On today's podcast, we're going to talk with Lily Nichols, RDN, about nutrition and real food in pregnancy.

Lily Nichols (she/her) is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based prenatal nutrition. Her work is known for being research-focused, thorough, and critical of outdated dietary guidelines. She is 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 families, are used in university-level maternal nutrition and midwifery courses, and have even influenced prenatal nutrition policy internationally.

In this episode, we talk about the difference between eating real food and processed food in pregnancy, and the best ways to use nutrition to "stack the deck in your favor" for a lower-risk, healthier pregnancy. Lily talks candidly about the gap between evidence and nutritional practice, the importance of protein and choline in pregnancy, and why blood sugar management is so important in pregnancy.

If you'd like to watch a video of this interview, just visit the EBB YouTube channel here! Or visit our webpage for the transcript. 

Resources:

• Read the Evidence Based Birth article on Diagnosing Gestational Diabetes at https://ebbirth.com/diagnosinggdm
• Visit Lily Nichols' website here: https://lilynicholsrdn.com
• Find the books "Real Food for Pregnancy" and "Real Food for Gestational Diabetes" on Amazon or wherever books are sold!
• You can also buy "Real Food for Pregnancy" at Lily's shop here
• Read Lily's article about protein in pregnancy here: https://lilynicholsrdn.com/protein-requirements-pregnancy/
• Read Lily's article about 9 Myths about Gestational Diabetes: https://lilynicholsrdn.com/9-gestational-diabetes-myths/
• Visit the Women's Health Nutritional Academy here: https://whnacademy.com/
• Join Lily's Gestational Diabetes course here: http://realfoodforgd.com/online-course/
• Follow Lily on Instagram @lilynicholsrdn

In this episode I am joined by Anna Bertone (she/her), MPH, a research consultant at Evidence Based Birth®, to discuss the evidence on aromatherapy and essential oils for use during pregnancy, labor/birth, and postpartum. In this episode, we cover:

• What is aromatherapy, where did it come from, and how does it work?
• What have researchers found on essential oils for nausea and vomiting, stress reduction, and immune function during pregnancy?
• Which essential oils have been found to be effective for reducing labor pain and anxiety, encouraging labor progress, and treating post-Cesarean symptoms?
• What does the research say about aromatherapy for use postpartum, including with post-Cesarean symptoms, perineal trauma, sleep, and depression and anxiety?
• Are there any important safety precautions to be aware of, and what is the bottom line?

This episode was inspired by a peer-reviewed article we published in Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, in a special symposium that was edited by Shilpa Babbar, MD, MS, FACOG. Reference: Bertone, A. C., & Dekker, R. L. (September 2021). "Aromatherapy in Obstetrics: A Critical Review of the Literature." Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology 64(3): 572-588.

Here are some other resources we mentioned:

• Access the EBB Pain Management Video Series here https://evidencebasedbirth.com/category-pain-management-series/
• You can find the abstract of our research paper, as well as a complete list of references used in this podcast can be found on PubMed here https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33927109/

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 Carissa Hunter about advocacy for families with sickle cell anemia.

After her daughter was born with a blood disorder called sickle cell anemia, Carissa started on a quest for healthy living and is now an intuitive womb worker— a holistic practitioner with many specialties in holistic healthcare. Specializing specifically in intuitive healing, ancestral lineage healing, energy, and sound healing, Carissa also is experienced in medical herbalism, and aromatherapy and she also practices as a stillbirth, birth, and bereavement doula. 

We will talk about Carissa’s personal experience growing up with the sickle cell trait (one copy of the gene), as well as being a parent to a child with sickle cell anemia (two copies of the gene). We also talk about Carissa’s experience with unlearning and relearning many things around sickle cell anemia and her advocacy work to raise awareness about this blood disorder.

Content warning: we mention issues with sickle anemia, traumatic birth experiences, high-risk pregnancy, and pregnancy termination due to genetic conditions.

RESOURCES:

Learn more about Carissa Hunter here (https://www.healingjourneyintuitive.com). Follow Carissa on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/healingjourneyintuitively). 

Learn more about the Sickle Cell Foundation of Tallahassee here (https://sicklecellfoundation.org/tag/tallahassee/). 

Learn more about the Sickle Cell Foundation and find a chapter near your here (https://www.sicklecelldisease.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 talk to Marnellie Bishop about life as a birth/postpartum doula and childbirth educator and the importance of cultural awareness in birth work.

Marnellie Bishop (she/her) is a certified birth and postpartum doula and childbirth educator. Serving the Portland, Oregon community, Marnellie takes on the role as a board member and director of finance and operations at Community Doula Alliance.

Prior to pursuing her passion to support families in their perinatal journey, Marnellie completed a bachelor's degree in business administration and used her degree to help grow and sell her family's printing company. As a second-generation immigrant to Filipino parents, Marnellie understands the intersectionality that many immigrant families face when it comes to identifying their parenting styles through the lens of their cultural background and today's parenting values.

We will talk about Marnellie’s journey to becoming a birth and postpartum doula after being inspired by personally supporting the birthing needs of her friends. We also talk about the obstacles Marnellie faced and overcame as a birth and postpartum doula while amplifying the importance of respecting cultural traditions and customs when serving immigrant families or families who speak English as a second language in Portland, Oregon. 

Content warning: We mention COVID-19, the murder of George Floyd, systemic oppression, Cesarean, and birthing complications such as late-term loss and preeclampsia.

RESOURCES:

Learn more about Marnellie Bishop and Hanau Doula here (https://hanaudoula.com/). Follow Marnellie on Instagram here (https://www.instagram.com/hanaudoula). 

Learn more about Community Doula Alliance here (https://communitydoulaalliance.com/). Follow Community Doula Alliance on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/communitydoulaalliance) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/communitydoulaalliance/). 

Learn more about Hypnobabies® here (https://www.hypnobabies.com/). 

Learn more about Oregon Health Authority here (https://www.oregon.gov/oha/Pages/index.aspx). 

Learn more about Wall of Moms here (https://www.npr.org/2020/07/28/896174019/what-the-wall-of-moms-protests-say-about-motherhood-race-in-america). 

Learn more about Black Lives Matter here (https://blacklivesmatter.com/).

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.

In this episode I am joined by Erin Wilson, MPH, a research editor at Evidence Based Birth, to discuss the latest research on Big Babies. In this episode, we cover:

What is considered a "big" baby?

• Can we accurately predict if a baby will be born big?
• Does it really matter if a baby is born big? What are the risks?
• Could suspecting that you're pregnant with a big baby be more harmful than helpful?
• Is early induction beneficial for big babies?

RESOURCES:

You can access all of the references for this podcast, as well as a full-length Signature Article and one-page handout on Big Babies by visiting ebbirth.com/bigbaby. Don't forget that we also have several resources for people who are pregnant with gestational diabetes:

Diagnosing Gestational Diabetes: ebbirth.com/diagnosinggdm
Inducing Labor for Gestational Diabetes: ebbirth.com/inducinggdm

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.