Violence, abuse & coercion in the birthplace As a mother who has given birth four times and a doula who has attended dozens of births, I have seen and experienced my fair share of violence, abuse and coercion in the birth room. This is not a blog to make you fear your care providers or […]

Sarah is preparing to go to nursing school and some of her pre-requisites required that she write certain types of essays. As you can imagine, most of the essays were birth related if it fit the criteria for the essay. This last essay due is a persuasive essay. So of course Sarah had to write […]

Having a cesarean birth is too common in this country, about 1 in 3 births are surgical. I’ve blogged about my births before, mainly my vbacs. I want to talk about what it’s like to be the one on the operating table and what it’s like to be supporting the mother going through the operation. […]

So you go to your 37 week prenatal appointment and the doctor feels your abdomen like usual, only is taking a lot longer this time. Then the words are said “I think baby is breech now”. So you have an ultrasound and it confirms that baby is now head up and butt down. Now what? […]

You have a lot to think about while you are pregnant. I mean A LOT! You’re going through a lot of changes and if this is your first baby then it’s all new, scary and exciting at the same time. Someone mentions hiring a doula for your birth. You may have a few questions or […]

Lots of women go into the hospital to have their baby without thinking that they will end up needing a cesarean section to birth their baby. In America, this happen a whopping 1/3 of the time.  The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 10-15% rate for c-sections. So why is the USA doing more than […]

I had my first (and luckily only) cesarean in March of 2009. My daughter is now 7. Time sure has flown since then. I always told myself she was born the way she was supposed to have been, that obviously I cannot change the past. But, it didn’t help me feel any better about her […]

Congratulations! You’re pregnant! But you’ve had a cesarean previously and are nervous about if you can have a vaginal delivery this time or not. Good news! The odds are ever in your favor that you can VBAC! Here are some tips from a 2 time VBAC mom. Find a truly supportive provider. You may need […]

These are my own personal VBAC birth stories. By Sarah Fogle 1st VBAC.Born July 2011 Growing up vbac was a normal thing to me. I was a vbac baby. So I never thought anything was scary about it. If my mom could do it, so could I! I never had a care provider tell me […]