the 2019 Evidence Based Birth Conference - Bringing the Evidence to Life. EBB Instructor and Professional Membership Coordinator Chanté Perryman interviewed several different panels of attendees, hearing from them the most pressing issues in their communities, and how they plan to affect change.  This week, we hear from some inspiring birth workers of color: doula, certified lactation counselor, and student midwife Divine Bailey-Nicholas; nurse, doula, certified childbirth educator and certified lactation counselor Carmen Southall-Wamhoff; and midwife, doula, monitrice, and advocate Ms. Charlotte Marie Shilo-Goudeau. Hear each of these dynamic change makers describe the challenges they are facing and how they are making an impact for the women and families they serve. In addition to the conference interview, I am pleased to continue the conversation with further insights from Carmen! For more information and news about Evidence Based Bir

This episode is the second in our series of interviews we conducted live from the 2019 Evidence Based Birth Conference. EBB Instructor and Professional Membership Coordinator Chanté Perryman interviewed several different panels of attendees, hearing from them the most pressing issues in their communities, and how they plan to affect change.  This week, we hear from midwives: CPM Paige Dickinson, CNM Jen Matera, and direct entry midwife Rachel Mueller. Hear about the cultural climate towards midwifery in each of their areas, how they are interacting with their hospitals and birth centers, and the challenges being faced within the midwife community. After the interview, I discuss the research evidence on birth centers. 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. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here t

This episode is the first in our series of interviews we conducted live from the 2019 Evidence Based Birth Conference - Bringing the Evidence to Life. EBB Instructor and Professional Membership Coordinator Chanté Perryman interviewed several different panels of attendees, hearing from them the most pressing issues in their communities, and how they plan to affect change after being inspired at the conference.  This week, we will hear from nurses and doulas: doula Rebecca McKinney, doula Sara Pixton, and labor and delivery nurse Paula Richards. Listen as they highlight some of the challenges faced between the two professions, and how both can work together to support women in labor. After their brief interview, I talk about the research evidence on the challenges of doulas and nurses working together, and offer potential solutions for collaboration! 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

In this episode, I am joined by two of our distinguished keynote speakers from the 2019 Evidence Based Birth Conference, “Bringing Evidence to Life”: Dr. Sayida Peprah, Psy.D, licensed clinical psychologist, trained birth doula and founder of Diversity Uplifts, Inc., and Heather Thompson, MS, PhD, a molecular and cellular biologist, clinical researcher, birth worker and deputy director of birth justice organization Elephant Circle. The 2019 Evidence Based Birth conference brought together an incredible mix of birth workers and advocates from many professions and backgrounds. Listen as the three of us debrief the conference - what was impactful, what went right, and what went we would do differently in the future. Hear their perspectives as members of a non-dominant cultures, and what they and their communities experienced in a diverse and intense conference setting.  For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get i

In this episode, I explore the latest evidence on the use of saline locks! A saline lock - sometimes called a “hep-lock” in reference to how it used to be used - is an intravenous (IV) catheter that is threaded into a peripheral vein, flushed with saline, and then capped off for later use. Nurses use saline locks to have easy access to the vein for potential injections. They can be useful in administering drugs as needed, and in the event of emergency surgery. What is the latest research on the use of saline locks in labor and delivery? What is the evidence for the saline lock in someone who wants an un-medicated birth or wants to avoid medical interventions as much as possible? Should a saline lock be in place “just in case” it may be needed? I’ll cover the evidence on this topic, along with the risks and benefits. 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 (inclu

In this episode, I am joined by reproductive justice advocate Danielle Jackson. Danielle is a wife, mother, doula, and co-host of the podcast Birth Stories in Color. She works to empower women to birth without fear, and has focused her career on helping families recognize their strengths and build healthy support systems. She became a doula in 2016. Issues in her community of Columbus, Ohio drew Danielle to the organization Restoring Our Own Through Transformation, as a change agent in the ongoing fight for birthing justice in the area. Birth Stories in Color grew from a shared experience with her co-host, Laurel Gourrier, at a training for doulas of color. They quickly realized that in that environment, women of color felt liberated to speak their truths and share their experiences with birth. They now provide that space via their podcast. Hear Danielle and I talk about strategies to be change makers in our communities, fostering healthy disruption and questioning the status quo. For more information and new

In this episode, I am joined by Bess English, a mother of two who lives near Pensacola, Florida.  Bess describes her first hospital birth experience as traumatic. When she was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class to learn more about advocacy tools and comfort measures.  Bess’ attempted VBAC home birth did not go as planned - and she and her husband found themselves back in the hospital setting making some difficult choices. But this time, it was a different story. Hear Bess tell her birth stories, how she processed her birth trauma, and utilized advocacy tools to navigate and feel empowered in her complicated second birth. 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. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence B

In this episode, I am joined by Gail Tully - author, childbirth educator, midwife and creator of Spinning Babies. The Spinning Babies approach connects understanding of birth anatomy to fetal rotation and easier childbirth, and is recognized around the world by midwives, nurses, childbirth educators, doulas, and parents. Gail’s ability to recognize the spatial relationships between the soft tissue pelvis and the baby has contributed to a paradigm shift in childbirth care and education. She began practicing as a midwife in a small, independent practice, and she now works worldwide, educating parents about her innovative approach. We talk about why some births are easy, while some are long and hard. Gail addresses the relationships between birth, physiology, and mentality, and covers the practical aspects of accessing the Spinning Babies method and instruction. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ready to get involved?

In this episode I am joined by Ngozi Tibbs, a certified childbirth trainer and educator through Lamaze International, an international board certified lactation consultant, and co-founder of the Pittsburgh Black Breastfeeding Circle. With a Bachelor’s degree in maternal child health and a Master’s in public health, Ngozi has served as a private and community based doula, currently provides childbirth education and lactation consulting, and is involved with the non-profit Healthy Start. Often known to share her personal birth stories - including her fifth child’s birth in a car - she believes the best way to approach birth and breastfeeding is through lots of support, and humor. I had the privilege of listening to Ngozi speak quite a few years ago at a conference, andI was so impacted by her presentation that I included a story about experience that in my book, Babies Are Not Pizzas. In this interview, we have a candid conversation about community support, racism, and the needs of today’s birthing families. Fo

In this episode I am joined by Jen McLellan, author, speaker, and founder of the website Plus Size Birth and the Plus Mommy blog. She is also host of the popular podcast Plus Mommy, and is a certified childbirth educator, wife, and mother. With more than four million page views on her blog, Jen is passionate about helping others navigate the bumps along the road of motherhood. Jen notes that her doula’s recommendation to look into the midwife model of care changed the course of her first pregnancy. As she had first began care under an obstetrician and researched plus size pregnancy online, she had started to believe that she was at high risk due to her size. However, she had an empowering natural birth with no complications. As Jen developed her blog, she realized the great need for plus size pregnancy support. While she covers a variety of topics, one of her main areas of focus is helping women to connect with a care provider who will not make them feel ashamed. We discuss practical tips for finding a suppor

In this episode, I am joined by Taiwo (Tia) Ajao and her husband Dr. Wale Ajao. Tia is an RN with a Master’s in Public Health, a Lamaze certified childbirth educator, and a DONA-trained birth doula. Wale is a medical doctor as well as a communication professional, specializing in film and video production. He is also a Lamaze certified childbirth educator, DONA-trained birth doula, and a certified professional photographer. Tia and Wale lead Hello Baby Baltimore, a health communications initiative serving families in Baltimore City and the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. Hello Baby Baltimore believes in educating a family’s entire support network, creating unique teaching moments at private baby showers and events. Tia and Wale draw on their background as multimedia creators, and as a doctor/nurse couple with both local and international experience. We talk about their truly unique approach to childbirth education and family support, including their focus on normalizing the role of men in childbirth. We also talk