Jen's Doula Services

09/28/2022

A baby born en caul between their womb life and all they’ve ever known. Not having to rely on lung 🫁 breathing just yet but rather being oxygenated through his mother’s breathing which provides and sustains life through the placenta and cord. This baby is a non judgemental feeling human, all the emotions the mother is feeling they can feel through her hormonal dance of oxytocin when she feels loved and is feeling safe and when she is stressed cortisol and adrenaline. This in essence readies and prepares baby for life earthside and tells the baby what life is going to be like within its home environment. What we do in pregnancy and how we feel can alter the way our baby’s brain grows which is a truly amazing thing in itself that we have so much influence on the human we create. What a truly miraculous body we have. Women are incredible.


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Recently I had someone comment how ridiculous the term “earthside” is when referring to the birth of a baby because, technically, they are already on earth. However, when I see images like this, I can’t help but disagree. This baby is in another universe, seeing and experiencing things we aren’t.

What do y’all think?

07/17/2022

Yes! Research the important things.🌸

05/20/2022

Here’s why I don’t use the word contraction - it’s only part of the story. The sensations you feel during labor that allow your baby to pass thru the birth canal, thru your pelvis, and into this world are the muscles of your uterus tightening + releasing.

Hold your fist out, tighten it into a ball, and then release, allowing the muscles of your hand to relax completely - that is a ‘contraction’.

Contracting is only half the story. And, in a way, it’s the easier half because your body contracts on its own - it’s the relaxation half that most of us find it hard to tap into. When in pain our instinct is to tighten up, squeeze, hold our breath and scrunch our face and clench our jaw - but, during labor, it is being asked of us to do the opposite: breathe deeply, relax our face, jaw, and tongue, and bring release to our pelvic muscles thru movement and vibration. To relax thru pain is not instinctual, and something that I encourage all mamas to practice.

Rather than focusing on contracting what else can we call them? Waves, surges, and rushes are words that more accurately describe the push and pull of labor, and encourage mama to ebb and flow with the sensation. To close her eyes, feel the rise, breathe thru the build, sway and moan with the peak, and then gently and lovingly move thru the release.

Although changing the name of the experience will not take the pain of labor away - I do believe it helps put mama in the right frame of mind to navigate each rush (my ‘word’ of choice). And, if you’ve labored before, you know that frame of mind is an essential piece of the puzzle for bringing baby earthside!

Want to keep the conversation going and receive more support? Sign up to be notified when my course The Mama Pathway, a complete pregnancy, birth, and new mama experience, opens up!

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05/14/2022

08/12/2021

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10/10/2020

Hands up anyone who’s been told their baby is ‘too big’ so they ‘have’ to be induced? I want to share a direct quote from the NICE guidelines (that should be followed by all hospitals) to clear this up!
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The guidelines state that ‘In the absence of any other indications, induction of labour should not be carried out simply because a healthcare professional suspects a baby is large for gestational age (macrosomic).’
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Loosely translated this means for women with no other complexities such as diabetes or raised BMI we shouldn’t be inducing on estimated size alone.

So why do we see it still being offered so routinely? When comparing induction of labour with spontaneous labour there is no significant difference in instrumental or csection birth. Induction did reduce the chances of shoulder dystocia (from 6.8% to 4.1%). However induction also increased the chances of severe tears (from 0.7% to 2.6%) & Induced labour's are likely to be longer and more painful. Babies that are induced too early may also suffer from something called 'iatrogenic premiturity', meaning whilst by dates they are considered to be full term, their organs may not yet be fully mature.
Worth noting that Growth scans can be up to 25% off as an estimation of birth weight. (Though scans can sometimes pick up other reasons for ‘measuring big’ such as excess water etc.) Its up to you whether the statistics listed above feel like a valid reason for induction or not, but healthcare professionals are fairly split on how they interpret them.

Most importantly, some babies ARE bigger than others, in the same way that some adults are bigger than others, and your body is absolutely built to birth them!

There is an ongoing trial in some hospitals currently called 'the big baby trial' which randomises women with suspected 'big babies' to either very early induction at 39 weeks or waiting for labour. It's important to know that participation in this trial is OPTIONAL and it is a TRIAL rather than evidence based practice at present.

So, how big were your babies? Bigger or smaller than you expected?
Informative repost by
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09/16/2020

Mama,

I can’t see past you right now, I’m so small and everything’s a little blurry.

All I see is you.

When you feel alone, like the walls are closing in, remember I’m here too. I know your world has changed and the days feel a little lonely. But they aren’t lonely for me.

You are my everything.

When you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re making it look easy to me. Even though we’re still getting to know each other, you know me better than anyone.

I trust you.

When you think some nights you’ll never sleep again, you will. We both will. But I’m scared right now. I promise I’m not manipulating you. I just need your smell and comfort. Do you feel that tug in your heart when we’re apart? I do too.

I miss you.

When you feel as if you’ve achieved nothing, please know, my cup has never been so full.
The days that get away on you will be some of my best memories of us playing together on the ground.

I love you.

When you feel like you don’t know who you are anymore, when you turn away from the mirror. That face will be the one I look to when I achieve something, the one I search for in a crowd. The reason for my first smile.

You’re perfect to me.

When you feel like the weight of it all is heavy in your heart, please know I’ve never felt lighter. Can I lay here with you a little longer?
I won’t always need you like this.

But I need you right now.

When you feel as if you have nothing left to give, when I see your hands outstretched at me, pleading. When we’re both crying. I wish I could talk, but I can’t.
If I could I would tell you,

There’s a reason I chose you.

I can’t see past you right now mama, because you are my world.
It will get bigger, soon enough.

But for now,
All I see is you..........................

Poetry Book available 📚 ‘All I See Is You’ https://www.jessicaurlichs.com/shop

Words: https://www.instagram.com/jessurlichs_writer/
Artwork:

12/13/2019

O’FALLON, Ill. - Two amazing things happened just after midnight this morning. The last full moon of the decade and the birth pf baby Denarius occurred at 12:12am on December 12, 2019. Denarrika Fisher and Charles Bell of Belleville welcomed their baby boy into the world at HSHS St. Elizabeth’s ...