From the WBWC Blog:

Month: February 2012

New Arrivals

Leah Vanderpuy and Ellis Good Rowan Juedi Kirkley – 9 lbs., 12 oz. – January 1Leah Beachy Vanderpuy – 7 lbs., 6 oz. – January 3Baby Boy Corduner – 7 lbs. – January 5Ellis James Good – 8 lbs., 5 oz.  –January 5Monroe Louis Smith – 7 lbs., 5 oz. – January 5Owen Richard Todd – 7 lbs., 12 oz. – January 6Eden Grace Alldredge – 7 lbs., 10 oz. – January 8Johanna Claire Geddings – 7 lbs., 8 oz. – January 9Dashiell Curtis Peterson – 8 lbs., 2 oz. – January 9Coltrane Matthew Cox – 7 lbs., 2 oz. – January 11John Bernerd Hausel – 8 lbs., 3 oz. – January 10Lauren Elizabeth Ort – 9 lbs. – January 12Keilynn Kay Allison – 7 lbs., 12 oz. – January 15Colin Elliot Gardner – 8 lbs., 8 oz. – January 16 *Colin’s mama is now the 2nd member of the “six babies or more born at WBWC” club*Keruso Jude Hamby – 8 lbs. – January 16Soren Mathison Perrachon – 9 lbs., 2 oz. – January 18Drake Riley Miller – 7 lbs. – January 19Eleanor Kathleen Gavin – 8 lbs., 6 oz. – January 19Lucy Quinn Doherty – 9 lbs., 2 oz. – January 20Grace Elizatbeth Ambrico – 8 lbs., 5 oz. – January 20Ruby Miller – 8 lbs., 3 oz. – January 21Caleb Philip Dennis – 7 lbs., 14 oz. – January 22Asher Stone Barnard – 7 lbs., 5 oz. – January 25Corrine Hining – 6 lbs., 14 oz. – January 23

Leigh Ann Joel Leaving Birth Center

After more than four years of dedicated service, midwife Leigh Ann Joel is leaving WBWC. In March, Leigh Ann will be joining the new midwifery service at Durham Regional Hospital. Although she remains very committed to the mission of the birth center, her new job will be much closer to her home and will allow her to spend more time with her family. Her last day with us is March 13. During her time at the birth center, Leigh Ann has supported hundreds of women through labor and has attended around 300 births. She’s been a wonderful mentor to many student midwives and staff members.”I feel so privileged and grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many brave and dedicated families who have chosen the birth center option,” says Leigh Ann. We will all miss her, and we wish her the best of luck in her new position!

Whole Foods-Inspired Superfoods Salad

Kate Layman, CNM, loves to make this hearty salad for an energy-boosting meal.  Inspired by the Superfoods salad at Whole Foods, this delicious salad will give you a healthy dose of iron, calcium, potassium, antioxidants, and vitamins.  This recipe makes about 2 servings. 4 cups raw kale 1/2 red onion 10 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved 1/2 cup edamame 1/4 cup almond slivers handful of sunflower seeds or your favorite nuts olive oil apple cider vinegar salt and pepper Steam kale until bright green and lightly wilted, about 3 minutes.  Toss in remaining ingredients.  Add oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste.  Enjoy!

News from the Board

by Kaaren HaldemanThe Board has some exciting news! After reviewing an exceptional pool of candidates, we are pleased to announce the addition of seven new directors to the Board of the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center. Please welcome: Jane Brown, Kia Caldwell, Lisa Fedele, Anne Drapkin Lyerly, Bruce Nelson, Yesenia Polanco-Galdamez and Rebecca Swartz to the Board. We are thrilled to have such a remarkable group of directors who are passionate about what we do at WBWC and believe strongly in our mission. Connie, Meredith, and I would like to thank all who applied for directorship and hope that we can harness your interest in WBWC in other important ways as we work together toward our new birth and wellness center. The full Board will have its first meeting March 21, and we will attend a board training as a group the weekend of March 31/April 1. We look forward to introducing our new directors to staff, and we’re eager to get started on raising funds, bringing ideas to the table, and helping WBWC realize our dream of a new facility. Finally, Connie, Meredith, and I were so pleased to have such a strong candidate pool for board directorship. People in our communities are excited about us and passionate about what we do. It is a real testament to the hard work, leadership, and profound importance of providing women and their families with this option for maternity and wellness care. Congratulations to all of you who make WBWC who we are!

All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Breastfeeding

by Claire C. McKiernan I was sitting on a futon in a back room of the WBWC boutique on a particularly busy afternoon. Nancy Albrecht, the lactation nurse, had squeezed us (my husband, baby, and me) into her busy schedule for a nursing consultation. I was holding back tears as I tried unsuccessfully to get my newborn daughter to nurse.  She latched on eagerly, but after 20 minutes of “nursing”, she wasn’t gaining an ounce and my breast had not softened. This simply couldn’t be happening. I knew how to nurse; after all, Rosemary was not my first baby: she was my fourth!  Nancy looked at me reassuringly and stated matter-of-factly: “Every baby has something new to teach you.” I suppose it was a magical combination of her tone, my mental/emotional state, having my concerned and loving husband by my side, and the innocent sweetness of my newborn nuzzled against me, but Nancy’s words had an immediate relaxing effect. Those words wafted past me like a warm, gentle breeze.  It was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment and helped me to look past my emotional state and tune into the methods we would need to correct Rosie’s tongue-thrusting habit.  This included tongue exercises, and lacing a tube through a nipple guard to squirt expressed breast milk or formula into the baby’s mouth while she was latched on. The latter would ensure she received enough milk while she was still learning to nurse properly.  I can’t say I wasn’t in tears over this awkward and unnatural set up, but the problem was corrected within two weeks. Rosie and I soon became the relaxed nursing duo that I hoped, and ultimately knew, we would be. Nancy’s words, however, stayed curiously and contemplatively in my mind. It was true: each of my nursing experiences had been different, yet with time, effort, and faith in my baby and myself, they had all been successful and enjoyable. My first baby, Christina, had been a natural, nursing before her umbilical cord was even cut. Her latch-on was perfect and she nursed fully and contentedly. I was not prepared, however, for the colic that would soon keep her screaming in seeming distress for hours every evening. The only time she stopped was when she was nursing. I recruited my husband and parents whenever possible to walk her around and give me a 10-20 minute … Read More

Like Your Lactation Consultants!

 by Ellen Chetwynd, RN, BSN, MPH, IBCLCBreastfeeding usually works beautifully, but when there are difficulties, it’s nice to know that you have lactation consultants available who can help. WBWC has three IBCLCs (International Board Certified Lactation Consultants) on staff, available five days a week. They see women who gave birth at the WBWC and women from the surrounding community.  North Carolina has a very active Breastfeeding Coalition. “Like” ‘North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition’ on Facebook to stay informed about breastfeeding and IBCLCs in North Carolina!