From the WBWC Blog:

News

Latest news non-related to individual births.

New Arrivals

  *Lucia Ellen Noykos – 7 lbs., 13 oz. – June 26 *Rachel Lorelai Chavez – 8 lbs., 15 oz. – August 18 *Calvin Patrick Herr – 7 lbs., 7oz. – August 22  *Agata Emilia Misior – 8 lbs., 8 oz. – August 27 *Clayton Anderson Jablonski – 7 lbs., 1 oz. – August 30 Cora Sayre Bachhuber – 9 lbs., 8 oz. – September 1 Baby Boy Beeler Furtado – 6 lbs., 11 oz. – September 2 Evan Rodriguez – 9 lbs., 9 oz. – September 8 Silas Copeland Raye – 9 lbs., 3 oz. – September 8 Finn Pearce Carter – 8 lbs., 15 oz. – September 9 Reed Avery Currin – 9 lbs., 8 oz. – September 10 Odin Antonio Ruiz – 9 lbs., 4 oz. – September 10 Evan Michael Pasquale – 9 lbs., 14 oz. – September 11 Emerson Wade Hadley – 6 lbs., 2 oz. – September 12 Josephine Lorraine Higgins ­– 9 lbs., 12 oz. – September 12 Madison Brylee Miller – 9 lbs., 1 oz. – September 13 Grady Lee McCutcheon – 9 lbs., 4 oz. – September 13 *Solomon David Hollowell – 7 lbs., 5 oz. – September 15 Eloise Elizabeth Green – 6 lbs., 15 oz. – September 16 *Elliott Ruth McKelvey – 8 lbs., 15 oz. – September 16 Henry Winther Bennett – 7 lbs., 7 oz. – September 16 Kendall Claire Ann Lloyd – 7 lbs., 10 oz. – September 18 Abigail Charity Bradley – 8 lbs., 4 oz. – September 20 Juliet Leonard Howell Peréz – 7 lbs., 4 oz. – September 20 Andrew Levi Seagroves – 9 lbs. – September 21 Fletcher Khalil Pineo – 8 lbs., 4 oz. – September 26 *Lillian Sophia Mangione – 8 lbs., 4 oz. – September 26 Jonah Reay Willson – 7 lbs., 11 oz. – September 27 *Laali Singh Lindsley – 8 lbs., 7 oz. – September 30 Cora Josephine Tinkler – 8 lbs., 4 oz. – September 30  

Spotlight: Mariah Velazquez CNM

         Please join us in welcoming Mariah Velazquez as a CNM at the WBWC! Mariah has been at the birth center since November as a student midwife, then a nurse, and is now transitioning into the role of midwife while Jewell is on maternity leave. Mariah also works part time as a nurse at the WBWC.           Mariah was born and raised in Chapel Hill, but moved to Charlotte for a while before realizing she belonged back home. She returned to Chapel Hill two years ago. She completed her undergraduate degree at UNC Charlotte and her graduate midwifery degree at Frontier Nursing University.           Married to her high school sweetheart for the past six years, Mariah has a son, Kaiden (5) and a daughter Lilia (3). Lilia was born at home, and Mariah is due with her third baby at the end of March! Mariah enjoys spending all of her time off with her lovely family. What does Mariah like best about the WBWC?   “I love the heart of WBWC. I have never seen another practice that truly cares so much about their clients. I love being out of hospital and practicing true midwifery care. I feel privileged to be a part of the practice, and I really cannot picture myself working anywhere else now.”

News from the WBWC Board

by Kaaren Haldeman Welcome to fall everyone–what a gorgeous October! The board met this month to hear our director, Maureen Darcey CNM, speak about her own history and how it has intertwined with that of the WBWC. She took us on a stroll down memory lane to tell the origin story of WBWC and to explain her vision for its future. On October 21, we celebrated our 9th anniversary as WBWC with a party at the Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh. We had a great crowd and kids and adults alike had a ball. We’ll look forward to the 10 year celebration next year! Thank you to Layne Townsend for her tireless work in securing a place and designing the invitations. Nice work, Layne! Enjoy the leaf-peeping of October before the cool of winter moves in…

Our Moment of Truth Campaign

    Many women are not having important conversations with their health care providers about how to maintain their health during pregnancy (62%) or about preparing for motherhood (80%), according to new research released by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). Results from this new survey show a major gap in what women say they want from their health care and what women are getting across a spectrum of health needs.     To improve the dialogue, the WBWC is proud to announce Our Moment of Truth™: A New Understanding of Midwifery Care. Through this national truth-telling campaign, ACNM aims to raise the bar for women’s health and re-introduce midwives and midwifery care as important options that should be the norm for women’s health care services in the United States.     Midwives are critically important in providing care to women from adolescence to beyond menopause, but their expert knowledge of women’s health is often overlooked. Even though the general public often associates midwives exclusively with maternity care, many women visit a midwife for a range of services before and after pregnancy. This is just one of the many truths that Our Moment of Truth™ aims to reveal.     The WBWC is spreading the word! We hope that you too will consider getting involved in this important initiative to inspire women across the country to become active decision makers in their health care.     Visit the Our Moment of Truth™ website at http://ourmomentoftruth.midwife.org for more information and an overview of survey findings. Or leave a comment to share your moment of truth.

Celebrate Yourself!

by Claire C. McKiernan Did you know that October 11th was the first official United Nations Day of the Girl? The day was meant to call attention to all girls, whether they are up against the rules of their society, a lack of access to health care and education, a school bully, an eating disorder, or any of a number of horrors faced by girls–and women–everywhere. This topic naturally leads me to your spider veins. Or flabby belly, or stretch marks, or that weird third eye that developed on your forehead in your third trimester. Pregnancy changes a woman’s body and instead of embracing it, we fight it, deny it, and mourn over it. What does this teach our daughters (and sons, for that matter)? What does it communicate to our partners and to society about women? Many things about pregnancy, child birth, and post pregnancy are not sexy. They are not meant to be. You are not, after all, designed for the mere pleasures of man any more than he should be purely designed for yours. But pregnancy, child birth, and post pregnancy IS beautiful. These moments contain a beauty that is rich in their femininity as well as in their strength. And learning to love your body in spite of the weird and unexpected changes it endures can be a part of this strength. These changes depict the unique story of you and your transformation into motherhood. I’ll get the party started and describe a few strange things that I experienced in pregnancy: I grew a mole. Sometime in the third trimester of my first pregnancy, a protruding ugly thing, about the size of a half a currant raisin emerged on my temple. I accidentally swiped it with my finger nail during the throes of labor and bled like a stuck pig all over the pillow. I returned home with a baby in my arms and a bandage on the side of my head.  Thankfully, the mole did not grow back. I sprouted wisdom teeth. With each pregnancy, somewhere in my 2nd trimester, I sprouted a wisdom tooth: four pregnancies, four wisdom teeth. I’d like to say they provided me with extra wisdom, but they mostly required extra time to keep clean, one kept carving into my cheek and giving me canker sores, I developed a cavity in another one, and I wound up needing them all extracted. … Read More

New Arrivals

Hiyanna Demetria-Reneé Shjjad – 8 lbs., 1 oz. – July 17 Finnley Haywood Tucker – 5 lbs., 11 oz.- July 26 *Jack Andrew Hafner – 7 lbs., 9 oz. – July 26 *James Daniel Kyburz -7 lbs., 6oz. – July 31 Adicus William Martin – 10 lbs., 3 oz. – August 1 *Andrew Miles Abbason – 8 lbs., 13 oz. – August 1 Valerie Rose D’Amato – 5 lbs., 14 oz. – August 1 Ryen Siri Wilkins -6 lbs., 9 oz. –August 1 Drake Alexander Leaman – 7 lbs., 5 oz. – August 2 Ayla Maryam Gulbeden – 7 lbs., 5 oz. – August 4 Kenneth Benjamin Koch, Jr. – 9 lbs., 9 oz – August 5 Jazrah Shasmeen Allen – 7 lbs., 2 oz. – August 6 Zoe Marie Myers Harris – 7 lbs., 12 oz. – August 7 Stephen Otis  Rongitsch – 8 lbs., 2 oz. – August 7 Harper Rose Cantalupi – 8 lbs., 3 oz. – August 7 Stella Marie Childress – 8 lbs., 6 oz. – August 7 *Alexandra Crane Vogel – 6 lbs., 13 oz. – August 7 *Jackson Cecil Greer­ – 7 lbs., 9 oz. – August 8 Audrey Ann Wales – 8 lbs., 11 oz. – August 11 Ada Melisa Mangum – 6 lbs., 9 oz. – August 11 *Sarah Isabella Ruiz-Ortiz – 8 lbs., 7 oz. – August 11 *Maya Ovadia Grass – 7 lbs., 1 oz. – August 12 *Jonas James O’Brien – 8 lbs., 2 oz. – August 17, 2012 Riley Madison Code – August 17 Helen Marie Williams – 7 lbs., 7 oz. – August 20 Max Russell Gillmor – 6 lbs., 13 oz. – August 20 Elsa Lou O’Brien – 7 lbs. – August 23 Anne Bradford Carpenter – 7 lbs., 14 oz. – August 24 Castor Lee Hardy – 6 lbs., 6 oz. – August 24 Amy Joy Smith – 8 lbs., 13 oz. – August 27 Parker Miller Foust – 8 lbs., 2 oz. – August 28 Gideon Caide Burbach – 7 lbs., 3 oz. – August 28 Vienna Hazel Fielhauser – 7 lbs., 8 oz. – August 30 Welcome to the world, Little Ones! If you’d like your baby’s birth announced in the next newsletter, send an email to cmckiernan@yahoo.com with baby’s name, weight, and date of birth.  Feel free to include a picture. We’d like to hear from all WBWC moms, whether your … Read More

News from the WBWC Board

by Kaaren Haldeman      Happy fall to all of our staff and clients! Cool weather is (mostly) upon us! The WBWC board has been meeting every two months, with the last meeting held on September 19. We are looking forward to an October filled with possibility and will see many of you at the annual birthday party this month.      We’d also like to wish all of our midwives and staff a happy National Midwifery Week (October 7-13). Thank you for your kindness and care, the endless hours you work, your listening ears, and your skilled hands that draw women and families to our freestanding birth center. You are the reason we continue to grow and thrive.      Finally, we would like to thank Kia Caldwell, PhD for her service to the board and the birth center over the last 6.5 months. Kia has decided that she must leave the Board and commit to other professional and personal pursuits. We wish her all the best. Warmly, Kaaren

Don’t Forget to RSVP!

WBWC’s Annual Birthday Party October 21, 2 PM-5 PM Sertoma Arts Center 1400 West Millbrook Road Raleigh, NC RSVP by October 14th – women@ncbirthcenter.org or through your Evite Tax-deductible donations are appreciated but not required! We are a 501 (c)3 charitable organization and all contributions to our center are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. To make a donation now, click here and scroll down to “Donate”

Fun with ASL!

by Claire C. McKiernan I shamefully admit that I did not get into signing with my baby until I had my fourth child. (This confession is also my disclaimer that I am not an expert, but a more recent convert sharing her experience and advice, for whatever that’s worth.) I had an initial interest in signing with my firstborn, but at the time I was reading articles indicating that signing with kids might delay speech. Additionally, my chatty first born was speaking in sentences at 15 months, so it seemed unnecessary, and I dropped the idea.  When I had my first three children in the space of four years, time sped by, and I just didn’t get the chance to revisit the topic. I’m sorry I didn’t. As it turns out, the theory that signing delays speech is spectacularly wrong. I had known this for a couple years, but it wasn’t until I had my fourth child, Rosie, that my interest was renewed. When she was not yet a year old, I stumbled upon a used book for sale at the library titled Sign with Your Baby by Dr. Joseph Garcia. I found it so fascinating and provocative that I picked up my interest where I had left off seven years earlier. Delightfully, studies show that signing helps children to speak earlier since they realize early on the wonderful benefits of clear communication. As it happens, the author of the book I found, Dr. Garcia, was one of the pioneers of baby signing back in the 1970’s, and he teaches true-to-ASL signs (American Sign Language).   Communication Likely your main goal is early communication with your baby. Prior to having Rosie, I had seen friends use the basics (more, please, and thank you), and I had used the potty sign with all my babies with the result that at eight months of age my son signed to me that he had to poop (see my article Give Infant Potty Training a Try! posted on the blog May 6, 2012, if you want to learn more.)  He only did it sporadically, though (the potty sign, that is, not the pooping). I noticed with Rosie that she was not only a great mimic, but she had invented her own signs for nursing and dirty diapers. After reading Garcia’s book, Rosie and I were officially signing in no time. I soon purchased a … Read More

A Durham Author’s Memoir on Pregnancy Loss

      On October 10, Durham author Dipika Kohli will release her book The Dive, the third part of a four-volume memoir series.  This book deals with her experience with pregnancy loss and the complicated decisions involved.  The release of The Dive is being timed to bring attention to National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, which is October 15.  Dipika is passionate about raising awareness of miscarriage and infant loss and opening the lines of dialogue about this painful topic.  Through sharing her own experiences and examining the surrounding issues, she hopes to help other mothers who have experienced loss feel less isolated.  Dipika, whose work has been featured on WUNC’s The State of Things, will be speaking October 13 at TedxRaleigh, and will be giving a reading on October 15 via Web stream. For more information about Dipika and pregnancy loss awareness, click here: http://www.kismuth.com/dive To order The Dive (starting October 10), click here: http://www.kismuth.com/dive To register for the free Web stream of Dipika’s reading, click here: http://thedive.eventbrite.com/#