Comfy clothes during the Growing Season

Below are some pictures (from the etsy store website) of some super soft, very sweet, organic cotton maternity shirts. I have bought items from this etsy artist before, and she is just a dear! Each shirt is hand-printed and arrives wrapped in gift paper with a card. I believe the shirts are made in Canada and the company practices fair trade. Check it out!

Lots more shirts and ordering Information are found here at the

Eco Maternity.

The designer also has another store called Zosai, and there you will find shirts that are hand-printed with Greek, Hebrew or Latin. I love these!

This one says "Faith Hope Love" in Greek.

This says "Love" in Greek.

"Joyful Mother" Latin.

"Make a Joyful Noise" in Hebrew.

Every Women in Labor Deserves a Doula...

I have been so blessed this past month serving with the Chicago Volunteer Doula Group. This group is composed of over 50 women who are committed to having doula services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Usually 2 women are on call for 12 hour shifts. I have gotten to know some of these dedicated ladies, and I am so thankful to learn from them and be a part of this group together. Currently we are working with the midwives at Swedish Covenant, Illinois Masonic and St. Mary's Hospitals, and if a woman comes in and she is labor, the midwives will ask them if they would like a doula. If the mother would like some additional support, then the midwives notify the doula(s) on-call, and the adventure begins...

So far I have been to Swedish and Illinois Masonic and have learned so much as I work with the couples and the midwives. I am so thankful to Tim, for he has been an amazing father to the girls while I am doula-ing this summer.

It's okay to take a NAP in labor....

At class last week, Julie taught us about N.A.P., which stands for Natural Alignment Plateau. The N.A.P. is a period of time during labor when the cervix stops dilating although contractions continue. N.A.P. is a normal part of the first stage of labor and occurs in over 50% of natural births.

Many times labor is seen through the lens of a textbook that says as time increases the cervix should continue to dilate at the same consistent pace. When this doesn't happen, mothers may become discouraged that they are not "progressing as they should." Sometimes interventions such as the Artificial Rupture of Membranes and Pitocin are suggested and the couple is faced with some decisions to make. Baby is doing fine, but they are being told that Mom is not progressing. It sounds like Momma's body is in the middle of a N.A.P., and if she knows this ahead of time, she can embrace this hiatus and know that everything is fine and normal in her labor.

Below is a simple diagram of the Natural Alignment Plateau. (found in the Bradley Method Textbook and from aNatural Childbirth Website)

During a

N.A.P. time, there may be many necessary things that are taking place for the birth process to continue. Some of them include:

1. The baby is finding the best possible position to move through the mother's pelvis.

2. The pelvis is preparing to accommodate the descent of the baby. The cartilage may be softening and the ligaments may be working to increase flexibility.

3. The breasts are working hard to form all the necessary immunities to protect the baby after birth. Secretion from the breast before labor starts are very low in these immunities, but right after baby is born, the breast are full of them. Therefore, it may take some time to produce and get ready.

4. The baby may be in need of a nice massage! The contractions not only bring baby down, but also massage the baby and prepare his or her lungs for breathing on the outside.

5. The mother may be experiencing some psychological changes as she knows its almost time to meet her child. She may need some time to adjust to taking on the responsibility of another life.

So Ladies, if you find yourself "stuck" at a certain dilation, remember N.A.P., and rest in the fact that it is completely normal. Also, limit the times you get checked for dilation. Not only will it lower the risks for infection, it will lower the likelihood for discouragement if you are having a longer first stage of labor.

You are going to do great!

Always Learning...

I have been taking a trip down memory lane this summer and enjoying the scenery..

When my younger daughter was about 9 weeks old, (over 4 years ago) I was invited by a friend in the Mom's Group I was attending at the time to a "Celebrating Women and Daughter's Conference." There were probably about 30-40 other women there and we talked and learned together about God's beautiful design in how He made females. I learned such fresh and positive perspectives on menstruation, pregnancy and menopause - three events in women's lives that can be embraced and celebrated, but often times, painted in a negative context by our culture. A seed was planted in my heart that weekend... a desire to serve as a doula. Over the years, that seed would grow and grow. Now I feel my heart is blooming with joy as I journey on this doula path!

Upon my training in November, I entered into a doula certification program. One of the requirements for certification is to attend childbirth classes. I started my class search and had several options from classes at hospitals to health clubs to homes. I wanted to attend a class that offered a positive, natural, and thorough perspective on birth, and the Bradley Method fit that role. So this summer I am driving to the city every Monday night to The Center Portion on Fullerton. There I am by surrounded couples who desire to take an active role in their pregnancy and birth. It is so cute to see their growing bellies as they walk in each week. I sit by some other doulas-in-training and we get to share our excitement over this wonderful work. And the neatest thing about it all is that the Bradley Instructor is Julie Parache, a friend whom I met at the the Celebrating Women and Daughters conference over 4 years ago!

I am learning a load of helpful information, and wish I took this class during my pregnancies. I would recommend the Bradley Method to any client and especially Julie's class. For those of us out in the suburbs, the drive to the city is not that bad and you can throw in dinner on the way to make it a date night.

For those of your pregnant mommas, I would also recommend you check out the Brewer Diet, a diet supported by the Bradley Method, and known to help women stay low-risk and "prevent and in some cases even reverse a host of common complications of pregnancy, including toxemia, low birth weight, prematurity, and preterm labor." (quotation from Dr. Brewer's website)

More learning adventures to come...

Helpful Resources

In my research, I have found some interesting Childbirth resources that I wanted to share:

1. A very helpful website that I frequently visit is Birthing Naturally. Whether you are planning to labor without medication or planning to get an epidural, this website offers valuable information on several different topics.

2. Also on this website are thought-provoking theories about childbirth procedures, presented by Robbie Davis-Floyd in her book Birth as an American Rite of Passage. You can view the list of topics such as I.V.'s, Artificial Rupture of Membranes, Fasting during labor, Pitocin, Epidural, and many others. Click Here to see a list of Davis-Floyd's messages.

3. I wish that I knew of this book when I went into labor with my girls. It's called The Labor Progress Handbook. Many of the techniques I have learned about in this book I plan to include in my "bag of tricks" to assist mommies as they labor. The book is packed with suggestions, solutions, and drawings of different labor positions for specific situations. For woman who choose me as their doula, I would like to devote one of our prenatal visits to practicing these different comfort measures and labor positions. In this way, you can go into your labor with some tools to use when those intense contractions start coming.

4. I have included this here picture of "Penny Simkin's Road Map of Labor" on the list of helpful resources. This helps me visualize the possible journey of a woman in labor. During her trip, she encounters some back pain and then travels onto different comfort measures and positions to help her along the way. Support is right by her side as she travels uphill. This road splits with another scenario of a possible (but certainly not definite) outcome when the mother chooses intervention.

Please know that as your doula, I will support you in whatever decision you make. I am your advocate and, I commit to offer continuous encouragement throughout your journey in labor and birth.