Jaci Wise Birth Services

19/11/2022

IYKYK.

18/05/2022

This is spectacular! Imagine how confident in birth we could all be if we had learned like this at such a young age! Way to go!

17/04/2022

Hallelujah, He is risen!

Happy Easter from my family to yours! ♥️

24/02/2022

In case no one has reminded you lately, there’s no such thing as a set of rules that you’re required to follow in pregnancy or parenting.

A one sized fits all approach is never the best practice. We’re all unique individuals with different experiences, needs, & desires.

The person who is most qualified to know what you need in pregnancy is YOU. You are the one living in your body, you are the one who will be impacted by the decisions made in your pregnancy & birth. Your doctor or midwife will go home after a day at work and continue to live their life. You are the one who gets to call the shots because at the end of the day, you’re the person living with those decisions.

Don’t take this role lightly. Ask questions, dig into the data, learn about all of your options, look deeper than a quick google search or message thread. Learn how to make truly informed decisions. Take this job seriously, and allow it to set the stage for how you’ll approach parenting as well.

If there’s ONE thing I want you to learn from me, it’s that you hold the power and your intuition matters. It’s up to you to use that knowledge and learn to trust yourself.

Be encouraged, mama. You’ve got this. ♥️

16/02/2022

Our culture has really embraced the idea of due dates.

We accept that they are a ‘thing’ even though they are totally man made.

We allow due dates to dictate many of our actions, thoughts, conventions and conversations around pregnancy.

But many women and families will tell you that they and everything that goes along with them can be a source of considerable stress.

It’s really disheartening to know your due date but to have a professional (or, worse, a machine) insist on changing it.

It’s immensely stressful to have to fight to not have an induction when you KNOW your baby isn’t ready to be born.

As I wrote in In Your Own Time, “Assigning a due date, allowing a machine to change it and then using that date to determine the end point of pregnancy sends a very clear message. It conveys the idea than medical science knows more about when a baby should be born than either the baby herself or the woman whose body has created, grown and nourished her baby.”

But, when you look closely at what we know about the length of pregnancy, you find something rather curious: you find that it isn’t based on good evidence. In fact, you find – as I have done over the two decades that I have been researching this area - that, “the policy of induction at a certain point in pregnancy is largely based on fear, tradition, fashion and some outdated, misogynistic ideas rather than sound evidence.”

If you’d like to know more, visit www.sarawickham.com/time

02/02/2022

Planning for pregnancy ✅

Planning for birth ✅

Planning for baby’s first outfit ✅

Planning maternity pics, newborn photos, baby showers ✅✅✅

Planning for postpartum ❓Wait…what❓

I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll mention it 100 more times because this is SO important. Your pregnancy and birth are a small part of the picture. Postpartum is literally every moment after you’ve given birth. The amount of energy and planning that you put into your birth and baby are absolutely worthwhile, but you need to plan for your postpartum as well.

✨Do you know who will be able to support your family with meals if needed?

✨Do you know what to expect in the first few weeks post birth?

✨Are you prepared for the physical and hormonal changes you’ll experience? Is your husband or support person prepared for those things as well?

✨Do you know what kinds of foods will promote healing for your body?

✨Have you met prenatally with an IBCLC if you plan to breastfeed?

✨Do you know what your expectations are surrounding visitors? Is your family on the same page?

💥 If you answered “no” or “I’m not sure” to any of those questions, or if seeing this list causes you to wonder what you can do to better prepare for your postpartum experience, don’t worry!

💫 I can H E L P you! 💫

One of my most FAVORITE things to do, is make sure that families are well equipped and prepared for the early postpartum transition. I want you to feel supported in every way possible.

💌 Send me a DM more info on how I can help you prepare to be informed, supported, and ready for your postpartum experience.

30/01/2022

If you’ve ever asked me for breastfeeding advice, then you already know that my number one tip is to find an IBCLC as soon as possible.

IBCLC’s are International Board Certified Lactation Consultants—-the true subject matter experts on breastfeeding. They’ve spent YEARS studying, testing, and helping new moms with lactation.

They know the ins and outs:
how to assess a proper latch, what to recommend, what to avoid, how to avoid oversupply when pumping, how to properly assess the need for a ni**le shield, how to wean your baby——the list goes on and on.

These are the people who will help you have your most successful breastfeeding journey. Your pediatrician, doula, and best friend all mean well and very likely could have great advice, but the best thing you can do to prepare to breastfeed your little one is to find an expert in lactation BEFORE your baby arrives.

When you already know your IBCLC and have their contact info, the pressure and overwhelm will be reduced tremendously if you find that you need help with feeding once your baby arrives. That’s one less thing to research and try to organize in the early days postpartum.

Have you heard of IBCLCs? Have you ever used an IBCLC? Let me know in the comments!

29/12/2021

I really wish that all new mothers were told that the majority of newborns want to breastfeed much more frequently than every few hours. And many even want to stay latched on, suckling for extended periods of time. This can understandably shake a new mother’s confidence and make her second guess if she’s producing enough milk to keep her nursling satisfied. Women are usually just told that their baby should nurse ‘every 2-3 hours’, but frequent (and lengthy) nursing is a totally normal thing for newborns to do! It helps keep them close to mama while regulating her milk supply.
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Often babies won’t have these longer stretches between feeds until they’re a little older. Even then, there are several things that could make them want to nurse more, including (but not limited to) teething, sickness, unfamiliar surroundings, or feeling tired. I can’t imagine how miserable it would be to have a fussy baby in your arms but feel like you shouldn’t breastfeed again because it’s “not time yet”.
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This isn’t discussed often enough and new mothers need to be reassured. If baby is gaining weight, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with breastfeeding more often than what you’ve been told is ‘normal’. The postpartum period is all about surrendering, so cozy up with your babe and forget the clock.

Photo x

15/11/2021

Big babies.

Two words that cause a collective groan when you speak them in the presence of those who support women and families on their pregnancy and birth journeys.

The problem isn’t the big babies themselves.

(We love big babies. More to cuddle!)

The problem is the way in which some women are told during pregnancy that their baby “may” be big (even though there is a significant margin of error in ultrasound estimation of babies’ size) and are often then scared into having an induction, when there is no evidence to show that this is beneficial.

As I wrote in my newest book:

“There’s just no evidence that screening for macrosomia, telling women that their baby is thought to be larger than average (while omitting to mention that there is a margin of error in the estimation) and offering induction when a baby is suspected to be larger than average is helping.

But there is plenty of evidence that these practices are causing anxiety, stress, trauma, morbidity and harm.”

If you’d like to know more, my book looks at all of these issues and many more.

It’s called “In Your Own Time: How western medicine controls the start of labour and why this needs to stop.”

It’s available now, and you can find out more at www.sarawickham.com/time

21/08/2021

Read it twice if you need to. This is so true, and there’s no quick fix to a system that needs an entire overhaul from bottom to top. If you have questions about how this impacts you or how to navigate the birth you want in a hospital environment, send me a message so we can work out the best plan for you!

Hospital maternity care systems have always restricted women’s birth and care options. It’s just more obvious now, it’s just mapped out and honest now. There have always been birth restrictions, women just know now.