Hello! My name is Rebecca Dekker, and I am a nurse with my PhD and the founder of Evidence Based Birth®.
For decades, the vast majority of birth research evidence has been locked away in medical journals. The team at EBB believes in putting the evidence back in the hands of the people who need it the most-- you and your families!
At Evidence Based Birth® we have many resources for expecting parents and birth professionals, including:
- The Evidence Based Birth® Podcast (on iTunes, Spotify, and other platforms!) - Free peer-reviewed Signature Articles (on our website) - The comprehensive EBB Childbirth Class (totally online!) - A free email newsletter with a crash course on evidence-based care - Free printable handouts you can take to your prenatal appointments
To get access to all our free information, just visit www.evidencebasedbirth.com Check out our Instagram @ebbirth
Thank you so much for this episode! I had HELLP syndrome with my first pregnancy but I never had high blood pressure so even though I sought care multiple times the week leading up to the birth, I kept getting dismissed by my providers. By the time they figured it out my platelets were in the 30, 000s and I had multiple platelet transfusions to get them to 52,000 before they could do an emergency C-section (I was also put under for it). It’s so validating to hear others experiences with this, and it gives me hope for myself that I might be able to have a second pregnancy in the future
Could you give your thoughts on assessing the fetal blood type with a blood draw early in pregnancy? I am O- and, when we did the genetic testing, we cound that my fetus is also Rh neg. My midwife recommended not taking the Rhogam Injection but I will have to sign something that says that it is an informed decision. They said that the fetal blood analysis has been very accurate but it is so new that they don't know very much.
I got IM morphine along with oral cytotec at .5cm dilated after 18 hours of back labor. Took a 3 hr nap and woke up fully dilated and overall 10/10 experience. Now, I had not done any learning of the risks before hand, they did inform me that it crosses the placenta and May affect breathing babies breathing. Luckily, everything turned out fine and it was a great birth. However, nursing was an issue and maybe that was and immediate side effect.
As a doula, I love working at Madigan on JBLM. They have a great reputation for low interventions and cesarean rates and is one of the best hospitals in the Puget Sound area 🙌
I used nitrous oxide in Ireland for 4 births (its called gas and air there). The first time I used it I was offered a mask through which to breath it. I found the mask horrendously claustrophobic and the midwife gave me a mouth piece instead. This is basically a shaped tube like a large straw that you put in your mouth and breath through instead of a mask. I found that so much better. Just wanted to mention it as that is totally an option and deals with any issues a woman may have with a mask.
Interview, Jennie Joseph She’s close the gap regarding prematurity in black mothers in Florida and the women of color do better actually with her and this is all integrated into the hospital system, although she does do homebirths Bird Look up Jennie Joseph the JJ Way
I'm honestly kind of surprised the Evidence Based Birth podcast would share something like this. There are a lot of alarming claims made without actually sharing solid evidence.
I had HELLP with my delivery at the beginning of this year (literally the beginning, she came on NY day!). Unfortunately my midwife missed all the warning signs. I didn't have elevated blood pressure, she was checking it what felt like constantly throughout labor. But for the last month at least of pregnancy I had severe pain in my lower right back, I was so fatigued, my midwife said I had a lot of fluid, and I had quite significant swelling which I hadn't at all during the rest of the pregnancy, which was pretty much ideal up until that last month. I ended up having my water break at 5am on December 31st, labored at home until I think 11pm or so that evening, went to the birth center, labored all evening into the morning, was at 10cm for quite some time pushing with the progress, then the contractions really started to space apart, like 20 minutes, and I was just exhausted. I asked to be transferred to the nearby hospital, honestly hoping for a c-section. Upon arrival they did some blood work and thankfully diagnosed the HELLP syndrome pretty rapidly, which meant no epidural for me, and my platelets were basically non-existent at that point, so they were extremely hesitant to do a C-section. I continued to push with the help of only Pitocin. My doula was my life saver, she looked me dead in the eye and said the safest thing for you and this baby is for you to push her out now, I can't tell you what to do, but you need to do this. I let them do an episiotomy although I was trying so hard to avoid that, but after pushing over 4 hours I realized she wasn't coming without it. Thankfully once they did it she came in 3 short pushes at 11am. After the delivery while I was having a pretty brutal recovery, Baby was having issues with vomiting, dehydration, and weight gain, and she also had come out so small for being almost 2 weeks late. We ended up rushing her to a bigger hospital a couple days later where she was diagnosed with Duodenal atresia, so she had to have surgery at 5 days old to correct it and then another 3 weeks in the NICU while she healed and put on weight. It was incredibly traumatic, and trust me, I do not throw that word around lightly. I was so diligent my entire pregnancy with a healthy diet and the best supplements and doing exercises and stretching and walking and only sitting on an exercise ball. It was pain in the butt but I did it for the health of us both. I put in so much effort for 9 months just to have every hope of a calming, birth center birth ripped away and to have my life at risk, and then to have my daughter be on death's door as well. I really do hesitate and honestly shudder at the thought of ever getting pregnant again. I also was such an advocate of minimal monitoring and interventions and the whole lot, especially since I had such a straightforward pregnancy, but I believe my HELLP syndrome and my daughter's condition could've both been detected early to save us both so much pain and turmoil if we'd just gone to a regular OB, or if my midwife was more educated or pushed for more testing. It's wonderful that your midwife actually caught that something was up, mine wrote off all my symptoms as just coming close to the end of the pregnancy, and during labor that I was just "tired and needed rest", and it was my first time as well so I had no idea these feelings weren't normal. My doula was really the only one who was legitimately concerned that something was seriously wrong and that I was in danger. But, I'm now sitting here nursing my healthy 8 month old that I am so incredibly thankful to God for. I just have lots of regrets and trauma that will definitely need to be processed, especially when the time comes to consider more pregnancies. Thank you for speaking about this condition, I hope it helps other mothers be more aware to seek help if ANYTHING feels even slightly off. Some extra blood work or an ultrasound never hurts and can even save you or your baby's life.
YESSss! I love this 🙌🏿❤️! I had preeclampsia with my first and emergency C-section, but I’ve had 3 VBACs after that- including a VBA2C! It can certainly be done, even if you have to fight for it! Thanks for sharing 🙏🏿!
My doctor and every health professional I've seen suggests against it as it can be dangerous. How about we listen to them.. why would you risk it knowing that it could be dangerous? Sure, maybe its not. But maybe it is. Is that really the gamble you wanna take?
They tried this in the Soviet Union. Everyone was equally poor and was equally without rights. But we can ignore history if it makes for warm fuzzy feelings
