From the WBWC Blog:

News

Latest news non-related to individual births.

Juniper’s Birth Story

Begin at the beginning. The beginning of Juniper’s birth story was not water breaking or pressure waves tightening. It was Rebeca listening intently to me. At 41 weeks and 3 days, I shared with her some of my past traumatic experiences. This was my first baby to make it this far, so I did not know what to expect from labor. Beyond that, my fears involved being left alone in a hospital and feeling out of control of my body. Rebeca listened patiently and compassionately. She talked through my options and answered my questions. By the end of our conversation, I felt, as I often do at WBWC, heard and safe.  At 41 weeks and 5 days, my husband and I headed back to the birth center for a midwife induction. That afternoon in the Blue Room, at Lydia’s expert direction, I swilled cohosh, bounced on the birthing ball, and pumped, for hours. Lydia bound my stomach, and she and Bonnie attended to us all afternoon. Still, the baby would not budge. Before my husband and I could head home, a 20 minute NST test was needed. After a while of trying to track the always-moving baby, the results of the monitoring became concerning to Lydia and Bonnie. Joe and I were impatient to return home and did not immediately understand their concern. When Joe had stepped out for a moment, Rebeca materialized in the Blue Room. She approached the bed, where I was hooked up to monitors. She gently told me that she knew the hopes I had had for a birth center birth, but that it was important that we go to the hospital for more monitoring and an induction. Rebeca understood how scary this news was to me. Just as before, she addressed my fears and answered my questions. She managed to be deeply comforting, even while speaking through a face mask. Joe and I followed Rebeca to UNC Hospital. The nighttime drive through Chapel Hill was surreal. Once at the hospital, Rebeca led us through layers of security, temperature checks, and health screenings. We met with ob-gyns, who agreed with the midwives’ assessment. My husband, confused at the sudden change of plans, had questions, which Rebeca fielded with the same patience she had shown me. Ultimately, my husband was persuaded by my trust in Rebeca. He sensed that I would have followed her anywhere. I was … Read More

Marek’s Birth Story

  Marek came into the world on a sultry, stormy day in June. I was certain he would be early, but in the stylings of his 2 brothers before him, nope. He would come when he was good and ready. Marek is my 3rd born at Women’s Birth & Wellness. My first son, Corbin, was very late but born on Thanksgiving and delivered by several loving women (it was a busy week) but Allison was my rock through that delivery. Escher was born on All Saints day and also delivered by Allison, who made me feel so special when he had two perfect knots on his umbilical cord. They deserve their own story, but I’ve been processing this one for a while and thought maybe this might help. I have been incredibly fortunate in my ability to deliver 3 healthy boys at WBWC. It has always felt like home no matter how much time has passed. Though I’ve never considered myself to be “crunchy”, birth, in my opinion, is best left to those who have the ability/want/need/love to be a part of the process and what better place.  When I became pregnant with my third, we knew this would be our last. We’d been on the fence for a year and had decided to let the cards fall as they may and set a date that we would stick to. Of course, we found out I was expecting during the last week of said ‘end game’ date. Things happened quickly this time around, with an almost two-year-old, and the other in school, and work…time marched on at a pace I could barely keep up with. Because, this was our last, we decided to let the gender be a surprise and wait until birth. That was the only big difference this time and things progressed as they should. At my check up around 34 weeks, sweet babe was breech. No matter what you know or what people say to reassure your timeline, you’re bummed. I worried I was doing to much or doing something wrong and started making calls to have chiro care to help the babe turn. I was still working as a Bartender in Raleigh at the same sweet bar and restaurant I’ve been with for 17 years, and knew I planned to work to term as I had with my others so I made a solid plan to … Read More

 Experience The Healer Within

By Allison Koch, CNM “Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”, when teaching childbirth classes, I observed that during the “practicing relaxation” portion of class if we could get the pregnant person super relaxed, in an altered state, they were pretty suggestible. I started to slip in affirmations to increase their confidence about their birth, during their meditations. The affirmations included power statements: “My body is strong and capable of giving birth to my baby effortlessly,” and visualizations: “I see myself relaxed and supported by my partner, able to position myself for a comfortable birth.” The students seemed to like the visualizations and found them to be a helpful rehearsal for how they wanted to be in their birth. I eventually found some beautiful, high-quality recorded guided imagery and visualization recordings, and clients could acquire these to practice with at home, effectively training their brain to guide their body for their birth. Today, many childbirth education classes teach focus, relaxation and visualization techniques still. When you practice the relaxation and visualization exercises over & over & over for a comfortable birth experience, you are programming yourself to be in relaxed awareness for birth. You are rehearsing for the event so it won’t be a new or  frightening experience. That’s how you accomplish childbirth without pain medication and that’s how you can accomplish the healing response in your body as well. Guided imagery and visualization combine imagination with intention. When you also add an elevated emotion such as love, gratitude, or joy you begin to alert your body that a change is taking place, something good is happening. Your genes will start to make new proteins in response and to prepare your body for the event. Hormones will be released, starting a cascade that bathes the body in positivity.  (And if you’ve heard me talk about Hormone Madness, you know about the brain/heart connection and hormones). Incredible potential exists in learning to do this for ourselves, our children, and our planet.  And data has also shown, working in groups multiplies the potential. As you approach the New Year, join me in utilizing the power of the human mind and intention to redirect learned thoughts and behaviors away from sickness and negativity to a new pathway of wellness and rebirth. Enable your body to generate a healing response, sometimes very quickly. It involves changing your mindset, which in itself will … Read More

Prenatal-Postnatal Yoga at Triangle Yoga

Prenatal Yoga (Tue at 6:15pm) focuses on postures that are appropriate for pregnant women with an emphasis on connecting with the baby, breathing, relaxation, and muscle toning. Benefits include building stamina, strength, balance, soothing the nervous system, releasing tension in the lower and upper back and preparing you for labor through conscious breathing. No experience necessary. Our Postnatal Yoga class (Wed at 12:30pm) helps new and returning mothers stay centered, strong and aware during their first months together. Bring your little one from as young as 4 weeks to this nurturing class. Common postpartum and baby handling/carrying issues, are addressed with toning, core strength, and stretching. No experience necessary. No experience necessary, drop-ins welcome! PRENATAL YOGA’s Elaine Ananda has been devoted to women’s health for the last 20 years, she has been a mother/baby nurse, birth assistant, placenta encapsulation specialist, doula, writer, and musician. She founded Amma Prema in 2012, weaving yoga, birth, and wellness services together.pectations POSTNATAL YOGA’s Brianna Bennett is a certified yoga teacher, health educator, and manager for the Birthing Center. As a new mom, she is forever grateful to her son for the opportunity to learn from his youthful wisdom as she leads her yoga classes! www.triangleyoga.com

Olympia’s Birth Story

By Sarah Swandell “What can I do NOT to induce labor?” I asked the midwife at my 38-week appointment. My husband Jordan was flying to Ohio to interview at a med school that week. He’d be gone two nights. What if my body chose that time to go into labor? The first night Jordan was gone, I took some time to pray and reflect on all the year had brought – our first baby, whom we’d miscarried, and the baby who now kicked happily in my stomach. I thanked God for the journey, with all its ups and downs. Moments later, I went to the restroom, looked down, and discovered I had passed my mucus plug. A quick Google search reassured me labor might still be days or even weeks away. I decided not to tell my husband. But as the night went on, I started feeling something wet in my underwear. I had heard plenty of women say they couldn’t be sure if it was their water breaking or they were just peeing, but when I sat on the toilet and felt liquid come out, I could only laugh – I was definitely not peeing! In the time it took to fetch an adult diaper, more amniotic fluid ran out of me and I had to mop up the floor! Now I was noticing back pain, and mild contractions. Going off other women’s advice, I tried to relax, taking a bath and talking to the baby in my belly. Alas, I never could fall back asleep. Our house was 80 minutes away from the birthing center. I decided I wanted to spend my labor in a hotel near there rather than attempt a drive later, during active labor, especially if my husband wouldn’t be around! I waited ‘til 7 a.m. to call the midwife. She advised me to come in that afternoon, 12 hours after the water broke, for a non-stress test. I hurried around packing up the rest of the birth bag and scarfing down breakfast. While I ate, my husband called, just before his interview was to begin. “How’d you sleep last night?” he asked. “Oh…you know…” I hedged. Thankfully he didn’t catch on. I wanted him to get through at least day 1 of interviews before telling him the baby was on its way. Perhaps he could make up day 2 later. I drove to Chapel … Read More

WBWC Welcomes Back Dawn Erikson

Women’s Birth & Wellness Center is happy to announce the return of Dawn Erikson, FNP, to our staff. In the 1990s, Erikson opted to birth her two children at Women’s Birth & Wellness Center. Her experience of the quality care that’s delivered at WBWC led Erikson, who is a family nurse practitioner, to accept a job as a primary care provider at WBWC in 2000. WBWC founder, Maureen Darcey, CNM, recruited and encouraged Erikson to join the WBWC team and expand the primary care aspect of the Center. In 2004, Erikson left WBWC to take a position at Community Family Medicine in Pittsboro where she had the opportunity to work with families and across the age spectrum. However, after her children, Kyle, 22, and Anya, 20, left home for college, Erikson started thinking about her next step in health care. In the meantime, she and her husband, Vic, wanted to spend some quality time together, so Vic also left his job so the couple could do some traveling in their 16-foot Airstream trailer. Erikson also used that time to work on her career as a fabric artist, taking art classes and marketing her art. “It was a gift of two years of stepping away from our careers to re-establish our lives together,” she said. When a job as a nurse practitioner opened up at WBWC this year, Erikson was ready to work again with women and newborns. Erikson says a kidney infection that landed her in the hospital at age 5 sparked her interest in nursing. She encountered a “very mean nurse,” so Erikson said to herself: “I want to be a nurse, but I want to be nice.” Erikson says she was attracted to nursing because it’s a caring profession. And she said her “natural caring tendencies,” were a good match with nursing. Erikson, a native of a very small town, Greene, N.Y., earned her undergrad degree in nursing from SUNY Plattsburgh. After she and Vic moved to Chapel Hill in 1993, Erikson decided to seek a master’s degree as an FNP (Vic also attended UNC). Erikson said being an FNP gave her more autonomy as a health care professional because FNPs can diagnose and prescribe medicine. “I can work much more independently,” she said. Erikson said she is drawn to the Birth Center’s model of care, which is consistent with her core beliefs. “WBWC is making a difference in the … Read More

Birth Story Healing Support Group

Sometimes birth doesn’t go the way we hope it will. When this happens, it can be difficult to find the support we need to move forward with ease and joy. If you are still struggling to make peace with your birth story, you might be interested in WBWC’s Birth Story Healing support group. This will be a safe space where deep listening and whole-hearted support can happen, a place where your story can be heard and healed. We will incorporate mindfulness skills to help us stay with what is and, at the same time, move towards greater awareness, clarity, and ease around your birth story. We hope you will join us for this free group meeting. We meet every first Friday of the month, 10:00 am. Our next meeting will be Friday, January 3. Lorraine Rocco RN, IBCLC and mindfulness teacher will be facilitating. You can contact her with any questions at: lorraine@trianglemindfulbirthing.com or through her website www.TriangleMindfulBirthing.com

New Music Together® Babies Class

The Music Together® Babies Class will start you on the path to becoming a musical family. Specifically designed for infants eight months and younger, this one-semester introduction to Music Together allows babies to embrace, enjoy, and express their inborn musicality. In your weekly class, you will spend forty-five music-filled minutes singing, dancing, and playing with your child, all in the company of other new parents and guided by an early childhood music specialist. You’ll learn how your child is developing musically and how you can support this growth at home. Plus, you’ll leave with lots of ideas on how to play and bond musically together and infuse music into your baby’s everyday life. Erica Berry, the owner of Jammin Baby, has been teaching children’s music for over 11 years. She is a classically trained vocalist and a musician. She will sing and play the flute for your babies in this class and lead you in making music of your own in the class and at home. Join our Winter Session by visiting www.jamminbaby.com. Starts Monday, January 6, 9:45-10:30 am (10 weeks)

Partners to Parents coming soon!

Partners to Parents Workshop is an opportunity to revitalize and prepare your relationship to navigate the normal stresses of bringing a new baby home. FREE INTRODUCTION: Sunday, January 19, 2020, 6:00-7:00 pm WBWC Living Room (Suite 304) NEXT WORKSHOP: Sunday, February 16, 2020, 5:00pm – 8:30pm WBWC Living Room (Suite 304) $60/ couple Register Here: http://joyfulparenting.me/register/ Are you afraid of losing connection with your partner after the baby arrives? Are you feeling overwhelmed by the transition to being a parent? Learn how you and your partner can navigate the transition to parenthood with greater ease and connection in this 3 1/2 hour research-based relationship workshop. Learn skills and information that will help you cope successfully with the normal stresses of becoming a family. This class will teach you how to: Increase friendship in their relationship. Deal effectively with conflict. Involve dads in infant care and parenting. Improve the quality of parent-infant interaction. Recognize the psychological and emotional needs of their child. Be a sensitive and responsive parent. This is a fun and impactful class. We cover a lot of information and give you time to implement what you learn throughout during exercises.  Included with your registration is a Partners to Parents Workbook (one per couple). Please plan to eat dinner before you come. Light refreshments will be provided. Presenter: Ali Parnell, learn more: http://joyfulparenting.me/about/

WBWC Committee Members Needed

 Are you passionate about supporting the good work happening at Women’s Birth & Wellness Center?  Do you want to volunteer on a committee and work with the WBWC Board of Directors and Leadership team to help improve and sustain this non-profit organization that you love? If you answered YES to these 2 questions please see the opportunities below and send your resume and letter of interest to  women@ncbirthcenter.org with the subject ‘Committee Volunteer.’ Finance & Operations Committee Duties: Oversees finance, personnel, facilities, business strategy. The Operations Committee provides financial review, guidance and oversight for the overall operations of Women’s Birth & Wellness Center. Members develop insight into the business operations in order to suggest strategic business directions and business policy implementation. Chair: Treasurer, Cynthia Meurling Members: Board Treasurer, 2-3 additional persons + Executive, Business and Clinical Directors §  QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED Education Bachelor’s degree required; degree in business administration, finance, accounting, or another relevant field preferred. §  Related Work Experience Two or more years of work experience in: administration, accounting, management or finance §  Skills · Excellent written and oral communication skills. · Strong problem-solving skills, analytical abilities and attention to detail. · Proficiency in Microsoft Office, comfort level reviewing financial statements. · Discretion, tact, and the ability to function as part of a team. · Flexibility in work schedule to accommodate occasional evening or weekend meetings §  Preferred Skills & Experience Experience in budget management and strategic planning Knowledge of issues related to health care. Fundraising & Development Committee Duties: Fundraising and events. The Fundraising Committee is dedicated to planning and orchestrating promotions and events to raise funds for Women’s Birth & Wellness Center. The Fundraising Committee is in constant contact with key staff members to determine the needs that must be funded. Chair: Vacant Members: Seeking 3 people §         Related Work Experience: Experience in grant writing, fundraising, event planning or marketing  Executive Committee Duties: To oversee committee activities, advise Executive and Clinical Directors and develop board meeting agendas. The Executive Committee supports and encourages the diversification and ongoing growth of Women’s Birth & Wellness Center’s governing body.  The Executive Committee performs ongoing needs-assessment among the full board to ensure board operates at its full potential. Chair: President, Elizabeth Kasper Members: Board officers and committee chairs. Seeking 2 people.

BeSpree App Early Launch

You are invited to participate in the early launch of BeSpree – a new, ultra-convenient way for individuals and families to connect to affordable health and wellness activities in Durham and Orange Counties.  The mobile app is free and connects you to:  – yoga – gardening – walking – cooking classes – art in the park – boot camps – kid-friendly programs – and many, many more activities!!!   Download BeSpree to explore activities, including our Birth Center sponsored activities: iOS / Android.  You can share community activities with friends and chat with our instructors ahead of the event.  Please help us get the word out to help more of our community know about our WBWC preventative health offerings.   If you are a certified professional organizing health and wellness activities, sign up as an organizer to post activities by emailing info@bespree.com to sign up to become a verified health advocate.  Be Healthy.  Be Free.  BeSpree.  

New Arrivals

Illyana Mae Rivera – May 1 – 7 lbs., 6 oz. *Lotus Solaris Moore – May 1 – 7 lbs., 15 oz. {Saved Lotus Moore) Amaziah Dietrich Bracey – May 3 – 7 lbs., 12 oz. *Dean Campbell Stoker – May 7 – 7 lbs., 14 oz. Skylar James McNamee – May 8 – 7 lbs., 9 oz. *Evelyn Searcy – May 15 – 8 lbs., 0.5 oz. Amira Alona Eden Israel – May 27 – 6 lbs., 7.5 oz. Zen Adisa Lewis – May 28 – 7 lbs., 5 oz. Brock Matthew Dence – May 29 – 8 lbs., 4 oz. Elisha Clay Meadows – May 30 – 9 lbs., 6 oz. Ivy Abigail Flood – May 31 – 8 lbs., 12 oz. *Sloane Victoria Saad – June 4 – 7 lbs., 2 oz. *Jack Hale Ambro – June 9 – 8 lbs., 11 oz. *Soren Alexander McKee – June 10 – 6 lbs., 7.9 oz. Amelia Elise Mills – June 12 – 8 lbs. *Rowan Michael Sparks – June 14 – 8 lbs., 11 oz. William Phillip Haber – June 15 – 7 lbs., 2 oz. Noah Bahari Foster – June 19 – 7 lbs., 4 oz. Marek Bailey Prince – June 20 – 9 lbs., 8 oz. Michael Dean Caldwell, Jr. – June 23 – 9 lbs., 5 oz. Fiona Quinn Putney – June 25 – 8 lbs., 9.5 oz. Nicolás Asher Markovits-Salvo – June 26 – 9 lbs., 1.5 oz. *pictured above  May Stats Total babies born: 33 Biggest baby: 9 lbs., 15 oz. Smallest baby: 2 lbs., 13 oz.  June Stats Total babies born: 39 Biggest baby: 9 lbs., 5.5 oz. Smallest baby: 5 lbs., 15 oz.  To be included in this celebratory list, please email Missy at missy@ncbirthcenter.org with your baby’s birth announcement information that includes their name, date of birth, and birth weight as well as a photo, if available.If you would like to send us your birth story, we are happy to include that in a future newsletter! Also, if you have a printed birth announcement to share, we’d love to have a copy to add to our bulletin board in the clinic!