This week we are breaking down the terminology stigma around "AMA" or advanced maternal age, exploring the nuances of risk management in pregnancies over the age of 35, & highlighting the benefits that should be discussed in any conversation around age & family planning.

Ray Rachlin of Refuge Midwifery shares how their personal practice centers patient autonomy through fertility support, pregnancy monitoring, & b...

Ray Rachlin of Refuge Midwifery joined Pansay of Sacred Butterfly Births & Maggie to lay out some of the ways we are failing to provide adequate care to postpartum families.

The postpartum time frame spans anywhere from 6 weeks, to the full year after birth depending on what dictionary you check, and for those who've lived it, the "postpartum period" may never truly close. Despite this, many people feel inadequately ...

Jessie Ray Spivey of The Doudad joined Pansay & Maggie to explore some of the myriad reasons that masculine-identifying birthworkers continue to face issues with acceptance in the greater birth community.
We discussed necessity of trauma-informed care by all birthworkers to increase client comfort.
We address how awareness of the racism-driven disparities in perinatal morbidity and mortality is motivating more Black people to ent...

We are joined by Brittany Sharpe McCollum of Blossoming Bellies Birth to dive deep into bias around pelvis shape, pelvic biomechanics & dynamics, and the relationship between the pelvis & movement during birth.
Brittany discusses the bias and racism inherent in classifying pelvic shapes as a predictor of labor outcomes.
She shares her definition for truly "optimal" fetal positioning, and what we can do to support it, ...

In our last episode of season 2 we are joined by Dr Nathan Riley, MD of the Obgyno Wino Podcast to discuss collaborative birth care.
We discuss how medicine & obstetrics has historically excluded midwives and other community caregivers and the intentional harm that has caused, particularly in communities of color.  
We identify the challenges in changing the mindset about what responsibilities physicians have for birth, and the c...

How does "professionalism" stop us from showing up as activists and advocates for change in birth care?
In this episode, Katy Cecen, NICU nurse & midwife, turned whistleblower, activist and full-time community organizer shares her journey and growth in stepping up to face the challenges and inequities of our birth care system.
She details how professionalism is a tool of white supremacy culture, the privilege inherent in ...

In birth care we have the opportunity to support someone through one of their most transformative life experiences. It is our responsibility to create trauma-informed spaces for everyone in our care. 

We are discussing how and when we became aware of trauma-informed practices, the different types of trauma we encounter, specific steps we take in our care practices to reduce trauma, and our goals moving forward to create a perinatal ...

During Trans Awareness Week, we hosted a screening of the film, "A Womb of Their Own" and had the opportunity to do a Q&A with the filmmaker Cyn Lubow and queer non-binary midwife Ray Rachlin.
In this Q&A we discussed expanding our understanding of gender beyond traditional masculine & feminine roles, we identified some best practices for birth pros to adopt in their care to be more inclusive, discussed the chall...

We are continuing our conversation this week with Irnise Williams JD, RN who joins Dr Abby Dennis, MD & Maggie Runyon, RNC-OB.  We're talking about the different dynamics of provider to patient/client relationships.
We're talking about why we struggle to have nuanced conversations around care decisions.
We're calling out the use of threats to coerce care choices.
We're identifying some of the complicated biases &am...

There may be nothing that creates a stronger divide between birth professionals and the people they serve than the fear of liability.
Particularly in the hospital setting, the fear of liability looms large and impacts the way we provide care: from the policies we create, to the technology we use, and the way we speak to patients.
Special guest Irnise Williams, JD, RN joins Dr Abby Dennis, MD & Maggie Runyon, RNC-OB to dig into th...

Part two of breaking down our motto: "Be.Inspired.Respected.Trusted.Heard."
How do we ensure birthing people are respected, trusted, & heard?
What does it mean to respect & trust birth?  What actions can we take so those in our care are actually heard?
What steps do we take when we're working within a healthcare system that doesn't seem to trust birth and makes it hard for birth pros to give the time and attent...

We celebrated National Midwifery Week with this live podcast!
Our midwifery panel (Meredith Strayhorn, M.Ed, CD, CPM-Student, Ray Rachlin, LM, CPM, CLC, Dr Angela Mike, DNP, CNM) shared with us their answers to what midwifery means to them, what they wish they'd learned in school, but didn't, what they love to do as midwives outside of catching babies, how they process difficult birth outcomes, and how they are living out th...

Our org's motto is Be.Inspired.Respected.Trusted.Heard.
In this part 1, we want to dig in to what that motto means, how it dictates our practice, and the way we show up to hold space for birth.
How do we change our mindset to stop us from feeling like we as birth pros have to "make birth happen" and allowing it to just Be?
What does it mean to be inspired by birth?  How do we temper our expectations and hopes and dreams fo...

We are sharing about the realities of working as a birth pro and the sacrifices and toll that can take on us.  How do we recognize burnout and carve out practices that go beyond self-care so that we can be sustained in this work?
Birth pros are at a high risk of burnout; we often lack the resources from our employers, our communities, and permission from ourselves to breathe, to pause, to take care of our needs.  Studies recognize 4...

In this episode we had the opportunity to welcome Dr Mimi Niles, PhD, CNM, MPH in for a lengthy conversation about the state of birth care.  We're talking about what's missing at present, the improvements we need to make with midwifery, nursing, and medical education to put person-centered care and a health equity lens at the forefront, practice changes to increase client comfort and autonomy, and what we hope for the futur...