Madison Birth Doula | Using a TENS unit in labor
What the heck is a TENS unit and why would I want to use it in labor? I know right!? I didn’t know what a TENS unit actually is until a few years ago when I was bed ridden with back/leg/hip pain so bad I could barely walk. I had also never seen anyone use a TENS unit in labor before. My amazing Chiropractor Dr. Melissa Murphy at https://www.discoverfamilychiropractic.com suggested a TENS unit as part of my treatment and I was willing to give anything a try! I am so glad I did. With her adjustments and suggestions, plus adding the TENS unit in, I was even able to second shoot (photograph) a wedding — something I didn’t think I would be able to do considering the amount of pain I was in. I strapped that thing on and adjusted the settings all day based on my pain levels. It worked beautifully. That’s when I started researching the use of TENS during labor. TENS stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Essentially an electrical impulse that is controlled by the person utilizing the unit is sent to each pad (4 total for the units I offer), which are placed on the…
Madison WI Birth Doula | Having Siblings Present at Your Birth
Think having children at your birth might be weird? I am here to tell you, not only is it not weird, it can be truly beautiful. Here are a few tips to have an amazing sibling attended birth!
Can a midwife and an OB/GYN truly collaborate together (?) … part 2
The answer is obviously YES, we can! We had our baby Zachary at home, in our garden tub. In the water. In 1999! And my OB/GYN husband caught our little man. At the time of Zachary’s birth, we were living in Indiana. In Indiana at that time, home birth midwives were not recognized and were considered “illegal.” No matter what your training was. So I did a lot of births either under the radar or in the hospital as a doula. At the time doulas were also looked at with an “evil eye.” We weren’t very welcome in most hospitals, and it was truly a struggle to help our clients have the birth experience they were hoping for. To do my DONA doula training I had to attend 3 hospital births and get reviews from the labor and delivery nurses. It was a struggle to get a good review in that environment. Especially when the OB was not your husband. This was during the time of high episiotomy rates, immediate cord clamping, baby to the warmer instead of the chest, and almost everyone birthing in stirrups. Sometimes with a “sterile” drape over their legs. Weird, right? It was. So I…
Can a midwife and an OB/GYN truly collaborate together?
Can a midwife and an OG/GYN truly collaborate together? Yes, they can. They can even be married to one another. Like us. We were Dr. Erik and Anya Wait. Or as one doctor at an Indiana hospital used to call us, “The Dr.’s Wait.” I don’t know why he called us that. Obviously I didn’t get the MD, but it was sweet. Because that doctor truly did recognize our mutual collaboration. And there’s no way Erik would have gone for “The Midwives Wait.” 27 + years ago I met this guy below … he was the chief OB resident at the time, at the University of Missouri Hospital and Clinics in Columbia, Missouri. I was the pre-med student/health unit coordinator/phlebotomist/morgue assistant there. Yes, you read that right, morgue assistant. I had taken on those jobs to escape my past job at a local birthing center, where I discovered (shocker!) that midwives are just people and we shouldn’t put people on pedestals. My impressions of birth crushed, I went head on full throttle into the world of high intervention OB care. Erik and I became a pretty good pair — a disgruntled former midwife lover, and an OB/GYN resident. Little did…
Madison Wisconsin Birth Photographer | Anencephaly Awareness — a Story of Love
This Valentines Day I would like to share a beautiful story of love. I met this mama (and the baby in her belly) on a cold January morning at the Starbucks in Janesville. She had emailed me a couple weeks prior that she was pregnant with a baby who had anencephaly, and she would love to have memories from her birth.
Madison Wisconsin Lifestyle Newborn Photography
Don’t you just love images that tell a story? This is one of the many reasons I absolutely love capturing newborns in client homes. In the photo below you see mama holding her sweet new baby. If you look to the left of her there is an image of her holding big sister while she was pregnant with this little one.
In Home Madison Wisconsin Newborn Photography
Check out that smile! Newborns (and the families who love them), love in home newborn sessions! Read more to find out why …
A birth story, the birth of my first child in 1991
This is the first in a series of five of my own personal birth stories I will be telling. Ultimately, my goal is to begin a dialogue on post traumatic stress disorder from birth, how that can affect future births, and ways care providers can work to help women recognize past birth trauma in order to heal. I would also like to acknowledge all of the women (and men) out there who have experienced birth trauma. I see and hear you.
Mini Newborn Session in Madison, WI
Did you know that I offer in studio mini newborn sessions!? They last just a little over an hour, and capture so much love!
Milwaukee One Year Baby Milestone
In home baby milestone sessions are a great way to capture your baby’s first birth day! And who doesn’t love cake!?