I'm pleased to share with you today's podcast episode, which is a comprehensive update of the research evidence on COVID-19 and pregnancy and childbirth! To view the scientific references for this article, visit the COVID-19 resource page here and look for the February 17, 2021 podcast episode text. In this podcast episode, I cover: The current global situation What we know so far about prevention/vaccines during pregnancy Testing and diagnosis Symptoms during pregnancy Risk of hospitalization a...
Feb 17, 2021•57 min
On today's podcast, we're going to talk with Nathalie Walton, CEO of the Expectful app, about coping with anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum— especially when you have a high-risk pregnancy. Nathalie is the CEO of Expectful, the number one meditation and sleep app for growing families. She has spent the last eight years in leadership roles at Airbnb, Google, and eBay. As a new mother to her 10-month old son Everett, Nathalie experienced the failure of the U.S. healthcare system as it pertain...
Feb 10, 2021•44 min
On today's podcast, we are talking with Jamie and Ryan English about their unexpectedly long but empowering hospital birth, as well as the effects of severe diastasis recti on the labor process. Jamie and Ryan are graduates of the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class, which they took with EBB instructor Jennifer Anderson. Ryan is a commercial property manager and Jamie is a photographer. They moved to Sacramento a few years ago from San Diego, California, and at the same time they found out th...
Feb 03, 2021•1 hr
On today’s podcast, I'm excited to talk with Kimberly Seals Allers. Kimberly is an award-winning journalist, five-time author, international speaker, strategist, and advocate for maternal and infant health. A former senior editor at Essence, and a writer at Fortune Magazine, Kimberly is a leading voice on the socio-cultural complexities of motherhood. Kimberly is also the founder of Irth , a new app to address bias in maternity and infant care. We talk about how Kimberly’s new app, Irth , which ...
Jan 27, 2021•47 min
On today’s podcast, we will be speaking with Mystique Hargrove, EBB Featured Instructor. Mystique (She/They) is a certified full spectrum doula who serves BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of color), and LGBTQ+ individuals in Greensboro, North Carolina. Mystique also serves as an advisory board member for the United States Lactation Consultant Association, and is a Certified Lactation Educator, as well as a Certified Childbirth Educator. Mystique completed her Master of Science in Clinical an...
Jan 19, 2021•34 min
On today's podcast, we are going to talk about the research evidence on failure to progress. We also talk about what studies have shown about the normal length of labor, as well as the benefits and risks of having a longer pushing time. We encourage you to visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/failuretoprogress to get all the research references and a one-page handout. For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/...
Jan 13, 2021•43 min
On today's podcast, I interview Fiona and Craig Castleton about their birthing experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fiona and Craig welcomed their first baby in April 2020 — when everything was locked down. To prepare for their experience, they took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class with EBB Instructor, Shalin Butterworth, who also happened to be their doula. We talk about their experience taking the online Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class and how Shalin helped mentor them in co...
Jan 06, 2021•1 hr 1 min
On today's podcast , I wrap up all the resources we created at Evidence Based Birth in 2020, as well as the challenges we faced as a team. I also talk about what our plans are for the year 2021. This was not an easy podcast to record. How do you sum up a year like 2020? Like many of you, our team members at EBB have experienced loss and grief, uncertainty and anxiety, stress, and burnout. Somehow our team pulled together to continue getting evidence based information to the public. We leaned on ...
Dec 30, 2020•29 min
In today’s episode, I interview Nicole Deggins, a Certified Nurse Midwife and one of the country's leading birth advocacy experts.. She served as faculty for the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and sits on the Louisiana Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review committee, the Louisiana Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies council, and is a consultant for the Global Infant Safe Sleep Center. Nicole has provided guest lectures to public health students at universities and has provided training and c...
Dec 16, 2020•59 min
On today’s episode, I will be talking with Dr. Juan Michelle Martin. Dr. Martin is a pelvic floor specialist for 13 years. Dr. Martin is the owner and founder of JMM Health Solutions. She's created a few programs for pregnant individuals as well as two coaching programs, one of them being a 12-week program for people with endometriosis, and the other being a four-week program for individuals suffering from dyspareunia. We talk about the benefits of pelvic floor therapy for pregnancy and postpart...
Dec 09, 2020•30 min
On today's podcast, we're going to talk with Grace Murphy and Roderick Murphy about their home birth during COVID. Grace Murphy has been married to Roderick Murphy for the past two years, and they were high school sweethearts. Grace and Roderick are graduates of the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. They welcomed their firstborn son, Edmond, on June 14th of 2020. Roderick has been in the Army for the past six years, and just transferred to the civilian world in July of 2020, so they've bee...
Dec 02, 2020•36 min
In this episode, I will talk about cervical ripening, the Bishop score, and some "mechanical" ways to ripen the cervix. More specifically, we'll talk about the advantages and disadvantages of cervical osmotic dilators (including Dilapan-S®), and using the Foley balloon for cervical ripening. Get on the wait list for the Pocket Guide here: https://evidencebasedbirth.com/pocket-guide-wait-list/ References on Cervical Ripening: Curran, M. (2020). Bishop Score Calculator. Click here. Kolkman, D. G. ...
Nov 18, 2020•28 min
In today's podcast episode, we're going to talk with Shafia Monroe about the role of the traditional midwife. Shafia Monroe is a public health professional, a midwife, a motivational speaker, founder of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing, or ICTC, which was the first US-based black midwives and doulas professional organization. Shafia is also an author, infant mortality prevention specialist, doula trainer, and president of Doula Ready LLC. Since 2002, she has trained thousand...
Nov 11, 2020•1 hr 1 min
In this episode I talk about the updated research evidence on using membrane sweeping or membrane stripping for inducing labor. Is membrane sweeping effective? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Why do some providers perform membrane sweeping without asking your permission beforehand? We talk about all of this, and more, in this latest episode of the Evidence Based Birth® podcast! For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook ( http...
Oct 28, 2020•19 min
In this episode, I am joined with Brett Iimura to discuss global childbirth education and birth in Japan. Brett has had a varied career, including being a hansom cab driver in New York City, an ASL interpreter, field producer for Japanese TV, literacy tutor and childbirth educator, and doula. She has facilitated in-person classes as a certified childbirth educator and is the director of the Childbirth Education Center, the CEC, based in Japan. Brett has provided childbirth education classes in t...
Oct 21, 2020•48 min
**Trigger Warning: This podcast contains content on the topic of obstetric abuse and birth trauma.** In this episode, I interview Brittany “Tru” Kellman, the Founder and Executive Director of Jamaa Birth Village in Ferguson, Missouri. She is a mother and wife, certified professional midwife, certified doula and doula trainer, breastfeeding peer counselor, and author. In 2015 she launched her community campaign to improve birth, maternal, and infant care, and the overall wellness of families in a...
Oct 07, 2020•28 min
n this episode, I interview an Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class parent, Caitlyn Martens from Mesa, Arizona. Her son - now more than a year old - arrived a month early. Caitlyn took the EBB Childbirth Class with Instructor Lora Fiala, and had a doula. At 28 weeks Caitlyn switched her prenatal care from an OB practice to a midwife team, who were able to attend her at her planned hospital birth. **Trigger warning: In this episode we discuss birth trauma, and an experience of newborn resuscita...
Sep 30, 2020•46 min
In this episode, I interview Evidence Based Birth® Instructor Tara Thompson. Tara is a certified birth doula with CAPPA, a Lamaze certified childbirth educator, and a licensed massage therapist specializing in pregnancy and postpartum. She has taught classes to expecting couples for more than ten years at a women’s center in Atlanta, Georgia. She’s also been teaching privately for over three years. Tara teaches the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class online, and has also taught the EBB Comfor...
Sep 23, 2020•42 min
In this episode, I interview JaMichael Perryman, who is husband of Evidence Based Birth Professional Membership Coordinator and EBB Instructor Chanté Perryman. JaMichael is father to five children, and has experienced a wide variety of births - ranging from an emergency Cesarean to three VBACs which have all been precipitous births. He has been joining Chanté during her childbirth classes to offer a dad’s perspective for partners. In 2018 he was a speaker at Kentucky’s March for Moms. JaMichael ...
Sep 16, 2020•36 min
In this episode I answer several questions about natural labor induction: Can eating pineapple help induce labor contractions? What about having sex? Is that really effective for starting labor! Natural induction techniques continue to be among our most searched and requested topics at Evidence Based Birth®. I'm excited to share with you the evidence on these common labor induction techniques! For all the scientific references mentioned in this podcast, visit our blog post at ebbirth.com/144 For...
Sep 09, 2020•19 min
In this episode, the Minnesota Healing Justice Network is taking over the podcast! In this very important episode, our guest speakers are Ihotu Ali, Daniela Montoya-Barthelemy, and Shayla Walker. **Content warning** this podcast includes discussion of racial violence and racial health disparities. Ihotu Jennifer Ali, MPH, LMT (she/her), is an integrative medicine doctor in training and doula with a decade of experience in public health and traditional practices around emotional support, pregnanc...
Sep 03, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Today, I am excited to continue our important 3-day series about the Minnesota Healing Justice Network! **Content warning: In this episode, we talk about the uprisings after George Floyd’s murder and safety concerns during birth due to racial traumatic event. We also discuss an event in which parents were temporarily separated from their newborn baby, which may be disturbing to listen to.** In this episode, you'll hear from new parents Jenae Herron and Marcel Malekebu. Jenae is a housing case ma...
Sep 02, 2020•53 min
Today is a special day, as we are starting a 3-day podcast focus on the amazing work being done by the Minnesota Healing Justice Network! In today's episode, I am joined by EBB instructor, Rhonda Fellows and Dr. Jennifer Almanza to talk about birthing and disparities in Minnesota. **TRIGGER WARNING: In this episode, we talk about racial violence and Black and Indigenous maternal health disparities.** Rhonda Fellows is a Certified Birth Doula and Evidence Based Birth® Instructor who has 20 years ...
Sep 01, 2020•57 min
In this episode, I interview parents Kristin and Zach Crosby, who live in Alabama with their four children. Kristin is a Registered Nurse, and has been a stay at home mom since the birth of their third child. They recently adopted a two year old. Zach is a systems administrator, and runs a locksmith company. They took the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class with EBB Instructor Traci Weafer. We talk about Kristen’s first two hospital births, and what led her to take a different approach with h...
Aug 26, 2020•35 min
In this latest episode in our series on natural labor induction, I cover the evidence on consuming red raspberry leaf tea during pregnancy. Can red raspberry leaf tea assist with natural labor induction? How effective is it to prevent a cesarean birth? Have there been any randomized trials on the use of red raspberry leaf for pregnancy or labor induction? What does the evidence say about its effectiveness and safety? I’ll answer all these questions and more – and share the latest research on thi...
Aug 19, 2020•23 min
In this episode, I interview women’s health expert Bianca Marie Roberson. Bianca is located in Maryland, and has over 17 years of experience working in the public health field, including serving as a health services administrator for the military, healthcare insurance operations analyst for the Georgia Department of Community Health, and a corporate healthcare accounts manager for CareerBuilder. **Content warning: This episode includes a description of obstetric violence After years of program m...
Aug 12, 2020•40 min
In this episode I am joined by Bryn Huntpalmer, an Austin, Texas-based podcaster and mother of three young children. She is the founder of The Birth Hour podcast, which was featured in Time Magazine as one of the top 50 podcasts to listen to. The Birth Hour has nearly 500 episodes, and more than 10 million downloads to date. Bryn recently published her first book, The First Time Mom’s Pregnancy Handbook: A Week-by-Week Guide from Conception Through Baby’s First Three Months. She is passionate ab...
Aug 05, 2020•49 min
In this episode I welcome Jennie Joseph, one of the world’s most respected midwives and authorities on women’s health. She’s a true advocate for systematic reform that puts families first in health care. Jennie is the founder and executive director of Commonsense Childbirth, Inc., and is also creator of The JJ Way, a patient-centered model of care. Jennie has worked in European hospitals, American birth centers, clinics, and home birth environments. She’s been instrumental in the regulation of F...
Jul 29, 2020•55 min
In this episode, I interview Miranda Kelly, a certified birth doula, postpartum doula, and childbirth educator who has worked for ten years in Indigenous people’s health planning, policy education, and research. Miranda holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology, and a Master of Public Health degree. She is a mother of two girls, and is a member of the ekw’í7tl (pronounced ah-quay-tull) doula collective in Vancouver. Miranda is passionate about indigenous peoples reclaiming their auth...
Jul 22, 2020•52 min
In this episode, I cover the evidence on evening primrose oil (EPO) for natural labor induction. This oil is extracted from the seed of the evening primrose plant, which grows wild in North America and some parts of Europe. It’s a rich source of omega six essential fatty acids, as well as other compounds which are thought to help ripen the cervix for labor. I share the results of randomized control trials for administering EPO vaginally and taking it orally, as well as observational studies, a c...
Jul 15, 2020•20 min
