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I'm a doula in Metro Detroit, Michigan

8/8/2015

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Metro Detroit, Michigan Doulas and Childbirth Educators LOVE supporting expecting parents, parents of newborns, and offering wonderful support as labor/birth doulas, postpartum doulas, and childbirth educators.
Here at Metro Detroit Doulas, I know we all have one thing in common.  We LOVE our birth community.  Knowing that you can reach out to another member online or in person has made a huge difference in my work as a doula.

So this is a quick love note to say "THANK YOU!" to all of you who participate in our dynamic facebook group Metro Detroit Doulas and Childbirth Educators. 

If you are a new doula or childbirth educator in the Metro Detroit area please request to join us on facebook.  We'd love to have you around to learn, and share your valuable insights. 

If you are an expecting parent looking for birth/labor support, postpartum support, or a wonderful childbirth education class we have a list of wonderful options for you here on our site. 

Together we are changing the world.  I'm really proud to be a part of the Metro Detroit birth community!
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Natural Hospital Birth - Luncheon with Cynthia Gabriel

10/8/2012

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October 13, 2012 - 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Presented by Live With Awareness at Mr. B's Restaurant, 423 S. Main, Rochester, MI
$20 in advance, $25/door (lunch included)
REGISTER: birthcenter2012@gmail.com

Join us in this 'lunch and learn format' to hear Ann Arbor author Cynthia Gabriel share from her book how to have a Natural Hospital Birth ~ The Best of Both Worlds'. Doula, medical anthropologist and mother of three, Cynthia offers the tools and inspiration expectant mothers need to release fears, with the support of hospital staff to avoid unnecessary interventions.

Why do American women so seldom experience natural hospital birth? Why can't American women endure the pain of labor? While many birth researchers blame doctors and a century of medicalized childbirth, Cynthia has a different idea. She uses her medical anthropology background with her year of studying birth in Russia to bring a fresh and different perspective for expectant families. One that helps overcome our culture's messages about birth and find their own power and strength as a birthing woman.

Cynthia will be presenting her talk: "An Anthropologist From Mars Talks About the American Birthing System" -- comparing the American and Russian medical systems of education to connect the way we TRAIN people (all the way through their lives) to the US way to do birth. Special focus on how Americans have to food versus the relationship Russians have to food and how that plays out in what we know about health/bodies.

Book copies available for purchase at the event - $13.  Cynthia will be available to sign copies.
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Beautiful Beginnings Birth Services Grand Opening!

4/14/2012

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Beautiful Beginnings Birth Services, LLC welcomes you to our Open House on April 28th from 10am until 3pm

                                                 Authentic Living Center
                                            1640 Axtell Road Troy, MI 48084
                                                       (248) 822 9253   

As a community we are empowering families to be educated on choices, health, and what is best for a growing family.    We will have plenty of resources and birth professionals on hand to answer all questions.    First 100 people receive gift bags!!! Great items being raffled off as well!    Pregnancy - Photography - Alternative Healthcare choices - Nutrition - Labor & Delivery options    Breastfeeding - Baby Wearing - Cloth Diapering - Baby Nutrition/Feeding 

Class schedule-  10:30 - 11  "Super Nutrition for Babies" book overview (Dr. Kathy Erlich and Kelly Genzlinger)  11 - 11:30  Answers about Circumcision,  Norm Cohen
11:30 - 12  Belly Dancing with Sarah Cornett
12:30          Ribbon Cutting Ceremony   - Hour magazine will be here at 12pm taking photos
1- 1:30     Meditation with Deidre Denholm
1:30- 2     Learn how to Wear your Baby (Katie Murray from Detroit Babywearers)
2- 2:30     Breastfeeding with Brandy Walters, IBCLC
2:30- 3     Benefits of acupuncture, chiropractic, and massage during pregnancy (Colleen Porter,                  Dr. Theresa Piggot, and Susan Taggart)
3 pm         Celebration of Midwives -   We are excited to be celebrating International Midwives Day at our Grand Opening! If you know a midwife, please bring her along, or tell her about us. We look forward to celebrate the amazing work they do! There will be cake at 3pm. 
            
               Below is the list of vendors that will be displaying their products and services:   
Metro Detroit Safe Kids  - correct installation of car seats Cloth Diapering with Dirty Deeds Diaper Services Book signing, "Super Nutrition for Babies" with Dr. Kathy Urlich and Kelly Genzlinger
Thirty One Bags Thermography - breast cancer screening with Linda Honey Pregnancy, birth, newborn and family Photography, Lena Lee Faulkner and Yamile Branch Norm Cohen of NOCIRC
My Smart Hands - baby signing with Marie Konwinski  Janice Weaver of Live With Awareness - BirthCenter2012 Brandy Walters, IBCLC of In Home Lactation Specialist, LLC  Katie Murray of Metro Detroit Baby Wearers
Metro Detroit Doulas - meet the doulas!
Eileen Denomme, DEM of Woven In Love Maternity Services, LLC
Childbirth Education - Stacy Thompson, Eileen Denomme, Susan Taggert
Prenatal Belly Dancing - Sarah Cornett
Chiropractor - Acupunture - Nutritionist of Authentic Living Center
HypnoBirthing - Susan Taggert
Placenta Encapsulation  with Stacy Thompson
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Free Car Seat Safety Checks

2/24/2011

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Approximately 8 out of every 10 car seats are used incorrectly.  Have you had your car seat checked lately?  Visit www.safekids.org for locations and dates of free car seat safety checks.
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The Essential Ingredient: Doula

2/13/2011

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What exactly does a doula do?  Well, you'll have to ask your doula.  However, this video does a wonderful job explaining the role of a doula, and why're they're so important for families.
-Kristen Woudstra, CD(DONA), LCCE
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Acupuncture & the Childbearing Year by Monica Mae Leibson

1/22/2011

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Acupuncture:  Proven to shorten labor and decrease medical intervention. The ancient art of acupuncture has been put to the test when it comes to mamas-to-be.  Since 1974, numerous studies have tested acupuncture points to ripen the cervix, help position the baby in the best presentation for labor, and promote optimal energy and stamina for women to enter into labor. The results are as follows.

Benefits of Pre-Birth Acupuncture (weekly starting at week 36):

Shortens labor: Research has demonstrated that the mean duration of labor in a group of women giving birth for the first time was reduced from 8 hours and 2 minutes in the control group (70 women) to 6 hours and 36 minutes in the group of women (70) who had received pre-birth acupuncture.

Decreases medical intervention: Data on 169 women was gathered by 14 midwives as part of their midwifery practice in New Zealand.  It found that when comparing all caregivers (midwives, general practitioners, and specialists) to those women who received pre-birth acupuncture there was:

  • An overall 35% reduction in the number of inductions (for women having their 1st baby there was a 43% reduction)
  • 31% reduction in the epidural rate
  • 32% reduction in cesarean delivery
  • 9% increase in vaginal births
Turns breech/posterior babies: Breech babies are ideally treated between 33-36 weeks gestation. This generally includes an acupuncture treatment with women being shown how to continue treatment at home with a moxa stick (an herb that has been shaped into a cigar-like stick and held over acupuncture points).

Natural Induction: Acupuncture treatments can stimulate labor in a woman who is past her due date.  Research has shown that acupuncture takes from 3 to 60 hours to initiate contractions. At least two treatments are recommended.

Posted by Monica Mae Leibson of Acupuncture Healthcare Associates of Michigan. (West Bloomfield)

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Support, you Know you Want It! by Jill Reiter

1/18/2011

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I'm a fan of the "Best for Babes Foundation" on Facebook.   One of their latest status updates is, "When I first started breastfeeding, what I needed most was _____?" 

After only three hours 94 women responded with several different needs.  The two that seemed to appear most (although I didn't take a formal tally) were WATER! and Support. 

Add that to a conversation about early parenthood at a family graduation party. 
The After Baby Lady says, "I'm a postpartum doula, which is basically someone who supports and helps new families after they have a baby.  Doesn't everyone want more support when they bring a new baby home?"

Family Friend responds, "HA! Support!  When I came home from the hospital no one had done much housework while I was gone and I ended up scrubbing the kitchen floor on my hands and knees."

I've heard these stories a lot from women who delivered in the 1970's and 1980's.  Some seem to wear their lack of support like a badge saying things like, "young women today have it so easy!  When I came home from the hospital I ..."

Then these amazing women go on to discuss the LACK of support they had and how they soldiered on through the hard times.  Most mothers know that if no one else does it (whatever it may be) then we have to. 

My goal in educating people about what postpartum doulas do is to gently suggest (or scream from the rooftops depending on my audience) that women don't NEED to do everything.  Women can be taken care of by doulas, friends, family, partners, and still be amazing mothers.  I want to give women permission to ask for and receive help knowing that they will enjoy and be better mothers for doing so.

Posted  by Jill Reiter on 6/26/2010 on her website The After Baby Lady (Shelby Twp).
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Doula Business Advisor: Gathering Client Testimonials by Patty Brennan

1/18/2011

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In order to grow your doula business, it’s important to devote some time each week to marketing. An important component to any print media marketing is client testimonials. Doulas should be collecting these from all clients served. Capture those glowing words of praise and gratitude shared by new families served.

The easiest way to get a testimonial is to ask. If you have a mechanism, such as an evaluation form, that you currently use to obtain written feedback, then just incorporate your request for a testimonial and permission to publish it in the form. On the other hand, if a client gives you a verbal rave review, you can capture their words in writing and send it to them, requesting permission to publish it and inviting them to make any edits they care to make. In many cases, when given this opportunity, clients are likely to embellish their original words and will be much more extravagant in their praise than you would ever be in promoting yourself.

Consider video recording testimonials if you can and uploading these to your website. And don’t forget to include the dads and other partners in your solicitation! Hearing a dad share about how grateful he was for the doula’s presence and support may translate into overcoming the objections of another dad who is reluctant to hire a doula.

Overall, testimonials are a great marketing tool because what others say about us is at least ten times more believable than any claims we make about ourselves. Use them on your website, brochures, flyers, and print ads.

The Doula Business Advisor blog is designed to support the establishment and long-term sustainability of private doula businesses. Patty Brennan is the author of The Doula Business Guide: Creating a Successful MotherBaby Business.

Posted by Patty Brennan on January 18, 2011 on her website The Center for the Childbearing Year (Ann Arbor).
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Our New Blog!

1/18/2011

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Welcome to the newest feature at www.metrodetroitdoulas.com our new blog!  We invite the doulas, childbirth educators, and other services showcased on our site to publish their blogs here.  
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    Guest Bloggers

    PictureJill Reiter is The After Baby Lady, she supports families through the early weeks of parenting as postpartum doula. She also trains postpartum doulas.

    www.theafterbabylady.com
    PictureMonica Mae Leibson is a NCCAOM Board Certified Acupuncturist. She focuses on integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine with Reproductive Medicine. Monica’s concentration on pregnancy aims at supporting a woman’s natural body processes during pregnancy.

    PicturePatty Brennan, Director/Owner of the Center for the Childbearing Year, LLC has been an advocate for childbearing families for nearly 30 years as a childbirth educator, doula, and midwife.

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