Introduction to Birthing From Within
Birth brings you face to face with your tigers. Birthing From Within founder, midwife and world renowned childbirth educator Pam England, aptly teaches that in labor, none of your worldly knowledge, possessions or statuses will help you. Instead, at key thresholds in your birth journey — referred to as “gates” — you will be stripped…
Stand by Your Midwives: Let Prevea Know How you Feel About Loss of Midwifery Services
MENOMONIE & EAU CLAIRE FOLKS: you may have heard that Prevea is ending its OBGYN care as of 9/30. CNMs Karen and Annie are the heart of Prevea’s maternity service, providing warm, gentle welcomes to new babies and compassionate, person-centered midwifery care to expecting families all over the Chippewa Valley. It is really sad to…
Stop saying VBAC “candidate”
If you have a vagina and are not experiencing a life threatening complication or other absolute contraindication to vaginal birth, you are a candidate for VBAC. Even if you are high BMI. Even if your cesarean was for “failure to progress.” Even if you attempted VBAC previously and had another cesarean. Even if your baby…
VBAC client review: Sario & Farah (Minneapolis, MN)
Diana is amazing!! I highly recommend her if you are looking for a doula who will go above and beyond for you. Diana is very passionate, a hard worker and knowledgeable. My only regret was not having her for my first birth. I was expecting my second child when I heard of the benefits of…
Sara’s Birth: Client Tribute
Let me tell you a little story about this client. About how she navigated a difficult birth as a first time mom. About how you can utilize intervention judiciously *WITHOUT* losing freedom of movement and giving up your entire birth plan. Her water broke first, without immediate contractions — also known as PROM (or, premature…
Client Review: First-time parents Christina & Michael
Diana was our doula for the birth of our daughter in 2019 and I can’t say enough how wonderful it was to have her there. She is warm, empathetic, and completely accepting and non-judgmental. Before the birth she very thoughtfully answered all our questions and helped us understand what to expect, and it was very…
VBAC Client Review: Amanda
Diana is a brilliant and intentional ally to have on your birth team. She is a wealth of knowledge, resources, and most importantly radical support. After an emergency C-section with my first child, I sought out a Doula to assist me through a TOLAC. It had been my goal the first pregnancy to deliver naturally,…
Tips for Cesarean Recovery
Nobody expects to have a cesarean, let alone be dealing with cesarean recovery. Even if you’ve had time to prepare (e.g., your cesarean was scheduled, as opposed to occurring on an unplanned basis in labor), many find the reality of major abdominal surgery hits them like a ton of bricks. Pain, bloating, trouble with bowel…
Tips for Planning a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC)
In a prior post, I introduced the issues pregnant people need to know regarding vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC). That post concluded, “if you are pregnant after a cesarean, fear, politics, risk management and physician preference may filter the options and information available to you in navigating your care.” As a result, folks planning a…
Supporting Sufferers of Birth Trauma: A Pitfall to Avoid
I recently saw a fellow doula share a post targeted toward folks suffering from birth trauma that said, “When you replace ‘Why is this happening to me?’ with ‘What is this trying to teach me?’ EVERYTHING SHIFTS.” I would like to respectfully offer an alternate view on this. I am a doula, someone who experienced…