Wisdom and Births

She was born at home, on the bedroom floor of our little Florida apartment, with only her daddy, mommy, and midwife present.  I have planned to give birth at home for years.  Not ' just ' a crazy hippie, it was actually my extensive education and years of work in the field of maternity care that had convinced me. I knew that for my healthy baby and I, the care of a trained midwife at home had far fewer unnecessary  interventions, more personal and respectful care,  and was as safe as giving birth in the hospital. I wanted an unhindered, natural, and private birth, and I was only going to find that at home.  And I did. Our little Izzi Moon was born with power and in peace, unhindered and naturally, in the wee hours of the morning, at home, on Wednesday May 6.  Labor began the day before - a labor fiesta for Cinco de Mayo ;) I was 38.5 weeks along. I had not-so-secretly hoped (like all pregnant women do) that our little squish would emerge ear...

Oh my gosh y'all ... WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!! Enjoy our adorable pregnancy announcements, we are excited to finally share them with you! Here is our animal pack learning the news :) And here we are practicing our cloth diapering and looking through my library of pregnancy, birth, and baby books and movies! Looking forward to sharing more pregnancy and birth news with you! ~Wisdom and Birth

Well it's about damn time... Gerber (a product of Nestle), and a number of other infant formula manufacturers, have long claimed health benefits of their formula and infant food products. Reminds me of this wonderful example :) False advertising and unethical predatory practices have undermined the hard-work mothers, health professionals, and public health specialists have put into improving breast feeding knowledge and practices. So I know many proponents for mother-baby health, as well as ethical advertising and honest labeling, will cheer when they hear that the Federal Trade Commission has sued Gerber for making a false claim that their infant formula reduces the risk of developing allergies ( haha, I call BS!) . ... SHOW US THE DATA!!! I couldn't find any images online of Gerber being sued... so I made this one! Feel free to use this lovely image when spreading the news article, which can be found here . Now we'll just have to see if money can buy them out of this one...

I've always wanted to be a mother. At 17 I was surprised to find out I was pregnant and momentarily devastated... this wasn't how I envisioned becoming a mother. I knew I couldn't be physically and spiritually 'there' for my child and felt lost and confused about what to do. I knew the young man who fathered my child wasn't the right father and I knew that I was not yet ready to be a mother - I was needed to accomplish more for myself and my future children before bringing my children into the world. With this knowledge I entered into an internal communication with my unborn child. I shared with them my sincere apologies for not being ready at this point in my life. I explained why and gave this child a vision of when I thought they should be born; when their mother would be better prepared to raise them with the respect and environment they deserve. With all the energy in my heart I told them that I wasn't going to bring them forth, yet, but hoped that if t...

Today I reached a tipping point. In recent news we have seen that the rights of women, especially pregnant women, are hardly considered important to the American government and legal system. Not only do women (especially pregnant ones) continue to lose their decision-making rights and autonomy, but corporations continue to receive more and more "rights of personhood"... WTF!?  - With decisions such as Hobby Lobby (a company) getting to claim religious beliefs and deny birth control coverage to female employees.  link - Drug-testing of pregnant women, and if they test positive for drugs, then reporting them to Child Protective Services.  link - Forcing surgery on birthing women for the "safety and rights" of their unborn child.  link - Anti-choice legislation closing down health clinics that provide abortions to women who have decided not carry or give birth to a baby.  link - The shackling of laboring women in prisons. link - Denying women who test positive f...

SOMEONE JUST HAD A NEW BABY, HOW EXCITING!!!!  Now you probably want to go bother the severely exhausted parents and rub your germy nose all over the baby's delicious smelling head... I totally understand! I'm a doula, so I do the same thing ;) Since your desires to meet this new little human MUST be quenched, let me at least give you some tips for making your visit as seamless as possible and increasing your chances of seeing the little bundle of poop again... do you babysit? 10 Tips for Visiting A New Baby: 1. SCHEDULE YOUR VISIT . Ask the parents for a convenient day and time for them and once you agree on a time, stick to it. If you have your own children, then plan a time when you can go without them. Unless you are a very close family member, the midwife, or the doula, plan your visit after the first week, preferably after the second week - the baby will still be adorable, I promise. 2. BE HEALTHY . Do not go visit a new baby when you are sick. PERIOD. Snot running down ...

Being a doula entails the self-less act of supporting a woman throughout the entirety of her labor... and contrary to what you see in movies, labor IS NOT a quick event, sometimes lasting 24, 36, even 48 hours and doulas are there for most of it! As doulas we often join the mother in early labor and we don't leave until a few hours after the baby is born. So, as you can imagine, after countless hours of massaging, hip squeezing, kneeling, standing, walking... doulas are exhausted (to say the least) after providing labor support.  Not to mention trying to remember to eat and stay hydrated is often overlooked or minimally attended to as we often put the mother's needs before our own.  So not only is your body working hard for a full day (or more!), but it is doing so with less water and calories than typical.  Somehow, though, the energy of the birth keeps you going for as long as you are needed... but once the birth is over and you are headed home, the extreme fatigue sets...