I am planning to take a postpartum doula training this weekend. I'm not sure why, but I've been feeling the ever so slight push to take a postpartum doula training for the last year and a half or so. I'm still pretty uncertain about what I am going to do with this. I am uncertain …
I am preparing for a half-marathon right now. This will be my first time training for and participating in a race of this distance. So far, my longest distance has been a 10K. I am nervous and excited for this opportunity. I have been working toward this goal for a long time, and I still …
We've all seen those doula stats. You know the ones. People who have a doula tend to have: Shorter labors Fewer requests for pain meds A better postpartum experience More birth satisfaction AND A heck of a good time* * Ok, so I made this one up. But here is a link to a reference …
Continue reading "How doulas help you have a less painful birth"
Sometimes I run across some confusion about what doulas can and can't do for a client. Doulas possess knowledge and skills that are very different from that of a midwife, nurse, or OB. Although some of the skills might overlap between these roles, there are very clear boundaries that doulas follow in order to keep …
When I was pregnant with my second baby, my midwife told me that preparing to give birth was like training for a marathon. I pretty much blew her off because I'd already given birth (which wasn't terrible), and it seemed NOTHING like what I imagined running a marathon would be (pretty much like the worst …
Continue reading "How preparing for birth is like training for a (half) marathon"
I recently completed a 10K, and I wanted to share a few thoughts that I had about the experience. It was too much for me to write, and I just couldn't figure out quite how to write about it. I decided that a video would do a much better job at capturing my thoughts. Summary: …
Continue reading "How running helps me celebrate other women"
Most of my doula clients and Birth Boot Camp students are seeking a natural childbirth. Even if they do not want an unmedicated birth, they still want to avoid a Cesarean birth as much as possible. While there is no way to predict birth or guarantee outcomes (isn't this pretty much true for all of …
The following post is a collective account of friends and clients who have shared their postpartum experiences with me over the years. It is our hope that our stories will help those who read them. The personal stories at the end were gathered more recently, and I would like to give a special thanks to …
Continue reading "Life with a new baby: the first two weeks"
When you hire a care provider to support you during your birth, they will want to monitor you and your baby during labor to ensure everyone is tolerating the process well. Most care providers use some sort of electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) to monitor your baby's heart rate during labor. There are two types of …
Continue reading "How electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) impacts your birth"
There is a movement that has been taking over the doula community, and that is the idea that doulas provide unbiased support. Maybe some do. Maybe some doulas have completely purged themselves of every ounce of bias they've ever possessed. However, I am not there yet, nor will I claim to be 100% bias-free. I …
Keen Doula Care 