From the WBWC Blog:
Community
WBWC Open House
Join us Saturday, April 28 from 10 AM-2 PM as we open our doors to WBWC families and the community. We’d love to see families who have birthed with us before, or who are planning a WBWC birth sometime in the future! Come meet our experienced and supportive midwife team, tour our birth center and clinic, enter to win door prizes, and get to know some of our fantastic community partners. Bring the whole family – there will be activities for kids and light refreshments. Learn about out-of-hospital birth and see what makes WBWC special: the people! We hope to see you there!
Womanwise Birth Circle & Meet the Doulas
by Gabe Lazarus, CD(DONA), HCHD *Womanwise Doula Collective will be hosting a Birth Circle on the last Sunday of every month on the 2nd floor of WBWC, in the clinic library, from 1-3 PM. Each meeting will have a topic that will be led by a Womanwise member. Pregnant, new, and experienced mothers are invited into a safe space to share and glean wisdom, prepare for and process their births, and build community. Snacks and tea will be provided. To learn more about Womanwise Doula Collective, please visit womanwisedoulas.com *Piedmont Community Doulas hosts a Meet the Doulas event every 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7pm on the 3rd floor in the Living Room of WBWC. Come learn and explore what a doula does and what a doula brings to your birth experience. There is time for questions and to meet one on one with some local doulas. Members of the group include Gabe Lazarus, Johanna Wright, Heather Grissom, Wanda Sundermann, Kristie Wells, and Hannah Smith.
Svea Oster
Svea Oster died February 19 from complications of the flu. Svea was a legend in the Triangle as an advocate of women, midwives, and natural birth. She was a home birth attendant, a childbirth educator, a doula, and my dear friend! The circle of life has closed too soon. I met Svea thirty-eight years ago, when I first moved to Chapel Hill, for my husband to go to school. I was a brand-new graduate of midwifery school with no job and no friends. When I attended a meeting about birth options at the Women’s Resource Center (now the Compass Center), I met this amazing woman who changed my life! As our friendship developed, she taught me to trust my instincts and trust the process of birth. She encouraged me to start attending births of folks she knew through her friendships and with women who were getting care at the Chatham Family Birth Center (CFBC), the precursor to WBWC. Svea and I attended births for almost a year before I “got caught” – attending home births was illegal per state law. Svea and her husband Arnie were instrumental in getting the midwifery law passed that opened the doors for CNMs to attend births in homes, birth centers, and hospitals. She helped me open WBWC twenty-two years ago when we met with people from the Carolina Association for the Advancement of Midwifery and were able to get a state grant. Svea continued to touch the lives of hundreds of families as she taught childbirth education classes in the community and at WBWC, until she retired a few years ago. Our connections spanned the generations. Svea was the birth assistant at the birth of my own daughter thirty-six years ago, and I was the CNM at her daughter’s birth at home thirty-five years ago. Over the years, we have continued to travel in the same birth circle. I had the pleasure of catching both her son’s and daughter’s first children at the birth center. Her daughter-in-law was also born at the CFBC. Thank you, Svea, for letting me freely participate in the “circle of life.” WBWC and I will never forget all you have done in the birth community over the years, your passion, and your smile, and your love! ~Maureen Darcey Arnie has requested that donations be made in Svea’s honor to WBWC. Visit our donation page for more information.
Study Shows Birth Center Care Improves Outcomes
From 2013-2016 Women’s Birth & Wellness Center participated in the Strong Start for New Mother and Newborns Initiative through the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC). This study provided funding to collect data on Medicaid patients at birth centers, including WBWC. AABC’s Strong Start program aimed to use birth center care to help prevent preterm birth, low birthweight, and costly interventions for those at the highest risk for complications. From the time that enrollment began in June of 2013, a diverse group of more than 8,300 women have participated in AABC’s Strong Start program at 46 birth center sites, with over 6,100 Strong Start births. This study found that the birth center model of care achieved the aims of improved population health, patient experience, and value. What does this really mean? Choosing to birth in a hospital was associated with nearly 4 times the risk of a cesarean birth compared with a birth center among medically low-risk Medicaid beneficiaries. Strong Start participants also had a decreased risk preterm birth and of low birth weight Birth centers showed the highest rates of satisfaction with both the prenatal care and delivery experience. 96% of patients were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with their prenatal care at birth centers and 84% were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with their delivery experience. Additionally, by lowering the rates of caesarean births and pre-term births, Strong Start patients saw an estimated $28 million in Medicaid savings. This study supported what we know and have seen through our experiences – that the birth center model of care lowers the risks of complications and honors and supports the preferences of the birthing person. Birth Center prenatal care is time intensive and relationship-based. Enhanced prenatal care includes referrals to needed resources, health education and emotional support. Midwives provide longer visits to achieve these outcomes. Women’s Birth & Wellness Center is the only free-standing birth center in the Triangle that accepts Medicaid patients. The Strong Start grant funding has ended, but through your support we can continue to provide this exceptional midwifery-model of care in a place of wellness to all women and birthing individuals. Please visit https://ncbirthcenter.org/donate/ to learn how you can help. As a Paypal Giving Fund recipient, there are no fees associated with your online donation, and your entire donation is used to serve our mission. Thank you in advance for your support!
Prenatal Yoga with Brianna at Triangle Yoga
Many of you may already know Brianna Bennett as WBWC’s business director, but did you know she has also been a yoga teacher since 2005? She recently earned her prenatal yoga certification and is now teaching a prenatal yoga class on Mondays at 6:15 PM at Triangle Yoga, just upstairs from the Birth Center! WBWC patients can get a free class with the purchase of a passcard. Brianna strives to make classes accessible, understandable, and challenging to individuals at any level of fitness. In class, you will work through a series of flowing yoga poses to help synchronize the breath to the movement, develop concentration, strength, flexibility, balance, and clarity. Class will end with a guided meditation and optional aromatherapy. Brianna structures the prenatal class to offer a well-rounded combination of poses for strength, flexibility, and endurance with opportunities to increase mental awareness, and time for bonding and sharing expectations.
Thank You to Our 2017 Donors
We would like to thank our 2017 donors. Because of these gifts, we are able to bring more midwifery services to mamas and babies in our community. As a charitable non-profit, we make our services available to women regardless of their financial means. Your contribution to Women’s Birth & Wellness Center means you believe in our mission and support our work. Thank you! Women’s Birth & Wellness Center is dedicated to providing women of diverse backgrounds with comprehensive well woman, maternity and preventative healthcare throughout the life cycle We believe that every woman has the right to a standard of excellence in her healthcare, to be treated with respect for human dignity and cultural preferences, and to be an active partner in her healthcare. Anonymous Benjamin Sligar Hannah Shumaker: Dorthy B. Sullivan Memorial Fund Morgan Nettles Yu-jay Harris: Dorthy B Sullivan Memorial Fund Emily Herbert National Philanthropic Trust Corrie Bauer-Fitzsimons The Shoemaker Family Charitable Fund Joanne Dahill Triangle Doula Collective Cynthia Meurling Brianna Bennett James & Patricia Huegerich Maureen Darcey: Dorthy B. Sullivan Memorial Fund Virginia Sall Roxane S. Gwyn: Dorthy B. Sullivan Memorial Fund Yu-jay Harris Freya Wilk Eliza Sydnor Mary Carol Akers Susan Rotman If you would like to support the important work of WBWC, consider giving to the Dorothy B. Sullivan Memorial Fund today! To read more about this fund, click here.
Free Yoga Class for WBWC Clients
Did you know that Women’s Birth & Wellness Center shares a building with an awesome yoga studio? Triangle Yoga offers lots of great classes including Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga. Click here to learn more. Mention you’re a WBWC patient and get a FREE class with the purchase of a passcard!
Fit4Baby
Fit4Baby is a prenatal fitness program offered by FIT4MOM that teaches women how to exercise safely and effectively throughout their pregnancy. The hour long Fit4Baby class is interval based, combining elements of strength training, cardiovascular exercises and stretching and balancing exercises. All instructors are certified in pre- and postnatal fitness and trained to lead pregnant women in exercises that are safe and appropriate for their changing bodies. The program is for all stages of pregnancy. Fit4Baby classes are held Sundays 5:30-6:30pm at the Women’s Birth & Wellness Center and Thursdays 7:30-8:30pm at Fleet Feet Sports Carrboro. Come try your first class for FREE! For more information, visit: https://chapelhill.fit4mom.com/programs/prenatal-fit4baby#/today