On today’s podcast, I'm so excited to welcome Dr. Shannon Clark. Dr. Clark is a double board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist focusing on the care of people with perinatal or fetal complications in pregnancy.

With a special interest in pregnancy after the age of 35, Dr. Clark has been inspired not only by the experiences of friends and patients but by her own personal experience of trying to get pregnant in her forties.

We talk about Dr. Clark’s journey to her role in as an OB/GYN serving pregnant people over the age of 35, and her own challenging, personal experience of getting pregnant (with twins!) for the first time at the age of 42.

**Content warning: We will talk about miscarriage, fertility issues, and pregnancy complications.**

RESOURCES:

Learn more about Dr. Shannon M. Clark and “Babies After 35” here (https://www.babiesafter35.com/). Follow Dr. Clark on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/babiesafter35/), TikTok (tiktokbabydoc), and Instagram (tps://www.instagram.com/babiesafter35). 

Learn more about the National Institutes of Health (NIH) here (https://www.nih.gov/). 

Learn more about maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) here (https://www.smfm.org/). 

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EvidenceBasedBirth/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ebbirth/), and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/ebbirth/). Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/). Find an EBB Instructor here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/find-an-instructor-parents/), and click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/childbirth-class/) to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

On today's podcast, we're going to talk with Mera and Dimitri about having their fourth baby after the age of 35 and giving birth before they could make it to the hospital. 

Mera is a freelance writer, enrichment educator, and mom of four living in South Carolina. Dimitri is an army veteran studying computer science and a father of four in South Carolina. Mera and Dimitri recently gave birth to their baby in October of 2020. And they took the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth class with EBB instructor, Juliann Lee, who is also based in South Carolina. 

We will talk about their very exciting birth story about giving birth in their living room before they could make it to the hospital. We also talk about their experience of pregnancy after 35 and feeling prepared to advocate for the birth that they wanted after taking the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth class. 

**Content warning: We will talk about prior birth trauma.**

Learn more about Juliann Lee here (https://www.littleorchidsbirth.com/meet-juliann). 

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EvidenceBasedBirth/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ebbirth/), and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/ebbirth/). Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/). Find an EBB Instructor here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/find-an-instructor-parents/), and click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/childbirth-class/) to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

We are thrilled to announce that we have updated the research information on one of our most popular articles, the Evidence on Advanced Maternal Age.

My mom had her first baby at the age of 19, and that was "normal" back then. But today, it seems like delaying pregnancy until your 30s or older is becoming the norm. All around the world, the average age at first birth is going up and reaching record highs! So needless to say, the topic of "Advanced Maternal Age" affects a LOT of people!

In today's podcast, I share the recording from our webinar on AMA that will include the actual statistics on the health outcomes for people who are pregnant at 35 and older. The recording also includes some storytelling and discussion of the implications of this research data.

Hopefully, the information in the podcast and the Signature Article will be helpful either to you or someone you know. Feel free to forward this article to anyone you think might be interested!

Content warning: We will talk about statistics on stillbirth, newborn death, and gestational mortality, as well as the effects of racism on stillbirth.

Resources:

Learn more about Jennie Joseph here (https://commonsensechildbirth.org/). Learn moare about The JJ Way here (https://savinglives.biz/the-jj-way/). Follow Jennie Joseph on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MidwifeJennie/) and on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/iamjenniejoseph/). Listen to Jennie Joseph’s EBB podcast here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/solutions-for-the-crisis-in-american-maternity-care-with-jennie-joseph/). 

Learn more about UpToDate here (https://www.uptodate.com/home). 

Learn more about Denise Bolds and A Bold Doula here (https://www.bolddoula.com/). 

Learn more about China Tolliver here (https://www.riseupmidwife.com/). 

Learn more about Black Mamas Matter Association here (https://blackmamasmatter.org/). 

Learn more about the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists here (https://www.acog.org/). 

Learn more about the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists here (https://www.rcog.org.uk/). 

Learn more about Dr. Mimi Niles here (https://nursing.nyu.edu/directory/faculty/mimi-niles). 

Learn more about Dr. Alicia Breakey here (https://scholar.harvard.edu/breakey/biocv). 

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EvidenceBasedBirth/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ebbirth/), and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/ebbirth/). Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/). Find an EBB Instructor here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/find-an-instructor-parents/), and click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/childbirth-class/) to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

Today's podcast episode is focused on a very important topic— the Evidence on Midwives.

We've been asked for years to publish an article or podcast on the evidence on midwifery care, and we felt there was no better day to release a podcast episode on this topic than May 5th, International Day of the Midwife!

In this episode, I discuss the different types of midwives, the history of midwifery care (and how it was nearly eliminated in the U.S.), and the research on the better health outcomes that are seen when families are randomly assigned to receive midwifery-led care. We also talk about the effects of racism and mistreatment in obstetric care, and how midwives — especially midwives of color— are a critical solution to the maternal mortality crisis in the U.S.

With the theme of the 2021 International Day of the Midwife being, “Follow the data and invest in midwives,” we are honored in this podcast episode to talk about why we need more midwives of color, and to acknowledge the Black grand midwives who have recently transitioned from elders to ancestors. 

Content warning: In this episode, we talk about miscarriage, fetal loss, and racism.

Resources:

Learn more about Birth Place Lab Maps here (https://birthplacelab.org/maps). 

Learn more about The Giving Voice to Mothers study here (https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978-019-0729-2). 

Learn more about Melanated Midwives here (https://melanatedmidwives.org). 

Learn more about the National Black Midwives Alliance here (https://blackmidwivesalliance.org/). 

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EvidenceBasedBirth/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ebbirth/), and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/ebbirth/). Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/). Find an EBB Instructor here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/find-an-instructor-parents/), and click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/childbirth-class/) to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.