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Posted by amidwifenation on July 29, 2020

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Desiree had three very different pregnancies and births. She shared all three stories and the pros and cons of each on the blog. Catch the full story and comparison at amidwifenation.com, click on birth stories. Here’s what she said about the first birth: First Birth – Induction at a Hospital with Team of Certified Nurse Midwives & OBGYNS

New blog post is up today!! This is part 3 of 5 posts on the state of midwifery. Todays post is focused on revamping postpartum care. There is nonstop chatter, legislation and movement towards changing care - but honestly, I’m not seeing the change on the front lines. I’ve got three solutions for pregnant people and providers to start implementing today to make care better: make a postpartum plan during every pregnancy, implement double rounding while inpatient in the hospital after the birth and schedule sooner follow up after the routine 6-8 week postpartum visit (I recommend scheduling a 3-6 month follow up and a well woman visit a year after birth as you leave your postpartum visit as the STANDARD!!). Catch the details in the full post on the blog: amidwifenation.com. Tell me below what you’re doing to change postpartum care for the better now ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Carpal tunnel syndrome is common in pregnancy and postpartum periods.

Making more midwives is a multi-faceted problem. The art of midwifery is learned at the bedside, from other midwives, 24/7/365. A computer module will never be able to replace that. And in order to teach the art of the profession, we need midwives willing to teach midwives.

Are you nesting yet?! This was my birth prelude at 36-37 weeks pregnant for my home birth. The only thing that wasn’t on the list?? Clean my carpets - the things that put me into labor!! Did any of your meting activities put you into labor?! Save this post if you’re in your third trimester 🙋🏼‍♀️

Pregnant people deserve better care. Providers need to deliver better care. Care should be encouraging and evidence based. Pregnancy visits can’t cover all the information and education that needs to be reviewed - but something needs to point people to the dozens of resources that help to fill in the gaps! That’s why I made these templates. I spent my first 10 years as a midwife writing book recommendations on paper towels and spare sheets of paper I found in exam room drawers. I realized routine care wasn’t delivering what people needed - so I made a solution that offered all my recommendations and the education that people needed. From a midwives perspective. For providers, I’m offering printed templates through the end of March. Pre-order in the shop today!! For pregnant mamas looking for better care and education that you won’t get in regular pregnancy books, the digital templates are available for download. The 9 PDFs are beautiful, evidence based (with links to where the evidence comes from!!) and full of bonus active hyperlinks to take you to even more education. Get better care. Today. ♥️ amidwifenation.com/shop ♥️

Wonder how you can make your prenatal visits better for your mamas? Look no father than the prenatal templates.

Tell me tell me! What do you think? Just because 98% of birth occurs in the hospital setting does not mean we cannot support family involvement in the birth to include partners/family helping to catch the baby or mamas catching their own babies! Was this offered to you during your birth? Midwives, are you offering this?! (In total transparency, my wonderful midwife team offered for me to catch my own baby with my last birth, and it was way too intense for me to even think about helping!! #10lbbaby). 🐣

It’s here!!! The state of midwifery series starts Monday morning. Catch the blog for the full post. It’s the first of 5 posts on midwifery. The first post is a 10,000 foot view of the profession ✈️. These facts are just to warm you up…what surprises you? (I can’t get over the new data on how many midwives are leaving…) 😩😩😩🚪. Tell me your thoughts!!!

Just picking up muffins with my babe and offering up a tip for providers looking to fine tune their EFW game! Tell me your tips for estimating fetal weights ⬇️⬇️⬇️🐣 Bonus tip: Do Leopolds on every baby after 24 weeks. It’ll keep that Leopolds skill in regular practice and mamas love to know what position their baby is inside them! #midwives

The days are long and the years are short. Here’s your reminder: put your phone down, go outside and play with your littles. This week I’ve been on the struggle bus. Lost my debit card. Left my car keys in the ignition. Yelled at the kids more than usual. It’s hard because it’s hard. Hold their little hands. Hug them all day long. Tell them you love them, God loves them and that they are spectacular. Because they are. And so are you.

These are the vaccines that the CDC and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommend during pregnancy!

This is a conversation I have EVERY DAY in my clinics and on admission to labor and delivery. People: Ask better questions!!! You should know why an induction of labor was recommended for your pregnancy. If you don’t know why something is being done in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum, ask questions! You can say: “Tell me more about this intervention.” Or “Please review the alternatives, risks and benefits of what you’re proposing.” Or, “Do you have some education on this topic/intervention that I could take home and review with my family?” YOU are the best advocate for you and your baby. 💪 Know why interventions are being offered to you and never stop asking questions.

Here’s your back to work breast pump bag checklist! We don’t talk about this enough and some women have their postpartum visit weeks before they go back to work. Postpartum car has to be better. We can’t expect people to pump at work if we do t teach them how to be successful at doing it. Use these tips each day ✨Check your bag every day ✨ replace things as needed ✨ pack high protein snacks✨ put extra pump pieces that you know you’ll need based on past experience (I always back flow tbe pump tubing once a quarter) ✨ stick some picture of your baby on your pump/or a mantra for breastfeeding ✨ pack more snacks ✨ share your tips for going back to work and pumping at work! Send this post to a friend that’s getting ready to go back to work 💌

Today’s FAQ: do stitches dissolve postpartum?

Last month we chatted about 10 tips you can use to guide when you should take a student. If you missed it, catch the post on the blog. This week, we're chatting 10 tips to guide when you may need to take a break from precepting. I believe in full transparency about midwifery - it's really hard work and midwives shouldn't always have students. But, there's not a lot of mentorship about when to take a student and when to take a break. It's so important to prevent burnout and stay in the midwifery profession with the long run in mind.

Who has hemorrhoids?? (This girl 🙋🏼‍♀️!) TUCKS pads are way to manage any hemorrhoid pain that you might be having during pregnancy or postpartum. You can get the pads over-the-counter. The pads have witch hazel in them, which is very soothing to the irritated tissue of the hemorrhoid. A pack of 100 cost about six bucks. I recommend using the pads three ways. 1. Use while wiping as you would normally for a bowel movement. Front to back people! 2. After wiping from a bowel movement, or just if your hemorrhoid is sore or irritated, stick the pad right next to the hemorrhoid, smooshed between your butt cheeks. Leave it there for 15 minutes or until the next time you go to the bathroom. 3. Same as #2, but add a dollop of lidocaine ointment to numb up that hemorrhoid so you can pretend it’s not there for a while. (Bonus tip! 4. Use Epsom salt soaks daily if you’re hemorrhoids are really tender - warm water, add 2 cups of Epsom salts, soak 15-20 min. Apply TUCKS pad after bath for even more relief!). If this was helpful to you, give it a like and a share to a friend who’s pregnant or in the land of lochia (that’s what I call postpartum 😁). #hemorrhoids

Coffee/tea lovers - this one’s for you. Generally, it’s best to drink your caffeine while you’re nursing! The reason is this: as the baby is drinking the milk currently in your breast, your body is processing the caffeine you’re drinking. The caffeine peaks about 30-45min after you drink it and your breasts are just getting started on the next round of milk. Whereas if you drink a cup of coffee about an hour after nursing, the baby will get lost of that caffeine in the next round of nursing. Some babies can be really sensitive to caffeine in any form, so don’t hesitate to do a little trial and error. And every baby and mama are different. Tell me below: Did you get any education about breastfeeding and caffeine or did you have to look it up to ask someone? ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Coffee/tea lovers - this one’s for you. Generally, it’s best to drink your caffeine while you’re nursing! The reason is this: as the baby is drinking the milk currently in your breast, your body is processing the caffeine you’re drinking. The caffeine peaks about 30-45min after you drink it and your breasts are just getting started on the next round of milk. Whereas if you drink a cup of coffee about an hour after nursing, the baby will get lost of that caffeine in the next round of nursing. Some babies can be really sensitive to caffeine in any form, so don’t hesitate to do a little trial and error. And every baby and mama are different. Tell me below: Did you get any education about breastfeeding and caffeine or did you have to look it up to ask someone? ⬇️⬇️⬇️

✨Here are the main points✨

Medical Disclaimer and Copyright

A Midwife Nation was created for information purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, recommendation, diagnosis or treatment. All site content – to include images, text, audio and other formats are for informational purposes only. The information on this website is subject to change without notice and you should always seek to verify the accuracy and source of the information provided. Information provided on this website is not complete, or exhaustive, and currency of the information is subject to change frequently. You should always seek the advice of your medical provider for any questions about your health or healthcare, and should never disregard or delay medical care because of something you have read on this website.

This blog was created by Jamie Guertin, DNP, CNM, RNC-OB in 2019. Copyright 2019-2023, amidwifenation.com. All rights reserved. Copyright protects the content of this blog (original content, images and artwork) and use of any content without permission is illegal. Tools or handouts have specific disclosures for use; see the bottom of each tool for copyright allowances; credit should always be given to the original source. For any copyright questions, please email amidwifenation@gmail.com. Thank you!

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