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Hillary helps us learn how newborns experience their brand-new world —and how we as educators and doulas can help families understand them in ways they may have never been taught. Rather than seeing babies as a blob to be shaped, we can recognize them as fully formed people with unique needs. Transitioning from an internal dark, warm, water-filled home to the bright, ever-changing world can be quite an undertaking— but with our love and guidance, we can help them grow to their full potential, starting from the very first breath. Learning more about how we can teach this in a wonderfully sensitive way can change families’ lives. About Hillary Hillary Menke, ICCE, is a childbirth and newborn care instructor with The Women's Clinic of Northern Colorado whose passion lies in the respectful, intentional care of very young children. She earned her BS in Early Childhood Education from the University of Northern Colorado and began her career working with infants through kindergarteners in the classroom. To deepe

Join us as we explore gentle sleep support—for both parents and babies—with Sierra Brooks, CAPPA Certified Postpartum Doula, Gentle Sleep Coach, and Certified Lactation Counselor.  In this episode, Sierra shares insights into how helping parents understand the biological needs of their babies, and how to accommodate those needs while getting enough rest themselves, can reduce maternal mental health struggles. After years of “cry it out” being the norm, Sierra offers a fresh perspective on emerging, more compassionate, and evidence-based sleep strategies.  By understanding these evolving approaches, we can better support the families we teach, treat, and care for.  About Sierra  Sierra Brooks is the owner and founder of Bud to Blossom, a Salt Lake City-based company dedicated to supporting the postpartum needs of new and growing families. As a CAPPA Certified Postpartum Doula, Gentle Sleep Coach, and Certified Lactation Counselor, Sierra helps families understand the cycles, rhythms, and cues of babie

Sarah —better known as the “Labor Junkie RN”— is a practicing high-risk labor nurse, social media influencer, and mom of three.  You may have seen her on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook sharing evidence-based insights on pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.  She often ends reels with “For more information on pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum, give me a follow and check out my page”.  So, we did—and invited her to share her wisdom with you in this special podcast episode.  As a nurse and mom of three who chose unmedicated births, Sarah brings a unique perspective to the low-intervention birth experience. In this podcast, we talk to her about her choices and tips for others if they plan to have low- intervention births. But she’s quick to remind us, she thinks the right choice for birthing families is the choice they make, and hopes we remember that birth is not a competition. Everyone should make their own choices.   Listen and Learn:  Why Sarah decided to make reels for social media—and how she kee

Too many moms and babies are dying in the US! Many of those tragedies are avoidable. We have seen this problem, talked about the problem, and yet, the problem still exists. Poor outcomes can happen because of lack of respect and not listening to what is being said by the patient, especially BIPOC patients.   Today we are speaking to Dr. Renée Canady, a relationship-driven leader and author of the recently published book, “Room at the Table: A Leader’s Guide to Advancing Health Equity and Justice.”  She is recognized as a national thought leader in the areas of health inequities and disparities, cultural competence, and social justice. Dr. Canady has been highly influential in broadening the discussion of health equity and social justice while serving on numerous national boards, review panels, and advisory groups.   We wanted to talk with her after we learned what she is doing to advance change for pregnant and birthing women and families in the Detroit area. Join us to learn about her leadership in bri

Gestational diabetes changes the direction of many women’s pregnancies.  Once the determination is made, things are not so straightforward after that.  In this podcast we will explore how the path to birth changes once a diagnosis is made and what women can do to have a birth with as few complications as possible. We also look at what women can do to prevent the diagnosis in the first place.  We discussed this important topic with Lily Nichols, who is a Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based prenatal nutrition guidance. Her work is known for being research-focused, thorough, and critical of outdated dietary guidelines. She is the co-founder of the Women’s Health Nutrition Academy and the author of two books, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes. Lily’s bestselling books have helped tens of thousands of mamas (and babies!). They are used in university-level maternal nutrition and midwifery courses

When a mother has the devastating experience of leaving the hospital without a baby and perhaps only a memory box, many in our society expect them to get on with living and go back to their normal life.  But their life is changed forever, and many don’t recognize or acknowledge that. Today we will hear the story of grief, anger, a battle, and finally, a life’s purpose for one mother who had to walk this hard path. Through her mission, she struggled to get family leave extended to grieving parents, so no one would have to suffer as she did. She also discovered the importance of providing resources for self-care and connection to bereavement groups. Elizabeth “Liz” O’Donnell is a steadfast infant loss advocate leading the charge in raising awareness and prevention of stillbirth and infant mortality. Her daughter, Aaliyah, was born still in 2020. Today, she runs a one-woman non-profit, Aaliyah in Action, keeping her daughter’s spirit alive, supporting mothers and families across the country who experience the pa

Join us for the latest information on perinatal addiction.  We will explore the most commonly used substances that affect the lives of families and their babies during pregnancy and postpartum. We also discuss the new legislation in some states that has changed the way that parents with substance use issues are treated.  Since it’s been proven that punitive measures do not lead to change with people who have this complicated problem, new laws were put into place with the hope that women with substance use issues start prenatal care earlier. You’ll also learn how educators and other birth workers can offer resources for those who want to seek help.     Our guest, Dr. Kaylin Klie, MD, MA is an addiction medicine specialist who works at UCHealth in Colorado as an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry with a special focus on perinatal addiction. She is the founder of the Denver Health and University of Colorado OB Addiction Medicine clinics, which provide integrated peripartum care and sub

Mama Bird Doula Services' mission is to improve the maternal health outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) and their babies in their community.  They believe that all birthing persons and their families should feel Safe, Seen, and Heard. Through lived experience, the founder of Mama Bird, Birdie Johnson, came to understand the importance of having complete support and information to make decisions for the best possible outcomes.  Knowing that this support and information is often missing, she made it her mission to be sure that others would have a better birth and postpartum experience than she had. Because knowledge is power, she set out to make the childbearing year better for those in her community.   Today’s podcast includes the history of Mama Bird Doula Services as we visit with Felicia Hawkins, Director of Doula Program, and Emma Lemke, Director of Communications and Outreach.  Felicia is a seasoned healthcare professional and dedicated advocate for expectant mothers and M

For more than 40 years, the Nurse-Family Partnership has been improving the lives of first-time mothers and their babies! Nurses from the organization work with families for the first 1,000 days, from pregnancy until the baby reaches 2 years of age. You have probably heard of this community health program but may not have been sure of all they do.  Listen in to learn more about their successes with the more than 380,000 families that NFP nurses have served since 1996.  Perhaps some of your clients would benefit from the program!  Our guests are Jane Pray, Sara Lynch, and Wendy O’Shea, who are all part of this program in various capacities.  Jane is a Director of Regional Nursing Practice at the National Service Office for Nurse-Family Partnership. She helps with vision and strategic planning for the Nursing Department.  Sara has worked for NFP for over 25 years. She is now the Senior Manager for Nursing Education.  She manages the nursing teams and facilitates education sessions and webinars. Wendy is a Se

Most of us listening today live in a well-resourced country and have access to skilled obstetrical/perinatal care. Although we do not have a perfect healthcare system here in the U.S., it is hard to imagine the realities of birth in the places in Africa we are going to talk about today.   When complications arise in the U.S. and other western countries, there are medications, supplies, and trained providers to respond in most cases.  But in Africa, there may not be any skilled birth attendants or the equipment they need to save lives during a birth if things go awry.  Many women receive little or no prenatal care. In fact, the lifetime risk of a woman dying from complications of childbirth in Africa can be as high as 1 in 38, compared to 1 in 7,500 in the U.S. Complications that may be handled without too much difficulty in a well-resourced country may lead to tragedy there.   In this episode, we will hear firsthand about the challenging situations and needs that medical providers have in various places

How can a free app help prevent over 30% of stillbirths in Iowa?  Join us as we discuss the amazing organization that founded the project now used by many pregnant people to do just that.  Megan will take us through the history of the organization and the development of the Count the Kicks app and other educational materials available on their website.  She will also share the background and definition of stillbirth.  The fact that stillbirth affects about 21,000 babies every year in the US should help us all understand how important it is to help parents take preventable measures whenever possible.    Megan is the Program Director at Healthy Birth Day, Inc., the national non-profit organization that created the Count the Kicks evidence-based stillbirth prevention program.  She oversees the organization’s programming work, including grants, system and policy change work, and app development. Megan believes that knowledge truly is power. She used the Count the Kicks app during her pregnancies and has thre

About 10% of newborns will spend some time in the NICU, and you probably know at least one family who has spent time there. Join us for an inside look at the NICU with Megan Teague as she shares a vivid story of what caring for babies and families looks like on a daily basis.  You will learn how to incorporate information about a potential stay in the NICU into your interactions with pregnant families to make them aware but not overwhelmed. This information can also help you understand the scope of work that goes on in the NICU and how to support families with newborns in the NICU as they navigate their NICU journey.   Megan Teague attended Regis University in Denver, CO where she graduated with a BSN in 2005. She has worked at Lutheran Medical Center her entire career, first as a mom/baby nurse and then in their Level 3 NICU for the past 17 years. She has an RNC certification for NICU, is a preceptor, and is a member of the unit-based council. Megan is also a supervisory RN at her children’s school, and

Join us to better understand the poignant topic of perinatal suicide.  Perinatal suicide is the leading cause of maternal mortality from pregnancy to 1 year after birth, accounting for 23% of all maternal deaths.  Listen to learn about the static risk factors that can increase the chance of suicide, along with.  some dynamic risk factors that may appear for the first time in pregnancy and postpartum. Understanding the warning signs is important for all who work with pregnant and new mothers/birthing persons.  In our role with families, what can we do to listen and refer them to the proper resources?  What types of resources are available in your area?  Our guest, Lindsay G. Lebin, MD is a psychiatrist specializing in women’s behavioral health and consultation-liaison psychiatry. She received her MD from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She completed psychiatry residency at the University of Washington and a consultation-liaison psychiatry fellowship at University of California San Francisco.

While witnessing the miracle of birth can be exhilarating, it is often wrought with circumstances that create stress, confusion, grief—and sometimes even burnout— in nurses, caregivers, doulas, and other birth workers. The COVID and post-COVID period has brought even more tension into the mix with restrictions and staffing issues.  Listen to explore the problems and discover some solutions to make life as a birth worker more resilient and satisfying.   Nicole Heidbreder has worked as a Hospice Nurse and Labor and Delivery Nurse in various capacities for the last 10 years in the Washington, DC area, in addition to teaching Birth and End of Life Doula Workshops. As a birth worker, Nicole has been attending births as a doula for over 17 years in Washington, DC, New York City, San Francisco, Sumatra, Bali, and Uganda, in addition to working as a labor and delivery nurse at George Washington University Hospital. Currently, she also facilitates independent birth doula workshops and trains nursing students as a C

Newborn babies get their first microbiome from their mother’s vagina during birth.  The baby will become covered with this beneficial bacterial as they come out of the protected environment of the womb, through the birth canal, and to the world beyond.  When the baby is born vaginally, they will have a gut microbiome similar to that of their mother’s vaginal and fecal flora.  This helps set up lifelong gut health.  But for babies not born vaginally, there are other ways to help insure good gut health.  Join us for a thought-provoking discussion of why microbiome is important and how to help families advocate for procedures that will be beneficial for themselves and their baby.   Toni Harman is a graduate of the London Film School and has produced and directed a number of internationally-distributed documentary films, including: MICROBIRTH (about the origins of the human microbiome), FREEDOM FOR BIRTH (about the struggle for women's rights in childbirth), and DOULA! (about the work of birth and postnata

In 2016, when the NYS DOH put out a request for application to receive the Creating Breastfeeding Friendly Communities (CBFC) Grant, the Rockland County Lactation community united to support and work together for this initiative. At that time, 86.6% of new mothers in the state initiated breastfeeding, but only 56% were still breastfeeding at six months, and of those, only 17% were exclusively breastfeeding.   Patti's organization felt that connecting and supporting breastfeeding families beyond their hospital stay could make a big difference. The CBFC initiatives goal was to include physician practices, daycares, worksites, and public locations in the effort to support breastfeeding families for a longer period. Listen to find out how Patti and her practice made a change in the amount and type of education and support they were offering to their patients and how they involved their whole community in the effort. Consider if your area could benefit from a similar initiative!   Patrícia Soriano Guzmán is a

Listen in as we discuss promoting Vaginal Nulliparous Term Singleton Vertex (NTSV) birth to decrease the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality. Dr. Lagrew agrees with a past president of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Vincenzo Berghella, who said, “Physicians do need to balance risks and benefits, and for some clinical conditions, cesarean is definitely the best mode of delivery. But for most (NTSV) pregnancies that are low risk, a cesarean delivery may pose greater risk than vaginal delivery, especially risks related to future pregnancies.” Working to decrease the number of cesareans that are not strictly for clinical conditions is something we can all work on. Educators, nurses, community health workers, and others can use the information Dr. Lagrew shares to help people avoid the first cesarean.  This will not only lower unintended outcomes of the initial cesarean like hemorrhage and infection but also prevent problems in subsequent pregnancies.    Dr. Lagrew is a maternal-fetal medicine sp

Pregnancy and birth are often portrayed with a single brush as if all these experiences are basically the same for every birthing person. But for Lauren and her family, that was far from the truth. The anticipation of the ideal birth ended abruptly and unexpectedly when her husband arrived home early with flowers one day, finding her looking unwell. He talked Lauren into going to the doctor for a “just in case” checkup, which turned into a totally unexpected outcome for Lauren.   We will explore Lauren’s story to understand how preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome impacted not just her birth but continue to impact Lauren’s life to this day. In sharing her story, we will discover the tenacity of all those involved in her experience, including Lauren. During the conversation, we will discuss what, if any, warning signs were there that she didn’t recognize at the time. She will give us ideas for ways to speak to our students and patients about this still largely mysterious malady that affects 5 to 8% of pregnant peop

Edit: When we originally uploaded this podcast, the wrong file was included. Oops! The correct file has been added, and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we do! Adriane Burgess PhD, RNC-OB, CCE, CNE, C-ONQS (she/hers)  Director, Quality Improvement-Service Lines (Women and Children, Primary Care, Oncology)  Ob/Gyn Residency Research Director     Awareness of preeclampsia can reduce its impact for families.  Two to eight percent of birthing parents have preeclampsia.  The old adage that “delivery is the cure for preeclampsia” can no longer be used because we know that preeclampsia exits in postpartum, too. In this episode, we will explore current research on preeclampsia and how parents and providers can use open communication about the topic to create the best outcomes.  Listen in to discover more about this hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and postpartum.    Our guest, Adriane Burgess, has been a nurse for 25 years in a variety of maternal-child health settings, including labor and delivery and pos

The words bonding and attachment are common words, but what is the deeper meaning behind those words for new parents and their newborns or yet-to-be born babies?  How can parents connect with their newborn in utero?  How will the attachment before and after the baby is born affect the epigenomes, brain development, and future health of their little one?  Laurel will take us on a fascinating dive into this topic to help us translate this information to our patients, students, and clients so that more new parents will understand the benefits of attachment to their new babies.  Laurel Wilson, IBCLC, RLC, BSc, CLE, CCCE, CLD is a TEDx and international speaker, pregnancy and lactation specialist, consultant, educator, and author. Laurel is the co-author of two books, The Attachment Pregnancy and The Greatest Pregnancy Ever; original editor of The CAPPA Lactation Educator Manual; as well as a contributing author to Round the Circle: Doulas Talk About Themselves. Her passion is blending today’s recent scientific fi