Support Our Community Care Circle with Urban Baby Beginnings!

For those of you who have wondered what kind of program we have cooking for our Community Care Circle, tonight's the night! We welcome all community supporters to meet and mingle with us as we share the vision and mission of quality care for all mothers and babies. We'll all be available at the Embrace Wellness Center, 124 Buford Rd., 6-8 pm.

We will begin our Community Care Circle informational time for mothers every Friday from 5pm - 6pm starting August 5th!

What We Provide

Based on your individual needs, the following services may be available:

Midwifery Services Include:

• 20 - 30 minute prenatal check
• monthly through week 28
• every 2 weeks from week 29 - 36
• weekly from week 36 - delivery
• Routine lab work
• Postpartum visit

Supportive Services Include:

• Birth Doula to support you while you labor
• Postpartum Doula when home
• Breastfeeding education and support
• Home Visiting Program
• Licensed Perinatal Home Health for high risk pregnancies and more
• NICU Graduate Safe Landing Program
• HEAL Program (Help Educate After Loss)
• Transportation to and from your Midwifery appointment at Embrace or help setting up
• Community Referrals as appropriate

Educational Events to Include:

• Childbirth education
• Yoga classes
• Daddy Bootcamp
• Newborn Care Education

How Mothers Can Get Started - Medicaid recipients automatically qualify for services**

1.  Request a referral from your MD office or Social Worker
2. Once a referral is received, an intake Coordinator will contact you to set up an appointment.

**Clients with no insurance will be accepted for supportive services on a sliding scale basis.

Contact:

Stephanie Spencer, RN, BA, CBE, LD

Director of Health Services

Urban Baby Beginnings

1704 W. Laburnum Ave

Richmond, VA 23227

804-519-5526

facebook.com/urbanbabybeginnings

Natural Childbirth In An Unnatural World

A thoughtful, and thought-provoking blog from Stephanie Morrow of BlogHer.com makes the plea to modern women everywhere to make an informed decision about their birth in an "unnatural world." We are constantly surrounded by the images of mothers in horrible pain when labor begins and dramatic moments of the water breaking.  While all that makes for good drama on television- it's not reality for most births!  She certainly lays the groundwork for good research points, and closes it up with something that we definitely believe in here at Embrace Birth Midwifery Care & Birth Center: "YOUR body, YOUR baby, YOUR decision."

Photo Credit: stephanie2morrow

Why You Won't Have a Natural Birth

By: Stephanie Morrow

I rarely rant. I almost never rave. If I seem taller than usual, it's more likely from my new sparkly summer wedges than from standing on a soapbox. But ... well ... I want to say something that's going to make some of you furious and others of you feel justified:

Natural childbirth is not possible in an unnatural world.

And we do live in an unnatural world -- X-Men, Photoshop, reality tv, fast food, Donald Trump's hair -- and we believe what we see. (Except maybe for the hair.)

Our culture encourages those same "unreal" perceptions regarding childbirth. Movies and tv shows tell us labor will begin with intense pain and agony. We are shown images of women screaming and begging to be medicated. We told to freak out when water breaks and rush to the hospital. We listen to the horror stories of our "friends." We ignorantly put ourselves in the hands of people who are exceptionally well-trained to handle abnormalities and emergencies, hence all our births have become such abnormalities and emergencies.

And that's just not reality.

We are NOT educating ourselves. We have lost our communal knowledge of the art of birthing and have chosen instead to simply trust the medical profession to decide what is best for us.

You can SAY all day long, "I want a natural birth," but if you aren't educating yourself, your chances of actually HAVING one are practically nonexistent. I mean, if you want to be a safe driver, but you don't read the Driver's Manual, or learn to operate a vehicle from someone who knows how, or even take a driver's ed class, you MIGHT get in the car and know WHERE you want to go, but what are the chances of actually making it there safely? Probably about the same as having an uneducated natural birth.

Now, by "educating yourself," I do NOT mean taking the hospital class that tours you through Labor & Delivery, makes you watch the epidural video and discusses all the things that "could go wrong" and how the hospital will deal with them. NO. NO. An emphatic NO.

Read for yourself: Literature from both ends of the spectrum, from Twinkle Ding-Dong Yoga Birthing to Shut Up and Put Your Feet in the Stirrups. Go ahead and take the Labor & Delivery tour at the hospital, then go to an independent childbirth class. Drink in A Baby Story on TLC, then chase it with The Business of Being Born on Netflix.

Read up on epidurals and episiotomies; C-sections and vitamin K shots; vaccinations and circumcisions; fetal monitoring and forceps; meconium and mucous plugs; contractions and colostrum; dilation and doulas; VBAC and PRoM; breech babies and birth positions; posterior presentation, placentas, pitocin & postpartum depression, and for heaven's sake, PARENTING.

What determines the outcome of your labor hinges sharply on choosing to educate yourself and surround yourself with the support you need.  And, as a doula, while I heavily advocate drug-free birthing, my job is to help you have the experience you want. Schedule a C-section, squat in a cornfield, whatever. It is, after all, YOUR body, YOUR baby, YOUR decision.

Just please, please, please make it an INFORMED one.

To view the original blog post, click here.

The Birth Center Difference

We'd love to answer any and all questions you may have about what kind of care our Birth Center, Midwives, and Doulas can provide for you!  We offer tours twice a week- Tuesday afternoons at 1 pm and Saturday mornings at 9 am.  We also offer lots of classes, workshops, and opportunities to meet our talented and trained staff. Check our calendar for daily events!  We know our care can make your birth experience everything you hope it will be!

Doulas Provide Emotional, Physical and Educational Support

Our Doula interns had a great time at the Doula Speed Dating event last night, we were happy to help those couples with their questions about the benefits of a doula.  Every doula is there for educational, emotional and physical support both during and after pregnancy.  Some have backgrounds in physical therapy, others in yoga or massage, but they all share a passion for giving you the experience you want and support without judgment!

NBC12 News Coverage!

We got a great write up and video from NBC 12!

CHESTERFIELD, VA (WWBT) -
The first free-standing, midwife-led birth center just opened its doors in Chesterfield.

The Embrace Midwifery Birth Care and Resource Center and Embrace Wellness Collective opened this week off Buford Road. The facility hosts a number of services, but the focus is prenatal care, birth, and care in the weeks that follow.

“We have a lot of different services,” said Corina Hossle. “Our midwifery care covers all prenatal care, labor, birth, and post-partum care. We have two birth suites. So, we have the whole gamut of the child-bearing year covered.”

Hossle is a licensed midwife, so she also cares for mothers and babies for six weeks after birth.

“We have a nurse midwife who is offering well-woman care, birth control, IUDs, all the hormonal replacements for perimenopausal and menopausal women,” said Hossle.  “We have a wellness collective with the green baby store going in. We have doulas, we have a doula internship program, we have yoga, and child-bearing classes. We have lactation support, we’re really working hard to be a one-stop-shop for Richmond families in the area.”

What's different is the hands-on, low-intervention philosophy. We're told moms can catch their own babies. The practice also promotes skin-to-skin bonding. And they say IVs don't get started unless they are really medically required.

“We are so committed to parents and unmedicated, empowered birth. So, our job here is to just give them another option. Healthy moms having healthy babies can have babies out of hospitals and we believe that that's a good option for them," said Hossle, who she already has more than a dozen babies booked to be born at the facility. “Women are really starting to seek out an alternative birth experience. They want to be in charge of their birth and not be delivered of their babies.  So, this gives them the opportunity to really step into that space.”

For those unfamiliar with how an independent birth center might work, we asked her about what they do in an emergency.

“We do all the same tests that a doctor can do,” said Hossle. “We order all the same labs that a hospital would require, but we truly believe that interventions need to be truly required to stop into that space.”

Hossle also pointed to the ambulance crew directly across the street and she says they have a transfer agreement in place with some hospitals.

“We ask them to give us a call and we’ll talk with them a little bit on the phone and we will be offering tours on a weekly basis so they can come and see the birth centers, see if it is the right option- ask their questions. We offer free consultations and interviews so they truly can see if we’re who they want to choose for their providers. And then they begin care with us.”

Hossle says they are Medicaid providers and they also have an insurance billing program in place.

Doula Speed Dating

Are you thinking about using a doula as a part of your birth plan?  Then please come to our Doula Speed Dating event this Wednesday at 6pm to meet and greet with Embrace Birth's Doula team! Whether you're an Embrace client or not, we invite all expecting families to join us for light refreshments and a chance to meet your local doulas.  Doulas are like birthing coaches, they can help you with techniques to manage pain during labor and are there to give you emotional, physical and informational support before, during, and after your birth.  Come learn all the benefits of having a doula and get an opportunity to meet....The Right One!

A Woman's Right to Birth

We love this Letter to the Editor from a brave mother sent to The Washington Post.  It is our goal to inform and empower women with choice.  Articles like these feed on all of the unfounded fears of having a natural birth, frowning on "natural" as an inferior method, once again undermining a woman's right to choose.  We believe that birth is intuitive to all women and with the proper guidance from a knowledgable and well-trained midwife, mothers can be informed to make the best decision for their bodies.  We are one of the only birth centers anywhere that has a direct collaboration with a Registered Nurse, Jessica Jordan, who is able to provide medications on a consultation basis.  We have had less than a 1 percent transfer rate, a 6 percent C-section rate, and a 15 percent transfer rate for reasons such as pain management, or the baby being in a less than ideal position.  We are proud of those numbers and are thankful for modern medicine to bring healthy babies into this world under such circumstances.  There is no shame about it!

(Paul Giamou/iStock)

Women Should Be Listened to About the Childbirth Process

As a mother who has birthed two children, I found Amy Tuteur wrong on many fronts in her May 8 Outlook essay, “The natural-birth industrial complex.” Perhaps her most egregious — and tired — assertion about childbirth is the “healthy baby and mother” argument.

Implying that women should be satisfied simply with a healthy baby-healthy mom outcome is dismissive of women and their birth experiences, especially when they are grieving events that are sad, disappointing or traumatic. Of course every mother wants a healthy baby, but when women are ignored, disrespected or violated during labor and birth, then birth may not be a beautiful experience for them.

We can set the bar higher. Birth teaches us that we are not in control, but that doesn’t mean women don’t have choices. Women are absolutely right to ask for more in terms of prenatal and postnatal care and labor and birth options. This applies to home, birth center and hospital births — because women should be respected and listened to no matter what the birth setting.

Sarah Farr, Silver Spring

To read the full article, click here.

Pelvic Floor Therapy Demystified

I wrote this article several years ago during the period when I saw a pelvic floor therapist. I still discuss pelvic floor therapy regularly and with everyone (yes neighbors too) with the hopes that more women will seek out this amazing option. Ask an Embrace Midwife for a recommendation or check out the links below!

-Kathryn Haines, CPM

Pelvic Floor Therapy Demystified

My amazing pelvic floor was not so amazing after carrying three babies.  After my second baby, I managed to control and then stop occasional loss of urine by doing kegels. When I experienced urine loss after my third birth, I assumed that it was only a matter of time before I was dry again. As the months and then a full year went by, and I continued to change pad after pad after pad, I became concerned. A bottle of tea tree oil and vinegar by the toilet helped keep the odor away but there is something very discouraging about being incontinent when you are thirty-five.

At a visit with my local midwives (midwives are my go-to for well-woman care), Mairi and Erin asked if I had any other questions.  I disclosed my incontinence and they said suggested I see a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floors.  A few weeks later I sat sheepishly in Pat Strott-Wheatley's office, marveling over the fact that I had been so busy taking care of my three little ones, my husband, and the house (not to mention midwifery!) that I had forgotten to take care of myself (sound familiar anyone?).

In the first visit, Pat mentioned that most people were able to stay dry 85% to 90% (or more) of the time upon faithful completion of pelvic floor therapy.  The first week began with writing down everything I ate and drank as well as each trip to the toilet.  The next assignment was to go to the toilet every hour in an attempt to stay dry.  I was shocked to realize that I often couldn't even go one hour without leaking and I found it humorous how hard it was to pee every hour.  Days at the pool were the most challenging. My eldest swims but not well enough to leave alone in a pool and of course I couldn't leave my three or one year old alone.  So our daily routine went something like this.  "Ok (for the fourth hour in a row) everyone, out of the pool (grumble, grumble, grumble, why mommy), mom has to pee!" Writing down the times I peed was another roadblock.  Do you know how hard it is to pack for a family of five at the pool?  Adding my "Bladder Diary" to the bag with the suits and swimmies and lotions and shampoos and plates and snacks just did not happen. Somehow I made it through the week.

At my second appointment, I was hooked up to a computer that measured how strong my kegels were, determined the extent to which I was relaxing between kegels and made sure I was using the appropriate muscles.  I learned that while I kegeled well under the watchful eyes of Pat, at home I was not adequately relaxing between kegels.  I was so focused on getting my kegels in that I was contracting beautifully, but not fully relaxing. Remember, biofeedback works!  A hand on the belly reminds you to relax.

I also watched a movie on the amazing pelvic floor.  Did you know that the urge to pee lasts 14 seconds and instead of rushing to the bathroom when you feel the urge (this makes you leak) you should first take a breath and kegel? Pat sent me home with new homework, pee every hour and a half and add pelvic floor exercises, three sets, contract for 8 seconds, relax for eight seconds.

Visit three, PROGRESS! The pelvic floor exercises were working!  I was able to stay dry peeing every hour and a half and during a conference where I just couldn't slip out to pee, I found myself doing extra kegels and staying dry for about two hours!  I noticed a few leaks that occurred when I had my morning latte and Pat suggested that I switch to half-caff (a painful switch but I am adjusting and you bet I will NOT be drinking half-caff at a birth.)  I was hooked up to the computer again and the program detected that I had greatly increased the strength of my kegels in just one week!  More homework.  Pee every two hours and kegel four times a day, contract 10 seconds, relax ten seconds.

Week four. I forgot my sensor today and so I am scheduled for a final session in one month (probably a good thing as I will not slack on my kegels).  The good news, when I kegel regularly (and appropriately!) I no longer leak!  I will need to kegel for the rest of my life, and regularly (at least one set four times a day) but staying dry is worth the effort.  And there are other benefits too!  Developing strong pelvic floor muscles helps alleviate constipation and leads to better sex (among other things).  If you are kegeling and it isn't working, I HIGHLY recommend visiting a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floors.  They will make sure you are kegeling properly, offer advice on how to kegel more effectively, and suggest things in your diet (like caffeine) that might be adding to the problem.

A disclaimer, I made a dramatic improvement in a short amount of time (four visits over the course of less than two months).  This is because I had rather strong pelvic floor muscles at the start.  It can take several months to see improvement and you have to be very diligent about doing your homework.  If I don't kegel regularly, I leak, it is as simple as that.

I would love to see all midwives talk about the correct way to kegel (equal emphasis on relaxing as well as contracting) with their clients prenatally and post-partum.  My gut feeling is that there are a lot of women out there who are incontinent and don't realize that a physical therapist can help you learn how to stay dry.  I am a convert! Check out these websites to find a great pelvic floor therapist: https://hermanwallace.com/practitioner-directory, http://www.womenshealthapta.org/pt-locator/.

A Letter to our Midwife

We originally found this article in the Huffington Post, and we really love the way that it represents the point of view of a new mommy and her opinions about her midwife. We've talked time and time and again how this is supposed to be a beautiful experience between a mother and her child. A moment to be shared with your loved ones if that is your desire but most importantly it should be an experience that is safe, loving and comfortable. Hear what this new mom has to say about her midwife below. 

"This is my heart-felt thank you letter to the midwife who in my mind, showed the world how it could be done. I write this is in the hope that it will be shared with midwives and parents everywhere, to remind everyone how birthing is messy and painful and scary but also amazing and wonderful and sacred... and a human experience!

A Letter to our Midwife

As our daughter nears her first birthday, I want you to know something.

I don't know if you get letters like this everyday or even whether you think you deserve them.

But I have been thinking a lot about you and how you helped us safely deliver our baby into this world all those months ago and I wonder if perhaps, I could have written a letter like this for the birth of our first daughter.

I don't know if midwives like you are rare or if all share the same grace and understanding. But here is what I am truly thankful for, as a mother, as a woman and as a human being.

Thank you for speaking to me throughout the whole experience of giving birth with compassion, kindness and love. You made me feel at ease. You enabled me to feel strong and powerful. You reminded me how capable I was, how amazing my body was... how I could keep going, even though the pain was great and I was tired.

Thank for asking me if I wanted to be checked internally on our arrival. Yes, it might have been necessary but being asked made me feel relaxed and in control and that my body belonged to me.

Thank for you agreeing to a calm, peaceful and natural birth and for honouring all of our requests, even when the same music had been played on repeat for four hours and you asked, quietly, would I like to change it. And when I replied 'Nooooooo'! you simply kept playing the CD.

Thank you for taking care of my husband as he took care of me by asking him if he was ok, whether he wanted a drink and did he want a rest after rubbing my back for an hour and for you to take over.

Thank you for being in the background and leaving me and my husband to birth our baby... and for stepping in, calmly at every moment needed.

Thank you for not batting an eyelid when I asked my husband to repeat a prayer continuously during the most insanely intense part of the whole birthing experience... and for saying 'How lovely!' when I whispered a prayer into our babe's ear straight after birthing her. I felt as if you wholly respected and honoured our wishes and our faith.

Thank you for keeping the lights low, the pool warm, and the ambience calm and serene in the birthing room... I felt like we were in a unique and sacred space. Giving birth is sacred and special as well as off-the-scale painful! And you completely honoured every single need and request.

Thank you for restoring my confidence and validating my previous birthing experience where harsh words had been spoken, where I felt trapped and confined, disrespected and dishonoured.

Thank you for speaking in the calmest of tones throughout and for telling me... yes! That is supposed to happen! (on numerous occasions!)

Thank you for looking deep into my eyes and telling me... You can do it. I know you can. I believe in you.

Thank you for the aftercare... for laughing at my ramblings whilst having stitches afterwards and for laughing at my inappropriate comments when I couldn't help myself (gas and air... such fun!)

Thank for to the midwife who stepped in to join you and to rally together to realise the final moments of baby arriving into this world, for leaving the cord until it stopped pulsating to cut it without me not even asking... for offering to take photos of us all in our postnatal bliss.... thank you SO much! Thank you for enabling me to leave the birthing centre feeling in charge, feeling loved, feeling empowered and strong and able and completely wonderful!

You may not realise this but I think of this event frequently and it has left me feeling on top of the world.

This is how birthing can be... no matter how it happens, whether or not the mother has pain relief or a C-section, whether her feet are in stirrups or whether she is down on all fours... this is how it should be. A human, loving, supportive, wonderful experience.

Thank you.

Victoria shares her full birthing story on her positive parenting website Mama Baba Do.

Connect with Victoria on Facebook!"

Top 10 Reasons a Birth Center Birth is Not For You

We were blessed to work with Dr. Poppy when we were in Missouri! Here is an article she wrote as a guest post for the Unnecesarean: 

10 Reasons a Birth Center is Not For You

(and why you may be Wrong!)

1. “A hospital is the safest place to give birth.” The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has stated that a hospital-based or freestanding accredited birth center is a reasonable option for low risk women.
2. “What if an emergency happens, a hospital is prepared for emergencies?” Birth centers are typically equipped with oxygen, IV fluids, medications to slow bleeding and providers are trained in CPR and neonatal resuscitation. True emergencies are very rare, although most birth centers are located in close proximity to hospitals should a transfer become necessary. Most birth center transfers are non-emergent (mom develops risk factor during prenatal care, dysfunctional labor, maternal exhaustion, etc).
3. “My insurance requires me to go to the hospital to give birth.” Insurance often covers birth center births. Since the cost of a birth center birth is approximately 50% less than a low risk hospital birth, you get more bang for your health care buck. Cost savings are significant for patients without insurance.
4. “My husband, family, friends or in-laws would be upset if I didn’t deliver in the hospital.” Most people aren’t aware of the beautiful surroundings, safety features, and low cost of birth centers. Tours of facilities and researching your options can help you to determine if a birth center is a good fit for you. Remember, your birth is about YOU, not what makes other people feel better.
5. “I’m not a hippie, why would I deliver at a birth center?” Increasing numbers of highly-educated, professional people choose to have their babies in a birth center as well as many non-professionals and non-hippies. With so much information available online, women of all kinds are seeking out high quality prenatal care and empowered birthing options.
6. “I’m high risk, I can’t deliver at a birth center.” Some people ARE truly high risk (moms who have diabetes, hypertension or history of cesarean section*). However, each pregnancy is different and there are many women who would qualify for a birth center birth (miscarriages, infertility, advanced maternal age, etc.).
7. “Isn’t continuous fetal monitoring better for my baby?” Continuous fetal monitoring has not been shown to be a benefit over intermittent fetal monitoring in low risk women.
8. “The hospital has pediatricians for my baby.” Pediatricians don’t attend low risk births at the hospital. Birth center providers are trained in newborn assessment and resuscitation.
9. “There are lots of people checking on me in the hospital.” Many women appreciate the midwifery model of care and the time spent during longer prenatal visits (30-60 minutes vs 10-15 minutes) as well as the continuity through birth and post-partum. Some families get annoyed with constant interruptions by multiple people in the hospital for vital signs, dietary, housekeeping, nursery or lab draws at 6 AM.
10. “I can’t have an epidural in a birth center.” True. But you CAN have increased mobility to move around in labor: walking, standing, birth balls and birth tubs help provide many women pain relief in labor.

ACOG has acknowledged that birthing in a hospital-based or freestanding accredited birth center is a reasonable option for low risk pregnant women. They have recently released a statement with the American College of Nurse Midwives affirming evidence-based models of care and the need for collegial relations and collaboration between obstetricians and midwives.  (Joint Statement of Practice Relations Between Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Certified Nurse Midwives/Certified Midwives, Feb 2011, Reaffirmed by ACOG Executive Board July 2014)

Dr. Poppy Daniels is an OB/GYN who works with midwives at the Family Birth & Wellness Center in Springfield, MO, www.familybirth.com. You can follow her at “Dr. Poppy” on Facebook and @drpoppyBHRT on Twitter.

- See more at: http://www.theunnecesarean.com/maternity-care-digest/top-10-reasons-a-birth-center-birth-is-not-for-you.html#sthash.kIoXZhoQ.dpuf