Evidence Based Birth®

On this episode the EBB Podcast, we talk with Brandi Jordan, the founder of The Cradle Company and the Dear Doula podcast, all about supporting infant mental health using a whole family approach.   Brandi is a board-certified lactation consultant, pediatric sleep specialist, newborn care specialist, and a postpartum doula. Brandi's work as a consultant, parenting group leader and in-home practitioner have led her to develop a unique philosophy of gentle parenting techniques that are pragmatic, practical, and a healthy approach for the whole family. In 2018, Brandi founded the National Association of Birth Workers of Color and currently hosts the Dear Doula podcast.   She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Child Development and a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California where she's also an adjunct faculty lecturing in infant mental health and culturally competent mental healthcare.   Brandi talks with us about how to find our unique skills and assets to bringing our whole selves into bi

In this episode of the EBB podcast, we talk with Cheyenne Varner, the founder of The Educated Birth, about intersectional reproductive health and the importance of birth education to be more inclusive and representative.   Cheyenne, is a professional certified birth and postpartum doula and founder of The Educated Birth. The Educated Birth creates intersectional reproductive health education content, from online articles to social media posts to digital and print teaching tools for reproductive health workers. Cheyenne also publishes Everyday Birth Magazine, a print and digital magazine with the same mission to make information and education about pregnancy and postpartum more inclusive.   Cheyenne shares her journey from nonprofit work to doula work to now finding herself as the founder of The Educated Birth and the publisher of Everyday Birth Magazine. We discuss the importance of how we talk about pregnancy, how it is shown in pop culture and how most often, images and stories of pregnancy and childbi

In this Mini Q&A episode of the EBB podcast, I will be answering a variety of questions that have recently been asked of us, including:   1.    What if my hospital won't let my healthy newborn go home before 48 hours? 2.    Are modern ultrasounds better at detecting big babies? 3.    What's the maximum time a vacuum can be used during a vacuum assisted delivery? 4.    Does EBB have any new resources I should know about?   References/Resources: Read the AAP Guidelines on Hospital Stays for Healthy Term Newborn Infants here  Visit the NAABB here Read the U.S. Department of Labor article on the Newborns' and Mothers' Protection Act here  Read the UpToDate article on vacuum assisted delivery (subscription only) here  Resources Read the New Evidence Based Birth® Signature Article on Anti-Racism in Health Care and Birth Work (and links to all the free handouts) here   Check out the EBB Pocket Guide to Interventions here  Listen to the following EBB Podcast Episodes:  EBB Podcast 190 Updated

On today’s podcast, we will be sharing with you an excerpt from a live webinar featuring Dr. Rebecca Dekker all about debunking the myths of Premature Rupture of Membranes, GBS, & Waterbirth.  We discuss the following topics: The Updated Evidence on Premature Rupture of Membranes - There are two new meta-analyses on GBS-- but they have limitations and cannot be applied to countries that screen and treat GBS. New guidelines are included from ACNM, ACOG & the Association of Ontario Midwives. The myths on GBS - We review what the microbiome is, the influence of probiotics, and why antibiotics are used. How Waterbirth can be used for labor - We covered the differences in association guidelines of waterbirth, as well as, reviewed the significant results for the risks and benefits of waterbirth from the largest and highest-quality study on waterbirth to date! This is podcast breaks down the topics for parents and professionals to be informed and empowered! LECTURE HANDOUTS For lecture handou

May 17, 2023 - On today's episode we are honoring Pelvic Floor Awareness Month with a replay episode from one of our most popular episodes, an interview with Dr. Juan Michelle Martin all about pelvic floor health in both pregnancy and postpartum. Content warning: discussion of sexual function and dysfunctions in plain terms. In this episode, I will be talking with Dr. Juan Michelle Martin. Dr. Martin is a pelvic floor specialist for 13 years and now an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor. Dr. Martin is the owner and founder of JMM Health Solutions. She's created a few programs for pregnant individuals as well as two coaching programs, one of them being a 12-week program for people with endometriosis, and the other being a four-week program for individuals suffering from dyspareunia. We talk about the benefits of pelvic floor therapy for pregnancy and postpartum. We also talk about the importance of advocating for accessible pelvic care services. Learn more about Dr. Juan Michelle Martin here (https://www.jmmhea

On this episode of the Evidence Base Birth® Podcast, we talk with Barbie Christianson, RN all about fundal massage. We discuss what the evidence actually says about this routine procedure versus what happens in everyday practice, and why this practice continues to persist in routine preventative care.   Barbie Christianson is a nurse, community educator and advocate, as well as a parent of four young children. Their mission is to communally dismantle oppressive structures specifically in reproductive/perinatal healthcare while contributing to the expansion of existing Black and/or Indigenous led community-based care structures. Barbie’s special focus is on addressing and eliminating obstetric violence using trauma informed perinatal advocacy, care, and education.   Barbie shares her passion and skills in trauma informed care with our audience by sharing useful scripts for obtaining informed consent, explaining how to guide patients in their own assessments and massage, and offers many ways to maintain a calm

On this episode of the EBB Podcast, we talked with EBB Childbirth Class Graduates, Priscilla and Nathan Layman about how the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class prepared them for a home birth and their unexpected hospital transfer with a NICU stay.   Nathan and Priscilla are happy parents who live and work in San Antonio, Texas. Nathan is a pipeline engineer and Priscilla splits her time between caring for their 19-month-old daughter and providing part-time psychotherapy services, as a licensed clinical psychologist.   Join us as Nathan and Priscilla share their experience learning advocacy skills reviewed in the EBB Childbirth class and how they were used during their daughter’s unexpected NICU stay after their homebirth transfer. We also talk about their birth experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and how empowered they felt with their support team in birth and postpartum.   Content Warnings: 911 call, emergency transfer to the hospital for low oxygen state in a newborn, respiratory support for

On today’s episode we are celebrating the release of Part 3 of our BRAND NEW Signature Article, "The Evidence on: Anti-Racism in Health Care and Birth Work!" EBB Research Editor Ihotu Ali, the lead author on this paper, talks with Rebecca Dekker about how  Evidence-Based Equity Tools are solutions that can collectively move Black and Brown voices, leaders, innovative programs, accountability conversations, supportive funding, and legislation from the sidelines to the mainstream. You can find all three parts of our NEW Signature Article, The Evidence on: Anti-Racism in Health Care and Birth Work here: www.evidencebasedbirth.com/antiracism Join the conversation to learn more about: Equity vs equality and diversity vs mending broken relationships The Evidence Based Equity Triad The Midwifery Model of Care - What about midwives in birth centers or other community spaces Community-Based Doulas - Support and mentor a doula of color and expand sustainability of the doula profession through employee benefit models R

In this episode, we talk with Gina and Roxanne, the sister duo behind Mamastefit about how fitness can keep you comfortable and pain-free during pregnancy and birth.   Gina Conley and Roxanne Albert are the sister duo of MamasteFit. Together they offer childbirth education, specializing in labor and pelvic biomechanics and pre and postnatal fitness programming. Located in Aberdeen, North Carolina, you can train with them in person or you learn from them all over the world with their Instagram account and online classes. Additionally, Gina, has her master's in exercise science, runs the MamasteFit in-person perinatal fitness training facility and she discusses how she supports families as a birth doula. Roxanne, is a labor and delivery nurse, recently serving as a birth assistant in a freestanding birth center and tells us how being a student midwife influences her understanding of the body in birth.   Today, we talk with Gina and Roxanne about their own experiences being pregnant and how it inspired the

In this episode we talk with Sabia Wade about her new book, Birthing Liberation: How Reproductive Justice Can Set Us Free.   Sabia Wade (she/ they) is the founder of Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings, an accessible and inclusive training program for community care workers, and the founder of For the Village, a nonprofit providing doulas at no or low cost to low-income and marginalized communities in San Diego, California, as a coach, board member, investor, educator, and programming development consultant for organizations throughout the birth and reproductive health space. Every part of Sabia's work centers on liberation of all people through Reproductive Justice.   Sabia talks with us about the process of writing a book for birth workers about Reproductive Justice and how we can create the future we want for all birth people. Sabia introduces us to the ideas of Birth Neoterism and Black Luxury. Through these key concepts, Sabia shares how we can learn from our history, find hope in our present and recr

In this episode we talk with Emily Chandler and Taylor Washburn, EBB Childbirth Class graduates about their experiences in the childbirth class; their informed and empowered hospital birth; and how they navigated an extended hospital stay for newborn jaundice.   Emily, is a marine scientist, and Taylor, is a teacher and rowing coach in the Boston area. Together, they love hiking, biking, rowing, and taking advantage of the great outdoors. And they're also very busy taking care of their baby. While pregnant, Emily dove headfirst into learning about pregnancy, birth, and the state of maternity care in the United States. Emily and Taylor took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class with EBB instructor Chanté Perryman.   Emily and Taylor share their experiences in the EBB Childbirth Class and how that informed many of the decisions they made regarding their birth plan, including Taylor being both inspired and empowered to “catch” their baby. They also share how they used the advocacy skills learned in class to

In this bonus episode, we wrap up our 2-part series on Group B Strep in Pregnancy, where I answer some of your questions following the first two episodes. Here are the questions answered in this bonus episode: Is it possible to retest between an initial GBS swab and going into labor? Are there things that can be done to get a negative test before labor occurs? If you are GBS positive in one pregnancy, are you likely to be positive in subsequent pregnancies? Discussion about an important limitation to one of the studies in our GBS update. Discussion about risk factors and the “Other Risk Factor” approach vs the Universal Screening approach Is there evidence for screening for GBS twice in the same pregnancy? Make sure you listen to Part 1 and Part 2  to review the updated GBS research. Resources: Listen to EBB 254: Group B Strep in Pregnancy Part 1 here Listen to EBB 257: Group B Strep in Pregnancy Part 2 here Listen EBB 87: Cristen Pascucci on How to Disagree on Birth Topics Respectfully! here Learn more ab

In this episode, we’re going to talk with Ms. Divine Bailey-Nicholas, midwife apprentice, doula, certified lactation counselor, and master herbalist about her career in birth work, advocacy and plant medicine in Louisiana. We learn how she utilizes a community model of care that brings resources and education to combat maternal health deserts in the Deep South of the US.   Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Ms. Divine is proud of her Delta, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia roots. Her cultural foundation breathes through her plant medicine and birth work. Currently, Ms. Divine is a charter member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Louisiana chapter, where her role is historian. She’s a member of the Healthy St. Landry Steering Committee and member of the Community Partners Advisory Sub-Community for the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative. Divine is also the founder and executive director of Community Birth Companion, a nonprofit organization working to decrease infant and mate

In this episode, we're going to talk with Ruth Greene, birth doula, Evidence Based Birth® Pro Member, and Co-owner of Having a Baby in China Consulting Services, about the challenges of giving birth in a foreign country and how pregnancy and childbirth can unite us despite our unique cultural & lived experiences.   After the birth of her second baby in a local hospital in China, Ruth began volunteering to support other foreigners as they struggled to navigate an unfamiliar healthcare system. Ruth's passion drove her to seek formal training as a doula and childbirth educator. In May 2022, Ruth partnered with the creators of havingababyinchina.com to open an official Chinese company that offers breastfeeding, doula, and consulting services. Ruth’s clients hail from every corner of the earth, from South Africa to Brazil, to England, to Iran, and, of course, China. No matter the cultural or personal background, Ruth considers it an absolute privilege to be invited into the sacred space of pregnancy and bi

In this episode we talk with Samantha Reisz, EBB Childbirth Class graduate about her experiences taking the class and preparing for a waterbirth in a hospital with her “Golden Ticket” birth team, who were skilled and prepared to manage a placental cord avulsion also known as cord snapping.   Samantha Reisz, she/her, is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Human Development at Washington State University in Vancouver, Washington, just outside of the Portland, Oregon area. She completed her bachelor's in Psychology and master's in Infant Mental Health from Mills College in Oakland, California when she first began studying childbirth. Samantha then earned her PhD in Human Development and Family Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied infant parent relationships and the transition to parenthood. Samantha is a passionate scholar and educator. After years of studying these topics academically, she finally was able to live her own research with the birth of her first child. Samantha lives in

In this episode, we continue to bring you the Updated Evidence on Group B Strep in Pregnancy. This is Part 2 of a 2-part series, where we talk about the evidence on alternative treatments for GBS and answer some of your FAQs about this hot topic.   In Part 2, we’ll be talking about: The “Other Risk Factor approach,” Alternatives to antibiotics for GBS, including Chlorhexidine and garlic, Vaccines, Probiotics, Topical use of human milk, Address frequently asked questions Review the Guidelines from 3 countries We wrap up with the Bottom Line on the Updated Evidence on Group B Strep in Pregnancy.   Content Warning: GBS-related stillbirth, infant death, critical illness of newborns, vaccines, antibiotics, and racial disparities in GBS positive results and GBS disease in newborns.   References and Resources: For a full list of scientific references, see the blog post that goes along with this episode here. Find about more about colloidal silver here  Learn more about Neonatal Sepsi

On today’s podcast, we’re going to talk with physical therapist and founder of Core Exercise Solutions, Dr. Sarah Duvall (she/her) about connecting with your pelvic floor and preventing dysfunction after birth.    Dr. Sarah Duvall, CPT is the founder of Core Exercise Solutions, a center for continuing education and online programs focusing on the pelvic floor. She uses her platform to share her passion for empowering individuals to connect with their bodies in pregnancy and heal holistically after birth.  When she's not hanging off the side of a mountain, Sarah is also a wife, mom, and adventure sports athlete who enjoys writing and presenting through her social media platforms and figuring out how her clients can continue to pursue their dreams and lead strong adventurous lives.   In this episode, we talk about the importance of pelvic floor physical therapy. Sarah walks us through several pelvic floor exercises to help us understand how to connect with our bodies and understand what types of dysfunction mig

In today's podcast, we talk with Laurisa Paul, a Registered Nurse, EBB Pro Member and founder of Girls Who Know® about her journey towards teaching girls what they need to know and respect about their bodies.   Laurisa was the winner of our EBB Pro Member September Circle Community challenge, where she won the opportunity to have her work featured on the podcast. I am excited to share my conversation with Laurisa where she talks about her passion for helping others love themselves fully and feel their inherent worth and power. Laurisa resides in Texas where she is a mother of five and an outdoor adventurer. Medically trained, Laurisa stumbled across home birth when she was actively seeking to improve her own birth experiences and since then she has worked as a midwife assistant.   Laurisa is a mother of five, a writer, a Registered Nurse, home-birther and midwife advocate. She has a deep passion for diversity and a profound respect for people and their story. She is a lover of outdoor adventure and dreams of

In this episode, we bring you the Evidence on Group B Strep in Pregnancy, in anticipation of the research update to the Signature Article on Group B Strep in Pregnancy.   This is Part 1 of a 2-part series. In today’s Part 1, we’ll be talking about: The evidence on GBS during pregnancy The evidence on testing for GBS The evidence on antibiotics, including the pros and cons of giving antibiotics during labor for GBS. Content Warning: GBS-related stillbirth, infant death, critical illness of newborns, antibiotics, disparities, access to health care. References and Resources:  For a full list of scientific references, see the blog post that goes along with this episode here. Find the CDC GBS Prevention App for Obstetric Providers here  Find the ACOG GBS Prevention Guidelines here  Listen EBB 87: Cristen Pascucci on How to Disagree on Birth Topics Respectfully! here Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!! For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.

In this episode we talk with Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class graduate, Leah Bergman about her experiences navigating a recommended 38-week induction due to a diagnosis of Intrauterine Growth Restriction. Leah Bergman is a new mom and has recently made the decision to leave her full-time job as a church musician to be able to dedicate more time to her family and raising her daughter. When she's not involved in music or busy with the baby, Leah enjoys cooking, knitting, coloring, sewing, and going on walks with her husband, Gunnar, and dog, Winnie. In this episode Leah shares how she was inspired by a friend to read Babies are Not Pizzas and on the recommendation of her midwife found the EBB Childbirth Class. Leah and her husband were planning for birth with as few interventions as possible, until an ultrasound showed signs of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). In collaboration with their midwifery team, they pivoted their plans and began to prepare for an induction at 38-weeks. Leah walks us throug