Mindful Birth Peaceful Earth Podcast

Kyndal May, a DONA International Certified Birth Doula and birth doula trainer and creator of the Confident Birthing

Childbirth Curriculum discusses how she became interested in birth work, her history with DONA, how she helps train doulas, and how doulas can be a resource of support for parents. She talks about how the DONA International founders were pioneers in understanding the life of the newborn and the parent/baby dyad when most medical professionals did not support it. She discusses the importance of knowing your options, making informed, evidence-based decisions, and how doulas can help navigate the sometimes complicated world of birth in this country. She talks about how parents can pick the right doula for them - what to look for when interviewing doulas, and valuable resources for parents who are considering doula support for their birth and/or postpartum experience and how doulas can help facilitate a positive birth experience that will reduce the likelihood of trauma.

Kyndal May is DONA International Certified Birth Doula and birth doula trainer and creator of the Confident BirthingChildbirth Curriculum. With over 5000 hours of teaching experience, she is a master facilitator who was inducted as aFellow of the Lamaze International Academy of Certified Childbirth Educators in 2018.

Her career as a birth professional began in 1995 in Seattle,Washington State and she has attended nearly 400 births ,both in and out of hospital, with over 60 different midwives and as many obstetricians in 8 free-standing birth centers and 12 different Pacific Northwest hospitals.

An avid photographer, telling the story of birth through the lens of her camera, her photography has been featured in such publications as Birth Ambassadors: Doulas and the Re-Emergence of Woman-Supported Birth in America and TheEssential Home Birth Guide.

She is currently the Chair of the Board of the newly formedIdaho State Chapter of Postpartum Support International. And in 2017, she was recognized with the Advanced Doula Designation from DONA International for major contributions to DONA International, to the doula profession, and in the maternal-child wellness field.

Last fall, Kyndal was accepted into the Feldenkrais Training Academy, a 4-year somatic education program. She is excited to be returning to her roots in bodywork with the intention of helping both parents and professionals improve their lives through mindful movement and embodied

Resources:

https://evidencebasedbirth.com/

https://doulamatch.net/

https://dona.org

https://babybumpservices.com

Kristi Rhodes has worked in maternal-child nursing since 2001. Her start in this career path was as a postpartum nurse in a high risk, high volume hospital in Boise, ID where she fell in love with birth and caring for families. Kristi journeyed into midwifery in 2010 to fulfill her desire to be an advocate and an educator for families, believing that birth is an empowering and transformative event in a family’s life. Kristi promotes physiologic birth and encourages women to be active participants in their care. She attends births at a local hospital where she strives to bring the true midwifery model in to the hospital setting, allowing women and families birth in a way that makes sense individually.

In this episode we talk about:

• Kristi’s experience as an OB nurse, her passion for helping women and families, and her journey into midwifery.
• How Kristi and Holly met and their shared passion for supporting the hormonal physiology of birth no matter the circumstances: (home birth, birth center, hospital, complications, cesarean birth).
• How Mindfulness practice during pregnancy helps women connect to their bodies and their babies,supports the hormones of birth, helps decrease fear of the birth process, and helps women trust their bodies more.
• How Mindfulness-based birth education can help women deal with the ups and downs that occur during labor and help them let go of trying to control the process... thereby supporting hormonal physiology.
• Trusting the body’s ability to give birth and supporting the hormones of birth help women and families deal with any complications that may arise during labor and decreases any effects of trauma that may occur during the process.
• How mindfulness practice during pregnancy can help with early parenting and any issues that may arise with breastfeeding or early newborn care.
• Most births in the US occur in hospitals and it is possible to have a completely unmedicated hospital birth experience if women are prepared, empowered, and supported.
• How having her own mindfulness practice as a provider helps Kristi connect more authentically to women during labor and helps offset stress in her own busy life as a midwife and a mother.

Resources:

https://www.idahostork.com/

https://www.rickhanson.net/books/buddhas-brain/

http://www.calmbirth.org/

https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Hospital-Birth-Best-Worlds/dp/1558328815

https://transform.childbirthconnection.org/reports/physiology

Our discussion with Leslie Gunnerson, RN and perinatal loss specialist, focuses on pregnancy loss and infant death. While sidestepping difficult conversations about death may often seem like a kindness, avoidance contributes to feelings of isolation, depression, and unresolved grief. The loss of a baby at any gestation, or during the newborn period still includes a delivery experience and it is important to remember that this birth experience will remain with a family forever. We will discuss how a family can be supported in forming connections and cultivating healing and how to nurture the family unit even during times of intense emotional pain and into the days that follow.

BIO: Leslie Gunnerson, BSN-RN, CAPM has worked as an RN in Maternal-Child Health in the hospital setting since 1992. She was a bedside nurse in the NICU for 22 years, and also worked providing maternal care and support in the outpatient setting with a focus on infant nutrition, staff and provider lactation education, family lactation support, and support of the refugee population. Since 2018 Leslie has taken on the role of program manager for perinatal pailliative care, working to improve staff education, parent support, and alignment of services for families experiencing a life-threatening or life-limiting diagnosis during the perinatal period.

Leslie would love to have people join her private FB page, “St. Luke’s SHARE perinatal loss group.”

[email protected]

https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/loss-grief-in-prenancy-postpartum/

https://www.marchofdimes.org/compications/loss-and-grief.aspx

http://www.grieveoutloud.org/resources.html

Video links:

“How to Help a Grieving Friend”

We don’t move on from grief . . . we move forward with it. Ted talk by Nora Mcinerny.

In this episode, we have Dr. Stephanie Dueger, who is known as the “Attachment Doctor” back to talk about the importance of attachment and bonding for optimal human health. She covers some basic information on the definition of attachment, the different attachment styles, and the difference between attachment and bonding. She discusses how parent’s own attachment styles will highly influence how they parent their child and the crucial importance of knowing your own attachment style so that you can work through and hopefully integrate any issues that you have as a parent before your baby is born. Many people are not even aware of how these things can have long term effects on their relationships, and through mindful awareness of our own patterns, we can transform and set a strong foundation of secure attachment for our children.

Resources:

www.drduegertherapy.com

Bio:

Dr. Stephanie Dueger, otherwise known as The Attachment Doctor, is a psychotherapist, parent coach, and educator, who works with expectant and new parents and their little ones. She helps individuals, couples, and families with young children heal relational challenges and resolve trauma using an attachment-based and somatically-informed background.

Stephanie received an MA from Naropa University in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Wilderness Therapy. After meeting her husband in the same program and falling in love with their first-born daughter in 2007, Stephanie turned her focus to early somatic attachment work, training and assisting with The Brook Institute. She then earned her PhD from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, with an emphasis in Somatic and Pre- and Perinatal Psychology in 2015, having a second, deeply-loved daughter along the way.

Stephanie is the Editor-in-Chief of the academic Journal of Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health, as well as a writer. Her first book—the one she wishes she’d had for herself when first becoming a parent—is currently in the publishing process, and has a “due date” sometime in January, 2020. Tentatively titled Preparing for Parenthood: 55 Essential Conversations for Couples becoming Families, the book is filled with conversation-starters and helpful action items for couples to complete prior to becoming parents. These conversations and action items help couples transition into parenthood in ways that best align with their own beliefs and values, creating greater connection, understanding, and confidence for the new family.

A lover of wilderness, travel, and all creatures, Stephanie spends most of her free time with her family outdoors. She lives in Boulder, CO with her husband and two daughters.

In this episode, Holly and Jayme welcome a mother and daughter team to talk about perinatal and postpartum mental health and trauma. Kellie, a Certified Nurse Midwife and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with special training in Perinatal Mental Health discusses the challenges that pregnant women with mental health issues face. Her daughter, Jessica Northam MA, a registered drama therapist, talks about trauma therapy and PTSD as it relates to the birthing community - whether from a previous traumatic birth, or any previous trauma.

Resources: