This collaboration grew out of discussions over many years between Dr. Abla Al Alfy’s team, an Egyptian pediatrician with the Ministry of Health and Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, and the Healthy Children Project’s team.
Using a TENS unit during labor offers a drug free option to pain relief. The word TENS is short for transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation which involves the use of low current electrical currents to treat pain.
It may take time to see the fruits of your labor, but when you do, it makes the work worth the effort. Look around. Do you see any open doors?
As with maternal deaths, many cases of maternal morbidity can be avoided. How can we, as Childbirth Educators and Doulas, address this issue and provide the best care to clients and their families? The answer is two-fold: education and follow-up.
I am the current ICEA Board Treasurer. It’s hard to believe but this is my fourth and final year in this role. It’s been a blast. That said, I was an unlikely candidate. When I started my first term, I had never been on a board, and I was a new ICCE. To quote one of my favorite songs, “How did I get here?”
Cultural differences may seem to divide us, but the underlying care and concern for our families is one of those universal considerations that draws us together.
Everyone has a unique microbiome. This is a microscopic ecosystem of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microorganisms that live on and in us. The vast majority of these microorganisms are either harmless or actually beneficial to human health.
Building a nursing nest in the early-to-middle part of the third trimester can be a special ritual in preparing for baby and breastfeeding. The early preparation helps moms immensely, especially for those early days after baby’s arrival when babies typically nurse frequently and moms feel exhausted.
Childbirth educators are in a unique position to help families reduce and manage fear because we are experts in the three E’s: Education, Empowerment, and Encouragement.
Both of the these books are a good resource in any childbirth educator’s library. The books could also be sent home with parents who are wanting to encourage an understanding to older siblings.
When it comes to safe sleep, it’s not enough to teach expectant parents the important concepts. Today’s parents must be able to address all the aspects of safe sleep with their own parents–and aunts and grandparents and any other older adult who may be caring for the baby.
In 1961, the American Academy of Pediatrics began recommending all newborns receive a vitamin K injection as part of routine newborn care. The recommendation was made after review of research which confirmed the administration of vitamin K as an effective preventative treatment for Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB).
Healthy, lactating women with surplus human milk have choices for it. They produce plenty of milk to feed their own infant(s) and have extra. They can donate it to a non-profit milk bank like the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa, donate or sell it peer-to-peer, donate or sell it to a for profit company, do a combination of these or discard it.
Each year the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy (WABA) chooses a theme for World Breastfeeding Week celebrations around the world which is celebrated every year August 1-7. For 2020 the theme is “Support Breastfeeding for a Healthier Planet.”
Starting with pregnancy and birth care and continuing throughout the lifespan of Black Americans, systemic racism affects every aspect of life, from housing to health care to criminal justice to education to employment.
Donor human milk (DHM) is available from non-profit milk banks, for-profit companies and peer-to-peer milk sharing. The focus here is on non-profit milk banking in North America where the operational milk banks follow essential safety standards established by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA).
Of course, new Dads want to be great at burping, swaddling, and even diaper changing. It’s important to remember that Dads are also concerned about relationship changes, and communication after the baby arrives.
This book is written by Adrian Kulp who clearly describes himself as ‘not Dr. Spock, just an experienced Dad.’ He gleans his information from experience with his four children and resources described throughout the book.
I would love to hear from other childbirth educators and their cultural experiences! Please send us an email at info@icea.org.
Every day our ICEA community shows strong support to pregnant and birthing women as educators, birth doulas, post-partum doulas and in other related roles. I offer up this blog post as an example of the power of birth support and how a community came together in a unique way to provide that support.
The WHO and UNICEF administer the BFHI program internationally and work with the national authority in each country which confers the Baby-Friendly® designation in their nation. More than 20,000 maternity facilities in 150 countries around the world have earned the Baby-Friendly designation.
As with any topic, I try to find the balance and work with the individual family. Breastfeeding can work and can be therapeutic while dealing with mood and anxiety disorders. It’s a matter of delving into the family dynamics and figuring out what is going to work; what is best for the situation.
The essential oils are literally the plant oils distilled from aromatic plants. This concentrated oil can be used in many ways, but like the plants, must be used respectfully. Essential oils produce an aroma, most often pleasant, and thought of as medicinally benign.
Implicit bias can be defined as “attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.” What is means is that we act or make decisions/assumptions without conscious thoughts.
