My Doula's Podcast

Lindsey found out she was pregnant and took the advice of a friend who had suggested her OBGYN. Shortly after beginning care with this provider, Lindsey was on the receiving end of some incredibly inappropriate comments.

During a cervical check at a standard prenatal visit, Lindsey's OB stripped her membranes without consent. She also accidentally broke Lindsey's water at this time, eventually sending her to the hospital to get labor going.

Join us as Lindsey shares her story and how that experience still effects her now.

Join us for a birth story that you won't want to miss!

Chess' had spent months experiencing intense digestive issues, that they thought was severe IBS. Chess had multiple doctors appointments where their provider palpated their stomach and conducted urine and blood pregnancy tests.

Chess was at work on September 28th when they started feeling extreme digestive upset every 15-20 minutes. They worked out their shift and the next day things intensified more. Chess was getting ready to go shopping with their roommate, when they experienced what they thought to be urinary incontinence. They cleaned up the mess, got in the bath, and endured stomach and back pain that was coming more frequently as time passed.

Chess was sitting on the toilet, talking on the phone with their mom asking advice on going to the emergency room, when suddenly they gave birth to a baby.

Listen in on Tuesday to hear the rest of Chess and baby Caspian's story!

Chess, Caspian, and their family are navigating a NICU stay, unexpected time off work, and of course hospital bills. If you are able to help support them monetarily through this time, please visit the link in our bio to their gofundme! Every little bit helps!

https://gofund.me/9cf22d8d

Show Notes
Chess' Email: [email protected]
Tiktok @idontknowhowtoplaychess

Today on the podcast, we are joined by Annica Quakenbush, MS, CD(DONA).

Annica is a birth doula, photographer, and all around go-getter. Annica was living in the Phillipines when she decided she wanted to give birth outside of a hospital setting, either at home or in a birth center. When she moved back to the United States and became pregnant with her daughter, she found a team of midwives to help her have a homebirth. Join us as Annica shares her 2 beautiful homebirth stories. We also discuss some of the misconceptions around homebirth and it's safety.

Show Notes:

Sprout & Blossom – You can access the botanicals shop and Sprout Baby Co. through the “shop” tab.
https://sproutandblossomgr.com/

West Michigan Midwifery
https://www.westmichiganmidwifery.com/

Join us for a doula discussion all about changing care providers during pregnancy.

Why might you want to switch providers?

Maybe you love your provider, but they are in a large practice and you rarely get to see them.
Maybe you feel like they brush off your concerns or don't take you seriously.
Maybe you want an non-medicated birth and they really push for epidurals.
Maybe you want a repeat cesarean and your provider doesn't support that.

Whatever the reason may be, you deserve to feel comfortable and confident in your birth team.

Why might someone stay with a provider when they aren't comfortable?

Clients often say they stayed with their provider because they thought they were just being hormonal, or they second guessed their hesitations, or their cousin had a good experience with them so how could they be having such a poor experience. Some of our clients have been with their provider for years and through previous pregnancies and they just keep hoping their feelings of uneasiness will go away... They rarely do.

A provider can be a skilled, knowledgeable, respected OBGYN or midwife, but they just aren't the right fit for you. Join us on Tuesday as we chat more about switching providers during your pregnancy.

Join us tomorrow on my doulas podcast as Clare shares her birth story. Clear was in the middle of parent teacher conferences when her contractions started. She went home and continued her conferences virtually for about an hour and a half before she was no longer able to ignore her contractions. Claire's Doula came over, her parents came over to watch her little ones and it seemed like everything was moving forward. And then everything slow down. After spending the next week in prodromal labor oh, Claire developed a pounding headache and went to the hospital with concerns of preeclampsia.

While she had not developed pre-eclampsia, she still advocated for herself to stay in the hospital and be induced. Clare was 2 cm dilated and they had a plan to start with a cervical ripener. The on-call OBGYN, however, suggested that they start pitocin right away. Immediately contractions were strong and Clare was shaking as she worked through them. She was sure she had made significant progress. At her next cervical check Clare was still 2 centimeters dilated.

A few hours later Clare went to the bathroom and her water broke! She had another cervical check and she had dilated to 7 centimeters! During the cervical check, Claire's nurse thought that her bag of waters may have folded over on itself and the decision was made to try and break her waters further. Clare’s nurse attempted to break her water and then an OB residents decided to try. The Resident was extremely rough and Clare had to tell her to stop. The resident rolled her eyes and asked to try again. Clare again told her to stop. She rolled her eyes, snapped off her gloves and left the room.

Clear felt defeated, distraught, and embarrassed. She labored on pitocin for a few more hours and at her next cervical check she was told she was 4 cm dilated. Exhausted, and frustrated, Clare received an epidural in the hopes to get some rest. Clare had a little bit of relief but was still feeling all of her contractions. During a position change her baby's heart rate decelerated and the room was filled with medical professionals. After what seemed like forever, they got Clare into a position where her baby's heart rate had stabilized. She sat in Throne position while a strange calm came over the room. She spoke with her Doula and said that she didn't feel she couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Only a few moments later, Clare felt the urge to push!

Listen as Clare shares how she advocated for herself by having someone removed from her birth team, and more.


Notes from the show

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth - *As a member of amazon associates, we may recieve a portion of proceeds when you purchase from this link.
https://amzn.to/3EUkwe1

*As a member of amazon associates, we may recieve a portion of proceeds when you purchase from this link.

Jenny's third pregnancy was considered high risk after she had experienced 2 miscarriages. Thankfully, her pregnancy went smoothly and was free of complications.

Jenny started having contractions on a Thursday. On Saturday, after several days of prodromal labor, Jenny's contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart. They headed to the hospital only for her labor to completely stop once she was in triage.
They were sent home and strong contractions started again. Sunday morning, Jenny went back to the hospital and again, her contractions stopped. Jenny spent the day walking around the hospital and her contractions started again and she was finally brought to a labor and delivery room.

Jenny labored on a birth ball and in the tub and eventually requested an epidural. Soon after that, medical staff broke her water and she was dilated to 10 within an hour.


When she was ready to push, Jenny felt like she had developed a fever. Her concerns were brushed off and after about an hour of pushing she brought up her concerns again. They took her temperature, and Jenny did in fact have a fever. Her baby's heart rate was vary fast and they made the decision to move forward with a cesarean.

Listen in on Tuesday to hear the rest of Jenny's story.

Meghon switched care providers at 28 weeks pregnant after some negative experiences with her OB. She made the decision to seek midwifery care, she hired a doula, and she started preparing for a non-medicated birth. At 42 weeks pregnant Meghon went to see her midwife for a routine check up and to have a foley balloon placed. Unfortunately, Meghon's blood pressure was extremely high and she was sent to the hospital to begin an induction.

Meghon quickly dilated to 6 cm and the foley baloon fell out at 2PM on Thursday. Meghon labored for the rest of the night and into the next morning on pitocin. She had a cervical check at 9AM and she was still dilated to 6 cm. They made the decision to break her water and labor immediately got more intense. Meghon walked, lunged, tried different positions, and labored in the tub. At 6PM Meghon was told that she had dilated to 7.

Meghon decided to have an epidural placed and try to get some rest. She rested while laying in different positions to help her baby descend and adjusted her position based on her babies heart rate. At 2AM on Saturday Meghon was still dilated to 7. They decided to move forward with a cesarean section.

Listen in to hear the rest of Meghon's story and hear how she advocated to have her doula in the operating room.

Regina was planning to be an egg donor for her brother and partner but during the testing she was told eggs were more mature than they should be and that she should have her own children first before considering egg donation. Regina and her husband Josh were soon pregnant with their first baby.

Regina was induced with her first 2 pregnancies and had good experiences with both births. After the births of their daughters, Regina and Josh decided they were done having babies and scheduled a vasectomy. The procedure was canceled due to Covid-19 restrictions limiting elective procedures. Josh did eventually have the vasectomy completed and they shortly discovered that they were expecting another baby and had conceived the week before the procedure.

When Regina found out she was pregnant for a third time, She decided she wanted to try something different with this pregnancy. She found a provider who was supportive and encouraging with avoiding induction, she hired a doula, and spoke with other people who had suggestions on preparing for a non-medicated birth.
Regina woke up to use the bathroom one night and felt a pop! Her water had broken and she immediately started having contractions.

Join us next Tuesday to hear the rest of Regina's fast and furious 1.5 hour birth story!

Regina also tells us about her work as a certified creative movement instructor and her Little Feet classes. These movement classes aim to develop healthy parent/child relationships, build capable and confident bodies and integrated brains

Little Feet: https://www.littlefeetmovement.com/

Join us on as we discuss the importance of having non-medicated coping strategies EVEN if you're planning to get an epidural.

Many first time parents go into birth believing that receiving an epidural means that they will have a completely pain-free birth. While this may be true for some, it is not the case for all.

Tune in as we touch on topics such as:

Coping while laboring at home and while waiting for an epidural
When an epidural isn't possible
When an epidural fails
Different coping strategies
Different education options

Kelsey got pregnant shortly after getting married and had a fairly smooth pregnancy. The night before Kelsey's due date she tripped over a baby gate and broke her left arm and shattered her right shoulder. She was taken to the hospital via ambulance. She needed surgery asap but needed to deliver her baby first. She was induced and had a smooth delivery at 10 pm. 2 hours after giving birth, Kelsey was brought down for pre-op.

After 12 hours in pre-op, Kelsey's surgery was canceled and due to scheduling she had to wait 3 more days before she was able to get into surgery. After nearly a week in bed, Kelsey needed PT and a gait belt to help her walk before she could go home. Kelsey's mom moved in for 7 weeks to help care for Kelsey and their new baby. Kelsey slept in a recliner and relied on her husband and her mom to help her take care of her most basic needs. With in home occupational therapy, Kelsey was able to start feeding herself, using the bathroom on her own and was eventually able to go back to work.

A few months later Kelsey started having shoulder pain and found out her shoulder had collapsed and was rejecting the plates a screws from her surgery. She would need another surgery.

Kelsey's story doesn't get any easier. Tune in to hear the rest of Kelsey's story and her wonderful experience giving birth a second time.