For those who do not already know, I read a lot of birth books. Like a lot. Not just birth but all things women’s health, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, parenting, the works!

If you have seen my Amazon wishlist, you’d realize I have no shortage of books in this particular genre and field of study to read. The habit began when I worked through my DONA Doula certifications and will continue throughout my Midwifery studies through the Ancient Art Midwifery Studies Program.

As someone embarking on a Life Long Learning Journey, I figured I would share as I go!

Henci Goer’s The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth was the most recent read I have finished so I’ll be starting here (I’ll add from previous reads later on as well, just need to start somewhere!). 

Henci Goer

“Award winning medical writer and birth activist Henci Goer gives clear, concise information based on the latest medical studies.

Goer will help you compare and contrast your various options and show you how to avoid unnecessary procedures, drugs, restrictions, and tests.”

About the Book

Right off the bat, this book covers an extensive list of options for an expecting parent to consider when it comes to their childbirth experience. 

The Book Covers:

• Cesareans

• Breech Babies

• Inducing Labor

• IVs

• Electronic Fetal Monitoring

• Rupturing Membranes

• Coping With Slow Labor

• Pain Medication

• Episiotomy

• Vaginal Birth After a Cesarean

• Doulas

• Deciding on a Doctor or Midwife

• Choosing Where to Have Your baby

• And much more

As a doula, these are the topics I like to go over with my clients to prepare them for birth. Like I mentioned in my What is a Doula Series | Knowing Your Options; having a solid foundation of knowledge to work with is HUGE in having the birth experience you want. 

Motivated to educate and reduce the overwhelming number of cesarean births (and their resulting complications) Goer is upfront in her desire to reduce this epidemic by providing the resources for the expecting parent to navigate what options are best for them.

While initially the idea of going through each option and intervention may seem overwhelming; Goer breaks them down into manageable bites.

Each chapter has the same pattern for presenting you the information: 

Beginning with an overview and critique of mainstream belief and practices. Again, she does not hide that she typically disagrees with standard practice because the research she shares has shown that standard practice is not supported by the evidence.

A description of the procedure or intervention is provided to give you more context. For a lot of first time birthers, this is really helpful! Oftentimes care providers function from this “assumption of knowledge” mindset from being experts in their field that they can forget to meet you where you are at and provide information that you might not have even realized you needed. This description can help to demystify these aspects of birth interventions. 

Next is “The Bottom Line,” where you will find the pros and cons of each approach or intervention as well as strategies to help you avoid a potentially unnecessary intervention. These are presented in an easy to understand and approachable way. 

Closing with “Gleanings from the Medical Literature,” Goer makes a point to reference evidence based studies to support her Bottom Line comparisons of each procedure. Here she summarizes those points that are taken directly from the medical literature she has drawn from. 

Appendices - Literature Summaries 

As a bonus, Goer provides literature summaries of the medical literature and studies she reviewed and drew from as well as a complete list of references so you can go and review the full study on your own if you’re so inclined. 

My Thoughts on The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth

The format is again, very approachable, and backed up with the research she has done. I really appreciate that while this is essentially a summary of medical procedures, studies, and academic writing; it has been written for those who may not have an academic background. 

A common misconception is that someone who is a “thinker” has to be an “academic” minded person. This is simply not true! Anyone who takes the time to learn what they can before making a decision is a “thinker.”

While this book was published in 1999, it is still exceedingly relevant today. Which is honestly upsetting. Goer was reviewing research done in the 80’s and 90’s, aware of this increasing crisis of cesarean rates, maternal deaths and injuries, and overall traumatic birth experiences rising.

Sadly, these interventions and their “justifications” and high rates should not be relevant today, but they are. There are still hospitals in 2021 that go down this list of interventions not supported by the medical literature, checking each one off like it’s still 1999.

So while this publication is older, and does not currently have a more recent edition available; it is still relevant.

I would recommend this book to expecting parents that would like some foundational knowledge in the types of interventions as well as some options for a different type of birth experience. 

Many people are not familiar with out of hospital options such as birth centers or home births as well as the benefits of having a doula present (regardless of where you birth). Goer does not just provide you a road map to navigate hospital birth, but the option to birth with a provider in a location that supports your values and vision for birth.

I particularly enjoyed how her research debunks a lot of myths that providers may use as justification for interventions such as:

“We’re a high risk hospital, so our cesarean rates are going to be higher.” National hospital statistics show the rates to be wildly inconsistent with whether the hospital is considered high risk or not.

“My cesarean rate is right on the national average.” Her responding sass that this argument amounts to “All the other kids are doing it,” was highly satisfying. Because yes, your rate may be at the national average (currently 31.7% as of 2019 compared to when this book was published at 21.2%) but the World Health Organization, the international healthcare community, and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative recommend getting cesarean rates down to 10-15%. 

All in all, I appreciate the frank approach to discussing these interventions. Some have a purpose and can be life saving. The issue arises from the widespread use for every birthing parent. Disregarding your individualized health factors and your birth journey as more than a comparison to a skewed “average,” is what perpetuates this birth culture that thinks we need to “Save the Baby” from its mother’s body. 

For those in the back, your baby does NOT need to be saved from your Body! 

More often than not: you, your body, and your baby are more than capable of birthing when interventions are kept to a minimum and you are allowed to move through that process of birth at your own pace.

More about the Author

Henci Goer

If you would like to learn more about Henci Goer and her works please visit her website http://www.hencigoer.com/ 

Henci Goer, award-winning medical writer and internationally known speaker, is an acknowledged expert on evidence-based maternity care. Her first book, Obstetric Myths Versus Research Realities, was a valued resource for childbirth professionals. Its successor, Optimal Care in Childbirth: The Case for a Physiologic Approach, won the American College of Nurse-Midwives “Best Book of the Year” award. Goer has also written The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, which gives pregnant women access to the research evidence, as well as consumer education pamphlets and articles for trade, consumer, and academic periodicals; and she guest posts on Lamaze International’s Science & Sensibility. Goer is founder, director, and faculty member of Childbirth U, a website offering narrated slide lectures at modest cost to help pregnant women make informed decisions and obtain optimal care for themselves and their babies.

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This concludes our first book review! What did you think? Would The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth be something you would be interested in reading as you prepare for your birth? 

As a birth worker I think this is also a valuable book. A great reference to use when reviewing interventions and the concise Risks and Benefits to share with clients. As well as a poignant reminder that even in 2021 we still have a lot of work to do to achieve that Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative and Midwifery Model of Care to reduce the rates of cesarean births, interventions, maternal injuries and death, and instances of traumatic birth experiences.

Birth Matters. So understanding what an intervention is, why it’s recommended, if it’s supported by evidence, and when it is necessary and when it is not: these are all crucial to being able to make informed decisions regarding birth and supporting our clients during this process. 

For all my reader friends out there : What is your favorite birth/parenting/women’s health book? I’d love to add it to my reading list! 

Until next time, Happy Birthing & Happy Reading!

JB

The long awaited moment is here!

While it may not have seemed all that long for those who just saw my announcement; it has been quite the minute for me. I’ve wanted to create this platform for honest open discussion, education and women supporting women for the last two years. I’m so grateful things have finally come together to make it a reality!

The heart of this is inspired by a desire to not only connect parents and their stories, but to also invite care providers to the table so we may work toward a more collaborative future in maternity care.

Birth Matters and I want to help encourage that positive change.

So, here is the first of many episodes to come! I hope you enjoy and if you’d like to share it with others I’d be so grateful!
Additionally, If you or someone you know would be interested in being on the podcast don’t hesitate to reach out! Socials linked below ~

Happy Birthing!

JB

Art has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. 

Having talked myself out of pursuing it when I graduated high school, I ended up studying Anthropology and Psychology. From there discovering a passion for women’s health and starting on a path of serving families through birth work. 

Now, I find myself drawn back into art. Unable to fully leave it to the side. I wanted to find a way to use that creativity in relation to my desire to continue pursuing birth work as a life path. 

My friend Jen & I delivering a bench I helped to paint for MAD LAB to Jeannette’s Library

You Are Here Gallery in Jeannette provided that opportunity to explore that very idea. 

I’m happy to share that I have been creating pieces, typically fabric sculptures or quilts, often focusing on the relationship between mother and baby, womanhood, and parenthood. 

Part in raising awareness and education. Part in raising funds that will help families in financial need afford doula services. 

There are several blogs I have written for the gallery during my time as their satellite artist that I will cross post here on my site. 

Birth Matters as well as Art, and I want to combine them in a meaningful way. 

I hope you derive some inspiration, whether as an expecting mom or an artist or both in joining me on this journey. 

If you are involved in art as a mom or an artist who focuses on womanhood, birth, parenthood I would love to chat and have you on the podcast!

Until next time: 

I wish you all the best, and happy birthing!

JB

2021 bringing forth new opportunities! 

Introducing the JB Doula Podcast. Launching both in audio podcast format and video compliment on Youtube. 

The JB Doula Podcast has been brewing in my mind for the last couple of years and I’m excited to bring it to life. I very much wanted a way to reach families in Western Pennsylvania on a more personal level to provide information, resources, and some familiarity with who I am and what I do. 

With conventions, gatherings, and talks still up in the air with the pandemic, I’ve finally decided to take the plunge into making a podcast.

Here I will explore topics such as what a doula is, does, and how they serve you as well as other informative topics like your options in birth. I’ll explore various aspects of womanhood, birth, and the childbearing years. There will also be interviews with care providers ranging from chiropractors to midwives and OBs as well as moms to share their birth stories and mom hacks. 

I’m also excited to have special episodes where mompreneurs can share their business success and promote what they do or their products. I very much want this to be a platform of honest discussion, education, and women supporting women.

If you’d like to share your birth story, mom hacks, or your services/products please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Until next time: 

I wish you all the best, and happy birthing!

JB

Emerging from the reclusive cocoon brought on by a pandemic, job change, and some much needed time to reprocess and recover; I am back. 

Though, to be fair, I continued to provide birth and postpartum support during this time, I simply needed a few moments (*ahem, months) to prepare some new and exciting aspects of JB Doula Services, LLC. 

First and foremost, allow me to reintroduce myself if you’re new to my site and content. I am Jessica Brown, a DONA International Certified Birth & Postpartum Doula serving families in South Western Pennsylvania. I’ll have additional content going deeper into what a doula is, and what doulas do for families. For brevity, I serve families as a non-medical support professional through major life transitions such as birth and the early weeks of the postpartum period when families adjust and parents find their footing. 

The job change I had in 2020 was leaving my full time job as an EMT on an ambulance, for a stay at home day job while I work on building my client base as a birth worker. This job shift, with the benefit of social distancing/isolation and more flexible hours for call offs to attend births and client needs, gave me the peace of mind to accept clients during a pandemic because I was no longer coming into direct contact with patients on the ambulance. While I am thankful for the learning opportunities I had as an EMT, I am grateful for the change of pace to focus more on birth and families rather than emergencies. 

What brought me to birth work, you might ask.

Women Supporting Women

The Red Tent Movement inspired by Anita Diamant’s novel ‘The Red Tent’

An eye opening experience among women at the Homercity Red Tent. Here I learned more about my body, and how it works than any of my public school health classes taught me. I remember being shocked and frustrated that I knew nothing about how my cycle actually worked, such as the variations in our discharge to the fact that hormonal birth control can negatively impact future fertility. It quickly became apparent that I did not know even a fraction of what I should as a woman about my own body. 

From there, I continued to learn more and had a growing interest in holistic women’s health. I personally decided to get off hormonal birth control and learn about charting my cycles as well as other factors that can affect fertility such as diet, exercise, and our emotional landscapes. 

Somewhere in that time of exploration of women’s health, I became more aware of the birth climate in the United States. Primarily the general lack of information such as when I was a teen being prescribed birth control (with no discussion of increased risk of blood clots, stroke, or infertility after discontinuing the pill). I became aware of the disparity in experiences women were having revolving around birth, where the typical theme was feeling like they had no say, control, choice, or power. Something that was a rite of passage and a major life event was being reduced to a medicalized, sterile, and isolating (even before a pandemic) procedure. 

That Moment When…

You realize you know practically nothing about how your body works

Already interested in finding a way to serve women and their health, I was guided toward midwifery. Primarily the out of hospital midwifery where women could have home births without fear. Surrounded in a familiar, comforting environment with people they loved. Unrushed, and literally at home in their surroundings. I immediately felt a connection with this renewal in community based, intuitive and family centered care. 

The more I researched the more I knew I wanted to be a home birth midwife. I desperately wanted to be a part of providing choice to women in my area. So those who wanted or needed a hospital birth could have that, while those who didn’t could more easily access a midwife. 

More midwives are emerging from various forms of training every day, but we still need more. Particularly for where I am in Westmoreland County (previously living in Indiana County), the closest midwife center (where you can birth not in a hospital but also not at home, a happy medium) was in Pittsburgh an hour or more away. Choice is frankly very limited, there are only so many midwives in this area who can only accept so many clients at a time. 

Inspired to be a part of greater change, I reached out to some of those local midwives to learn what I needed to do to get to that point. While recently out of college with a BA in Anthropology and Psychology, I was not financially in a position to apprentice with them. Turns out it’s hard finding a job that allows you to call off work for births and prenatals and still get those bills paid! 

So they recommended I look into becoming a doula as well as researching the possibility of becoming an EMT. One would get me more direct experience with birthing women to be sure this was the path I wanted to take (At that point I had not personally been to a birth nor had any children of my own, I just felt in my bones that this was what I needed to do). The other would teach me the fundamentals of patient care and lay a foundation for what I would need to learn to become a midwife.

2017 I started that doula journey, attending training for both birth and postpartum (I was ambitious and eager to learn). I’ll go more into depth about DONA International in a later post as well. There are tons of ways to become a doula, but this route is the one I am most familiar with and can give some insight into for those interested in learning more. 

Between 2017 and September 2020, there were many starts, stops, twists and turns to getting certified and starting my business while working full time. I am proud to say that I was able to finish all the requirements in that time and am officially certified! 

Now, spring of 2021, I am feeling that ambition again. To put in the work of educating those around me to the benefits of having a doula (for many in Western Pa who don’t live in Pittsburgh a “doula” is very much a foreign concept). To put the time in to secure more clients so I may focus full time on birth work as I have wanted to since 2017. To create art exploring the relationship between mothers and their babies, the birth process, and womanhood. And finally, to dedicate myself to self study in preparation to apprentice as a Traditional Midwife (Also known as Direct-Entry Midwifery). 

Officially an Ancient Art of Midwifery student!

There is absolutely a lot driving me further and further into the world of birth work. The art I create and the desire to serve others all point toward birth and families. 

I hope this gave you a little insight into who I am and the motivations behind becoming a doula. 

More to come in exploring these different aspects of birth work from what a doula does, your birth options, my art, and what I’ve learned along the way.

I wish you all the best, and happy birthing!

JB

The time of New Year's resolutions is upon us. With that comes crash diets and goals unfulfilled. 

Nothing like starting the year off with disappointment am I right?

Pessimism aside, it really is a popular time of year to make positive changes for yourself.

Last year, instead of one resolution like "lose 10 lbs" or "quit sugar" I joined my friend Jen in Gretchen Rubin’s 19 for 2019.

With this we each listed 19 things we wanted to accomplish, with an emphasis on actionable items rather than 19 goals. For me, it was difficult to not use overarching goals.

I'm an INFJ and love big picture future oriented focus. With that comes an absent mindedness for daily tasks and getting overwhelmed by wanting to do everything at once.

So the 20 for 2020 is helpful because you can break down a big goal like lose 10 lbs with the actions you want to take to get there like walking 20 minutes every day and eating vegetarian at least one night a week.

Here’s my 20 for 2020!

• 1 podcast a month JB doula

• 1 to 3 posts a week

• Meditation 5 minutes every morning

• Gratitude practice 3 things a day every morning

• Classics reading list!

• 1 networking meeting/orientation a month

• Spin bike /jog 3 days a week

• Lift weights 1 x a week

• 1 day hike a month

• Walk 20 for 2020

• Date night out/in once a month

• Cleanse !

• Attend 6 births

• Attend a home birth

• Provide postpartum care to 6 clients

• Podcast with Jen #thedynamicfeminine

• Move to a new rental

• Hold orientations for 4 businesses

• Join Indiana Chamber of Commerce

• Save $3600 for down deposit  ($300 a month)

My 20 for 2020 has a heavy focus on my business. JB Doula Services is still in it's infancy and needs attentive love and care to get off the ground. Many of my items are aimed towards keeping me on track to help my business grow and thrive.

Wellness is also important to me, physically and mentally, as a result a few of my points will also focus on ways to be healthier. I do want to lose that elusive 10 lbs from my freshman year of college along with fostering better habits for sustaining my mental health.

I want to be the best version of myself, and each year (or sometimes every few months) I take the time to reevaluate and readjust my approach.

I'd love to hear what your goals are for 2020 and if you're interested in joining me with a 20 for 2020 list! Comment below or shoot me an email and we can connect.

I'll be checking in periodically throughout the year to share how I'm progressing in staying on track.

If you want to learn more about the 20 for 2020 checkout Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast.

You can also join my friend Jen and I as we discuss our 20 for 2020 lists on our podcast The Dynamic Feminine. This is where we talk about all things womanhood and stardust.

*stands up* 

Hi, I’m Jessica Brown and I’m an INFJ.

The face of passion meets insecurity!

Welcome to my ongoing struggle to balance the drive and inspiration to be a warm, driving force in birth work while being filled with crippling self-doubt and perfectionistic paralysis. 

What is an INFJ? Broad strokes: INFJs are people guided by feelings and their internal intuition, and judging rather than perceiving. Now, don’t worry, that doesn’t mean I will judge you or your actions. All that shows is that I prefer to have structure in my personal life rather than flying off the cuff and improvising. So I make lists of tasks so I don’t forget things, I have to focus solely on one thing at a time or I’ll get side tracked and not complete my task, and I like to keep my personal space organized. 

I wish I remembered to keep a mood tracker!

Granted, I do tend to fluctuate between judging and perceiving depending on how I’m feeling. It’s a lot easier to be laid back go with the flow type when you aren’t stressing yourself out on a million different seemingly unrelated things. . . 

Okay, so I’m definitely more INFJ than INFP. 

A key marker of this is just how much I procrastinate and get overwhelmed by trying to do too many things at once. 

*See all the things that go into starting a business, a website, a blog, posting on social media for said website, continuing education for said business, feeling like I have 10000 things I need to do all right this minute and starting several projects or none at all and completing none of them. 

Add the fact that I’m introverted so reaching out and networking and doing all these things that feel very extroverted can be rather difficult. At least when I allow myself to be filled with self-doubt and feel like an imposter no matter how qualified I am… The struggle is real.

However! 

I have the satisfaction of finding the career or life path that fits me to a tee. I love everything about birth work. I love learning all the different ways to help birthing people, their families, and becoming more and more knowledgeable and helpful on the vast subject of birth, holistic health, and women’s health. There is quite literally so much to learn and do and share. 

Which can be overwhelming for someone like me who sees the big picture and wants to put everything into it’s perfect place right away so birthing people everywhere have access to this beautiful thing I want to create for them to make their lives easier. 

I want to care for, support, encourage, empower, inform, guide, and provide helpful services to you. Whether you are pregnant, in your postpartum period, wanting to avoid pregnancy, curious about healthful living, or going through a major life change. There is just so much I want to be able to offer to a wide array of people. 

So rather than this inspiration and passion driving me to a focused and organized approach to achieving these goals: I am struck with decision fatigue and paralysis due to fear of failure. 

I’m aware of these tendencies that undermine my efforts. Truly, I am. Each day is different, so sometimes I am very focused and get many things done and feel optimistic. While other days I am devastated by how little I’ve been able to do or feel like the content I want to share (and have yet to post) will come across as too academic, or not informative enough, and worst of all: Unhelpful. 

This brings me to why I’m sharing all of this with the great wide internet on my business blog (albeit the personal journey side of it). 

Frank James

Calling all INFJs

During one of my many moments of fear of failure and imperfection inspired procrastination, I stumbled upon the Frank James youtube channel. This sweet sweet INFJ has posted several videos about being an INFJ and ways to cope with the struggles we encounter and to improve ourselves (another INFJ trademark). 

Seeing someone who is very similar to me in the simplest of ways (being an INFJ), but posting videos that vary between informative, personal, and comedic on a regular basis was inspiring. 

I’m assuming he probably struggled with a lot of the things I am struggling with when he first started his channel (and maybe still does with each video he posts). He still makes and shares his content. 

So as I look at the mountain of blog posts I’ve started, but have been unsure of how to finish and too afraid to post; I decided to start with where I am at. 

This isn’t a summary of how I became interested in being a doula or a midwife or why I stopped taking hormonal birth control. I will get to those topics in time, but for now I really needed to put into words something personal enough that I used my own voice instead of my academic programming from 16 years of school. 

I hope that this helps you understand me better, and maybe (hopefully!) give you the patience to stick with me through my journey into blogging and opening a birth centered business. 

Bonus, if you related to any of the things I shared I would love to hear about it. I found it rather cathartic reading the comment section of the Frank James youtube videos. So many INFJs who related to his content and sharing with each other the struggles they have been facing. 

You are not alone. Hella cliche, but accurate nonetheless. 

The not so loud, but still rather proud: INFJ :)