In today's podcast, we talk with Laurisa Paul, a Registered Nurse, EBB Pro Member and founder of Girls Who Know® about her journey towards teaching girls what they need to know and respect about their bodies.
 
Laurisa was the winner of our EBB Pro Member September Circle Community challenge, where she won the opportunity to have her work featured on the podcast. I am excited to share my conversation with Laurisa where she talks about her passion for helping others love themselves fully and feel their inherent worth and power.

Laurisa resides in Texas where she is a mother of five and an outdoor adventurer. Medically trained, Laurisa stumbled across home birth when she was actively seeking to improve her own birth experiences and since then she has worked as a midwife assistant.
 
Laurisa is a mother of five, a writer, a Registered Nurse, home-birther and midwife advocate. She has a deep passion for diversity and a profound respect for people and their story. She is a lover of outdoor adventure and dreams of being a world traveler and story catcher. 
 
In this episode, she discusses her own journey to motherhood and the experiences from her five births, ranging from high intervention births in a hospital to unmedicated and low intervention homebirths. Each experience shaped who she has become as a mother and as a nurse catapulting Laurisa into her passion of working with the next generation and educating high school students about the physiology of birth, not just how to prevent pregnancy. Laurisa is the founder of the organization Girls Who Know, which inspires girls to love who they are and to know and respect their bodies. Girls Who Know prepares girls with what they need to know to make courageous, informed decisions for their lives.
 
Content Warning: use of forceps & vacuum, episiotomy, forced to push on back, obstetric violence, trauma, suffering, postpartum hemorrhage, gendered language, discussion of a fatal motor vehicle crash

Resources: 

Check out Laurisa's organization Girls Who Know® here 
Follow Laurisa on social media via Instagram here and her Facebook here 

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

In this episode, we bring you the Evidence on Group B Strep in Pregnancy, in anticipation of the research update to the Signature Article on Group B Strep in Pregnancy.
 
This is Part 1 of a 2-part series. In today’s Part 1, we’ll be talking about:

1. The evidence on GBS during pregnancy
2. The evidence on testing for GBS
3. The evidence on antibiotics, including the pros and cons of giving antibiotics during labor for GBS.

Content Warning: GBS-related stillbirth, infant death, critical illness of newborns, antibiotics, disparities, access to health care.

References and Resources: 

• For a full list of scientific references, see the blog post that goes along with this episode here.
• Find the CDC GBS Prevention App for Obstetric Providers here 
• Find the ACOG GBS Prevention Guidelines here 
• Listen EBB 87: Cristen Pascucci on How to Disagree on Birth Topics Respectfully! here
• Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!
• For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class

In this episode we talk with Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class graduate, Leah Bergman about her experiences navigating a recommended 38-week induction due to a diagnosis of Intrauterine Growth Restriction.

Leah Bergman is a new mom and has recently made the decision to leave her full-time job as a church musician to be able to dedicate more time to her family and raising her daughter. When she's not involved in music or busy with the baby, Leah enjoys cooking, knitting, coloring, sewing, and going on walks with her husband, Gunnar, and dog, Winnie.

In this episode Leah shares how she was inspired by a friend to read Babies are Not Pizzas and on the recommendation of her midwife found the EBB Childbirth Class. Leah and her husband were planning for birth with as few interventions as possible, until an ultrasound showed signs of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). In collaboration with their midwifery team, they pivoted their plans and began to prepare for an induction at 38-weeks. Leah walks us through the difficulties in trying to make informed, evidence-based decisions about pregnancy and how they opted to induce at 38-weeks. Additionally, Leah shares her long two-part induction story and insights into how she was able to use the EBB Childbirth Education to advocate for herself during her induction and after delivery. Despite not having the birth she was originally planning, Leah reminds us that with education and preparation, you can achieve the positive and empowering birth you want, even if it isn’t what you originally expected.

Content Warning:
intrauterine growth restriction or fetal growth restriction, risk of stillbirth associated with IUGR, medical interventions to induce labor, labor induction, pregnancy complications, high risk pregnancy, frequent ultrasound and NST testing, mention of risk of Cesarean birth, mention of the risk factors for IUGR: placental insufficiently, genetic and congenital problems in pregnancy, anti-phospholipid antibodies, baby born small for gestational age

Resouces:

Find out more about Anna Sutkowski’s doula practice and EBB Childbirth classes here.
Find out more about Rebecca’s book, Babies are Not Pizzas here.

Intrauterine Growth Restrictions:
Listen to Dr. Nicole Rankin’s podcast in IUGR here.

Access a Medscape article on Fetal Growth Restriction (requires a free account) here.

UpToDate article on Fetal Growth Restriction (requires a paid account) here

Inductions:
Listen to the EBB Podcast Episode 153: The Pros and Cons of the Foley and Dilapan-S for Cervical Ripening During an Induction here.

Listen to the EBB Podcast Episode 222: Navigating Induction and Pregnancy at 35+ with EBB Instructor and Birth Fusion Founder, Jennifer Anderson here.

Obtain a copy of EBB Pocket Guide to Labor Inductions here.

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

In this episode we talk with EBB Instructor Leslie Greene, about doula advocacy and empowering families through the EBB Childbirth education class.
 
Leslie Greene, pronouns, she/her, is a birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, baby wearing consultant and Evidence Based Birth Instructor and founder of Peridot Births. Leslie's work reflects her passion for birth justice, and she has a special interest in supporting Black and brown birthing families and members of the LBGTQIA+ community. Leslie is also the mom of a rising first grader and loves to spend her time with her adopted Shih Tzu and tabby kitten when not working.
 
We talk about the importance of doula advocacy. Leslie talks about her personal journey to becoming a childbirth educator and a doula, as a form of activism to address the Black maternal health crisis in American. She describes how to step into the birthing space as a collaborative advocate to center the parent's experience for their birth. 
 
Content Warning: discussion of the murder of George Floyd, maternal mortality for African Americans, Black maternal health crisis, systemic racism, politics, obstetric violence, racism, forced cervical exams, perineal massage with baby shampoo, poverty, substance use, teen pregnancy, lack of prenatal care, colonization, slavery, and the COVID-19 pandemic

Resources:

Listen to EBB 218 – The Evidence on Perineal Massage during Labor with Dr. Rebecca Dekker here
 
Check out and follow all of Leslie’s work:
o   Leslie’s Evidence Based Childbirth Education site can be found here
o   Leslie’s Doula Services can be found here
o   Follow Leslie’s work on Instagram here

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

Today, I am excited to share a replay of one of my favorite birth stories featured on the Evidence Based Birth® podcast. EBB childbirth class graduates, Brooklyn and Hoang Pham, share their power and miraculous birth story, which became an instant classic and truly touched my heart.  

As a content warning, we talk about the significantly high rates of maternal mortality among Black and Brown individuals and racism in birth work. 

On today’s podcast, we will be talking with Brooklynn and Hoang Pham. Brooklynn and Hoang currently live in Davis, California, and are the parents to Marvel, who turned seven months last December. Brooklynn is the senior managing director of Teach For America in Sacramento, and Hoang is finishing up his final year of law school at UC Davis School of Law. They took the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth class with EBB instructor, Shalin Butterworth, and are here to share their birth story.

We will talk about Brooklynn’s and Hoang’s empowering experience when they attended the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth class and how it prepared them to feel ready for their powerful and miraculous birth with their doula and EBB instructor, Shalin. 

Resources: 

Sign up for the EBB Newsletter here. 

Learn more about the EBB Instructor program here and find an instructor or course here. 

Hoang and Brooklyn's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOBNp5cuEQpBDY3-3Bnl6eQ/
Instagram: @_hoangpham Twitter: @_hoangpham

Birthplace Lab: You can explore the maps at https://www.birthplacelab.org/maps/. There is a How To video with tips on using the interactive maps: https://www.birthplacelab.org/how-to-explore-the-maps/. Visit BirthPlaceLab.org to learn about your state’s score!

Research References:
Balde, M. D., Nasiri, K., Mehrtash, H., et al. (2020). Labour companionship and women's experiences of mistreatment during childbirth: results from a multi-country community-based survey. BMJ Glob Health. 2020 Nov;5(Suppl 2):e003564. Click here.
 
Bohren, M. A., Berger, B. O., Munthe-Kaas, H., et al. (2019). Perceptions and experiences of labour companionship: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2019, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD012449. Click here.
 
Bohren, M. A., Hofmeyr, G. J., Sakala, C., et al. (2017). Continuous support for women during childbirth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Jul 6;7(7):CD003766. Click here.
 
Vedam, S., Stoll, K., MacDorman, M., et al. (2018). Mapping integration of midwives across the United States: Impact on access, equity, and outcomes. PLoS One. 2018 Feb 21;13(2):e0192523. Click here.

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

On today’s podcast we talk with Naseema McElroy, Labor and Delivery nurse and the Founder of Financially Intentional about racism, workplace trauma, and inequities in the US healthcare system. We also discuss how to find your voice and stand up for human rights within the system.
 
Naseema McElroy started as a Labor and Delivery nurse and later became the Founder of Financially Intentional, a personal finance platform normalizing Black wealth. Naseema is the mother of two daughters and loves sharing her passion for financial independence and nursing with her followers on Instagram and through her Financially Intentional Podcast: Nurses on Fire.
 
Naeema discusses her personal experiences in raising concerns about patient safety within a hospital system and how to protect yourself, legally and financially, in the process. She also shares her story regarding her viral Instagram video about the importance of representation in healthcare and the potentially far-reaching consequences when representation is lacking. 

Trigger Warnings: mental health, workplace trauma, obstetric violence, systemic racism, racism and inequities in the US healthcare system, patient safety, Black mortality, Black morbidity

Resources: 

Follow Naseema's Instagram account Financially Intentional here

Learn more about Financially Intentional here

Listen to Naseema's Podcast, Financially Intentional Podcast (formerly Nurses of Fire) here

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

In this week’s episode, I'm going to cover the “2022 A Year in Review” and reflect on all the projects and research we accomplished at Evidence Based Birth®. I share my favorite projects and podcast episodes from this year; the top five most downloaded episodes in 2022; and discuss the research recap on the four updated Signature Articles:
o   Signature Article on the Evidence on Birthing Positions
o   Signature Article on the Evidence on Eating and Drinking in Labor
o   Signature Article on the Evidence on IV fluids
o   Signature Article on the Evidence on Freidman’s Curve and Failure to Progress + 1-page handout on Debunking Pelvic Shapes
 
Thanks for tuning in and supporting Evidence Based Birth® in 2022! Because of you we were able to surpass over 4 million downloads –putting us in the top 5 percent of all podcasts! Thank you for helping us to uplift birth workers and empower families with evidence-based knowledge.
 
Content Warning: abortion & medical interventions

Resouces:

Find the updated Signature Article on the Evidence on Birthing Positions here

Listen to the associated Podcast episodes on Birthing Positions:

• 196 – Pelvic Biomechanics and Movement in Labor with Brittany Sharpe McCollum
• 221- Evidence on Birthing Positions and Tried-and-True Midwifery Practices for Protecting the Perineum
• 241- The Updated Evidence on Birthing Positions

Find the updated Signature Article on the Evidence on Eating and Drinking in Labor here

Listen to the associated Podcast episodes on Eating and Drinking:

• 198 & 233 – Updates on Eating During Labor

Fina the updated Signature Article on the Evidence on IV fluids here

Listen to the associated Podcast episodes on IV fluids:

• 235 – Evidence on IV Fluids with Dr. Rebecca Dekker
• 208 – Advocating for Your Rights in Birth with EBB Childbirth Class Graduation Cheyanne Saenz
• 104 – The Evidence on Saline Locks

Find the updated Signature Article on the Evidence on Freidman’s Curve and Failure to Progress here

Listen to the associated Podcast episodes on Failure to Progress:

• 224 – Failure to Progress or Failure to Wait with Ihotu Ali, Erin Wilson, and Rebecca Dekker
• 196 – Pelvic Biomechanics and Movement in Labor with Brittany Sharpe McCollum
• 75 – Birth in Twilight Sleep – the Experiences of Rebecca’s Mom

Debunking Pelvic Shapes Handout and the Abortion Research guide can be found here.

Free Public Webinars:

• Spring Webinar: Failure to Wait
• Fall Webinar: Evidence on Pitocin

Rebecca’s Favorite Projects:

• Protecting the Perineum Series
  • 221 – Evidence on Birthing Positions and Tried-and-True Midwifery Practice for Protecting the Perineum
  • 218 – The Evidence on Perineal Massage During Labor with Dr. Rebecca Dekker
  • 216 – The Evidence on Perineal Massage for Preventing Tears in Childbirth with Dr. Rebecca Dekker
  • 206 – Evidence on Perineal Tears and the Importance of Avoiding Episiotomy with EBB Founder, Dr. Rebecca Dekker

• Abortion Research Guide
  • 240: Top Five Most Surprising Findings from the EBB Abortion Research Guide with Dr. Dekker & Doctoral Candidate Tyler Jean Dukes

• Reproductive Justice
• 217 – Disability Justice in Birth and Parenting with Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu
• 234 – Tackling Fatphobia in Lactation with Kristin Cavuto
• 243 – Importance of Kick Counting for Preventing Stillbirth with Stephaney Moody, Health Equity Ambassador of Count the Kicks
• 227 – Amplifying the Need for Intersectional Birth Support for QTBIPOC Birthing People with Xian Brooks of the Dandy Doula
• 238 – Black Fatherhood and Fighting Anti-Black Racism with Brandon Diggs Williams, Licensed Clinical Social Worker
• 228 – Uplifting Radicalized Birth Work with Anna, The Pocket Doula
• 229 – Evidence on Doulas: Community-Based Models, the Pandemic and Reimbursement with the Research Team

Most downloaded Episodes in 2022

• #5 - 235 – Evidence on IV Fluids with Dr. Rebecca Dekker
• #4 – 222 – Navigating Induction and Pregnancy at 35+ with EBB Instrutor and Birth Fusion Founder, Jennifer Anderson
• #3 - 224 – Failure to Progress or Failure to Wait with Ihotu Ali, Erin Wilson, and Rebecca Dekker
• #2 - 221 – Evidence on Birthing Positions and Tried-and-True Midwifery Practice for Protecting the Perineum
• #1 – 241 – The Updated Evidence on Birthing Positions

Watch Bringin’ in Da Spirit Trailer here

Listen to Team EBB’s 2022 Spotify Playlist here

In this episode, we are talking with Scarlett Lynsky (she/her) from Hatchings Doula all about her experiences as an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor and two-time gestational surrogate.

Scarlett Lynsky was born, raised, and practices as a doula and childbirth educator in Portland, Oregon. Fascinated by childbirth from an early age, and inspired by Grantly Dick-Read's Childbirth Without Fear, she decided to become a Childbirth Educator and Doula in 2009. Over the last 13 years, Scarlett has attended over 200 births. She is passionate about informed consent, bodily autonomy and tuning in to each birthing person's needs at any given moment. Scarlett has two children of her own as well as completing two "extra credit births" in the form of gestational surrogacy. She continues to be in awe of the transformative power of birth and the strength and bravery of every birthing person.

In this episode, Scarlett shares how she came into birth work and why she chose to pursue two very different but equally beautiful surrogacy journeys. We discuss the nuances of being a surrogate and the importance of open and clear communication between the gestational carrier, the intended parent(s), and their support and care teams.

Content Warnings: fertility/infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, bleeding in pregnancy, subchorionic hemorrhage, abortion,  pregnancy termination, assisted reproduction, IVF, 3rd party reproduction, gendered language, adoption, maternal mortality, high risk pregnancy, discussion of down syndrome, pregnancy complications related to uterine loss

Resources and References:

Find out more about Scarlett’s EBB Childbirth Class and Doula services on her website here and follow her on Instagram here.

Childbirth Without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth by Grantly Dick-Read (1959), find a copy here

Learn about agency Scarlett worked with in Oregon, Northwest Surrogacy Center here.

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

On today's podcast, we talk with Jencie Richtman, an Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class graduate, about her experience taking the EBB Childbirth Class to help navigate her VBAC.

Jencie and her husband are graduates of the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class with EBB instructor Julie Fors. Jencie is a mother of two living in the north suburbs of Chicago with her husband. Jencie used the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class as a tool to help her with her VBAC with her second child.

In this episode, we hear both of Jencie’s birth stories. Her first birth was an induction that resulted in a Cesarean, and the second, was the healing VBAC experience she was hoping for. Jencie explains how the EBB Childbirth Class helped her and her support team to plan for the birth she desired. She shares how important it was finding a provider and a hospital that supported her choices which helped her to process and heal from the trauma she experienced during her first labor and birth.

Content Warnings:  induction, failed induction, BMI, Cesarean, vaginal birth after Cesarean, birth trauma, informed consent, birth guilt, use of coercive language, obstetric violence, high intervention birth, delayed bonding, gendered language, difficulty breastfeeding, COVID-19

Resources and References

Read EBB’s Signature Article on Skin-to-Skin Care after a Cesarean here. 

Evidence Based Birth® Podcast Episodes regarding VBACs: 

• EBB 113 – The Evidence on VBAC
• EBB 209 – Providing Unbiased VBAC Access and Support with VBAC Facts® Founder, Jen Kamel
• EBB 79 – Life of a Doula Part 1. – from Cesarean to VBAC
• EBB 232 – Advocacy, VBAC, and Becoming a Home Birth Midwife with Melek Oz

Find out more about Julie For’s EBB Childbirth Class and other services on her website Journey Forward here and follow Instagram here 

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

On today’s podcast, we’re going to talk with Certified Nurse Midwife and Founder of The Vagina Chronicles, Aiyana Davison (She/Her), about her transition from hospital midwifery to a home birth practice.  
 
Aiyana is a Certified Nurse Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner currently practicing in Southern California. While she has worked for the past six years at a large hospital-based teaching facility, she recently started her own home birth practice and has plans to open a birth center. Aiyana has been featured on a wide variety of platforms including ESSENCE, Peanut, Elvie, Ovia Health, and Mama Glow.

Aiyana uses her social media platforms and website, The Vagina Chronicles, to help bridge the knowledge gap in people understanding their bodies as well as taking charge of their health care. Aiyana focuses her work on healing long-standing historical trauma within the Black community by sharing and vocalizing stories and supporting Black people as they traverse the healthcare system. 

In this episode, we talk about the midwifery model of care in the United States and Aiyana's experiences working in a hospital-based setting, her home birth practice and her associations with a free standing birth center. Additionally, we talk about the excitement of new Black midwives entering the field, and, conversely, the associated apprehensions of Black midwives due to professional burnout and lack of interprofessional collaboration and community support.
 
Content Warning: Poor birth outcomes, professional burnout, miscarriage, abortion, trauma, home birth, Black birth, birth work 
 
Resources:
The Vagina Chronicles
Aiyana's Pregnancy Prep Course can be accessed here. All sales through 12/3/22 are at a discounted rate in honor of The Vagina Chronicles 5 Year Anniversary. 

Find The Vagina Chronicles on Social Media:
·      Instagram
·      Twitter
 
You can learn more about Aiyana’s home birth practice, Village House Wellness, here and follow Village House Wellness on Instagram.
 
Learn more about Kindred Space Birth Center here.
 
Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on: 

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved? 

• Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here 
• Find an EBB Instructor here 
• Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.