Happy Mother’s Day! It is my honor to support such lovely mothers through pregnancy, birth, and new motherhood and to document your journey! You inspire me everyday with such courage, strength, and love! Enjoy this video showcasing the beautiful mothers of Empowered Birthing from the previous year!
Happy New Year!
Despite being a rather tumultuous year on the national scale, 2016 has been a great year here at Empowered Birthing, in fact the busiest year yet. I had the privilege of serving 19 families in 2016. There were 5 birth center births, 12 hospital births, 9 unmedicated births, 2 VBACs, and I had the privilege of witnessing two cesarean births (thank you St. David’s Medical Center for supporting doulas in the operating room!). But more important than numbers are all the beautiful families that I had the privilege to serve. At each birth, I watched fierce, strong mamas who worked so hard to bring their babies earthside, and loving partners who believed in them and supported them each step of the way. Every birth presents its own challenges, and each time I see these women look deep within themselves and find their strength to meet their own unique challenges. It is such a joy to behold!
I have also continued to grow in my knowledge and in the services I am able to offer my clients. In January I embarked on my journey to recertify as a doula. Instead of recertifying with my original organization, I have decided to join with DTI (Doula Trainings International). This amazing organization provides a wonderfully supportive community (we doulas need a lot of support from each other in order to keep ourselves replenished) and they provide of model of total inclusivity of all birthing families (whatever size, shape, or color they come in) that prepares us to meet the needs of all our clients and their unique situations. Moreover, they encourage us to be agents of change in the contemporary birth scene. All birthing parents deserve a respectful, compassionate, and evidence-based care! So it has been a pleasure to be part of this organization and be so fully in line with their philosophy. I attended a DTI training last January and became a DTI certified birth and postpartum doula in October. With the addition of my postpartum credentials, I have been able to offer more post-partum care to my clients. I have also begun my training as a Certified Breastfeeding Counselor in order to more fully support my clients in their breastfeeding journey. And as a sneak peek into this new year, I am hoping to increase the diversity of my offerings to include breastfeeding support, childbirth education, and photography. I am excited to share these new offerings with you in the coming months. I have also been elected to serve as the Secretary of CTDA (Central Texas Doula Association) and so look forward to serving the larger doula community in that capacity.
As always, I thank you so much for all your love and support. I had the privilege of serving three families who had been referred to me by lovely past clients. Please keep telling your pregnant friends and acquaintances. (And, I’m hoping to add a new referral bonus, so stay tuned!) I have also received some wonderful testimonials that I am pleased to share. Here are a few of these inspiring words that help me to keep providing better, more individualized support:
“During the birth, more than one time she helped me understand what was going on, to ask questions, and make sure that what they were doing was to my benefit, not to their convenience."
“Despite not having my ideal birth, I left the hospital with my healthy baby feeling empowered in a way, because I was able to advocate for myself despite feeling moments of vulnerability. I was able to handle the initial grief of an unwanted c-section because Jamie was by my side with empathy, allowing me to go home ready for the excitement of being a new mommy.”
“I was much more comfortable with ways to make my wife be calm and more comfortable through labor. Having a doula gave me more options than I knew existed to help my wife.”
“I think the prenatal visits are possibly the most important and most valuable part of the services Jamie offers. The amount of hours she dedicated to me and my partner before the birth was unbelievable. We were so lucky to have her support leading up to the birth.”
I always appreciate getting your feedback, including suggestions for improvement, so that I can better serve my future clients. And I love getting updates from you to see how you’re doing and how your little ones are growing. Please friend me on Facebook if you like; it’s a great way to stay in touch, and be sure to follow my page at https://www.facebook.com/Empoweredbirthingaustin/.
It is such a honor to do the work that I do: to be invited into your birth space, to witness the miracle of new life, and to encourage and support you in your journey as new parents. Thank you for your support of me so that I can continue to serve more families.
Have a blessed New Year!
It is such a honor to do the work that I do: to be invited into your birth space, to witness the miracle of new life, and to encourage and support you in your journey as new parents. Thank you for your support of me so that I can continue to serve more families.
Have a blessed New Year!
Valentine's Newsletter
Do you believe in love at first sight? I do. I witness it every time a new family lays eyes on their baby for the first time. I love what I do. I love being part of this miracle, of being invited to participate in the first moments that you have together. I love seeing your love, your joy, your strength, your determination.
It has been another wonderful year of serving families through Empowered Birthing. It has been my privilege to serve eleven families through their birthing journey in 2015, and another three families this year. I have witnessed a great variety of births: VBACs, twins, hospital births and out-of-hospital births, cesarean births, natural births, marathon births, and fast intense births. But in each one, I have seen mothers calling on their deepest strength to bring their babies into the world.
Through each birth, I learn more about the wonderful process of birth. I have also had the opportunity to expand my learning in more formal ways in order to expand the services I provide. In the summer, I completed my training as a Go Diaper Free Certified Coach. Through this program, I solidified my interest and learning about Elimination Communication (aka infant potty training). I have started a monthly support group for families practicing EC, and I am available for private consults as well. If you are interested in knowing more about this, I would love to share more. One of the most valuable workshops I have been able to attend was with Spinning Babies, which teaches us how to support optimal fetal position for easier and faster births. It really has revolutionized my doula practice. I was also able to attend a training with Susan Steffes, a specialist in women’s pelvic physical therapy, where we learned many ways to support women’s pelvic health through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I was also able to learn more about Postpartum Mood Disorders through a workshop with Postpartum Health Alliance of Central Texas. And just last month, I embarked on my recertification process with DTI (Doula Training International) as a birth and postpartum doula. I am very excited about my new connection with DTI, which more closely aligns with my philosophy. They are strong advocates for improving the maternity care system and for women’s (and doulas) autonomy, and committed to fostering a strong sense of community. I am happy to be affiliated with this organization, and I look forward to growing with them. I am also excited to begin expanding my postpartum services.
I love the work that I do, and it has been an honor to support each and every family that I serve. I really pour my heart into helping you achieve the best birth possible. I hope that you will share the love and consider writing a testimonial about your experience with me and by sharing with your friends about my services. Please keep in touch. It is always a pleasure to hear from you, see pictures of your babies, and help you with any parenting questions you may have. You are welcome to follow me on Facebook, both personally and my business page at https://www.facebook.com/Empoweredbirthingaustin/.
Happy Valentines Day! May you and your family be blessed with an abundance of love!
This is what love at first sight looks like!
My new DTI tribe!
International Day of the Midwife
It is International Day of the Midwife so I would like to take a moment to send my appreciation to all the midwives out there who are working tirelessly to normalize birth. I love midwives. I loved giving birth with midwives and I love working with midwives as a doula. When I first chose to give birth at a freestanding birth center, I don't think I had a whole lot of expectations about what midwifery care would look like, I just knew I wanted a natural, non-hospital birth. But I soon realized the care I received there (and this was a big, busy birth center) was different than any doctor's office I had been at. My care was so personal and individualized. I was always given options and expected to take the lead in my decisions. There was never a sense of "well this is just the way we do things." I got to know each of the midwives and they got to know me, and after my last postpartum visit, I began to miss my time there (Who ever misses going to the doctor?) And at my births, I felt wonderfully supported, encouraged, and lovingly cared for. It is because of their care that I eventually chose to become a doula, and perhaps one day, I'll journey down the midwifery path myself.
I think this chart about the midwifery model of care sums it up well.
The Midwife Model of Care
Definition of Birth
- Birth is a social event, a normal part of a woman's life.
- Birth is the work of the woman and her family.
- The woman is a person experiencing a life-transforming event.
Birthing Environment
- Home or other familiar surroundings.
- Informal system of care.
Philosophy and Practice
- See birth as a holistic process.
- Shared decision-making between caregivers and birthing woman.
- No class distinction between birthing women and caregivers.
- Equal relationship.
- Information shared with an attitude of personal caring.
- Longer, more in-depth prenatal visits.
- Often strong emotional support.
- Familiar language and imagery used.
- Awareness of spiritual significance of birth.
- Believes in integrity of birth, uses technology if appropriate and proven.
If you have a low-risk pregnancy, consider choosing midwifery care for your pregnancy and birth, whether you choose a hospital or out-of-hospital birth.
Samantha, the midwife who caught my firstborn
The Medical Model of Care
Definition of Birth
- Childbirth is a potentially pathological process.
- Birth is the work of doctors, nurses, midwives and other experts.
- The woman is a patient.
Birthing Environment
- Hospital, unfamiliar territory to the woman.
- Bureaucratic, hierarchical system of care.
Philosophy and Practice
- Trained to focus on the medical aspects of birth.
- "Professional" care that is authoritarian.
- Often a class distinction between obstetrician and patients.
- Dominant-subordinate relationship.
- Information about health, disease and degree of risk not shared with the patient adequately.
- Brief, depersonalized care.
- Little emotional support.
- Use of medical language.
- Spiritual aspects of birth are ignored or treated as embarrassing.
- Values technology, often without proof that it improves birth outcome.
The Year in Review
Happy New Year! As I step out into this new year, I am thankful for all that 2014 brought to me It has been an exciting year as I have just completed my first year as a birth doula and launched my business, Empowered Birthing Professional Doula Service. As always, it is an honor to be allowed to be part of each family's birth team and present in the sacred moments of new life. I have enjoyed getting to know each family that I have worked with, and I have learned immensely from each birth that I have attended. To each and every family, I thank you.
The highlights of last year have been many. It has been my pleasure to serve thirteen families as they welcomed their newest additions into their hearts and arms. I have served in three birth centers and five hospitals in the Austin area, and have been able to witness a variety kinds of births, natural, medically managed, cesarean, and VBAC. In July, I submitted my credentials and applied for my certification with DONA, and in October I received word that I am a certified birth doula. During the summer I also received training through Stillbirthday in order to become a birth and bereavement doula. This was an intense training that has prepared me to serve in births during all trimesters and all outcomes. I have just submitted my final projects and should receive my certification shortly. I have also begun working on my credentials as a certified EC coach with Go Diaper Free. I hope to begin offering classes and private consultations for families wishing to practice Elimination Communication (aka infant potty training) with their babies. If you or anyone you know is interested in this service, please send them my way. I have also started a cloth diaper and baby carrier rental library that will be available for clients to try out different items before they make their own purchases. It has been a year full of learning and I am excited about the new services that I will be able to offer families.
I look forward to serving many new families in the coming year. I hope to build on these successes and branch out even more in the coming year. Come check out what's happening here at Empowered Birthing! And bring on 2015!
Happy Thanksgiving!
It is a day to count your blessings and give thanks for the good things in your life. So I would like to begin by stating how grateful I am that I have stumbled upon this new career of mine. A little over three years ago I didn't know what a doula was. I was on a totally different career path, so I am thankful for all of the people who have helped me get where I am today.
I am thankful for the exceptional care that I received from the midwives at Austin Area Birthing Center during both by pregnancies and births. Through their compassionate and empowering care that allowed me to have the natural birth that I dreamed set me on the path to discovering my own calling to birth work.
I am thankful to my sister-in-law whose casual suggestion made me consider becoming a doula, before beginning on the path to midwifery. Good luck on your own doula journey!
I am thankful to my trainers, mentors, and colleagues, both in person and in the online community who have taught me so much and inspired me in this journey.
I am thankful for my husband who has supported me in this new endeavor and who has taken up all of the household duties, including caring for my two little ones, when I am called at a moment's notice and am gone for many hours at a time.
Lastly, but certainly not least, I am thankful to all the families who have invited me to share with them the sacred space of the birth of their babies. Especially those first few who trusted me even though I had little experience yet, I am especially grateful for your confidence in me. It has been my pleasure pleasure to support over a dozen gracious couples, and each unique birth has taught me so much.
Thank you all! And happy Thanksgiving!