19: Doulas and Midwives

April Haugen

April Haugen earned her Master of Science in Midwifery and Bachelor of Science in Herbal Science from Bastyr University in 2014. Between 2010 and 2014 she attended over 160 births as a student midwife.  And from the year 2000 till now she has also been working as a doula.
April is trained in herbal medicine and uses its ability to support the body’s natural healing in her midwifery care.

Her master thesis was titled “Using herbal medicine for labor induction and augmentation: An evidence-based practice guideline for Licensed Midwives”

It’s shocking to her that nationwide the C-section rate in the United States is almost 40%.  It’s ridiculous to look at a room with 10 pregnant women and believe that 4 of them need a C-section.

Because our medical system is a for profit system we cannot always trust that our doctor or hospital has our best interests at heart. That is one of the many reasons why having a midwife and doula when going through your pregnancy, will help you have the best outcome possible.

The United States, a country that is #1 out of 175 countries on spending the most amount of money on healthcare ranks 38th out of 175 countries for infant mortality!  There is something wrong here.

Statistically, working with a midwife and doula will decrease your chances of needing other medical interventions like C-section or pain management, like an epidural. Epidurals increase the chance of needing a C-section and C-sections increase the chance of both mother and baby experiencing life-threatening complications and death.

April shares that when a woman feels supported during her birth she is statistically less likely to need or want medical interventions, thus one of the ways these holistic health practitioners help to decrease infant mortality.

Here’s What You’ll Discover:

•    How to have a positive birth experience
•    What is a doula
•    What is a midwife
•    How women can decrease their chances of having a C-section by creating a supportive team around her and her partner.
•    What is going on in the mainstream medical system that isn’t working around giving birth and what we can learn from midwives to decrease needing medical   interventions like C-section and epidurals.

Health AH-HA Moment:

Start interviewing and pick your midwife before becoming pregnant. Your midwife will get to know you and help you navigate your whole pregnancy and birth.

Check out these videos:

The Business of Being Born [FULL MOVIE]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvljyvU_ZGE

Orgasmic Birth Movie Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG_6IVmXvr0

Ina May Gaskin on the Human Impact of Hi-Tech Birth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GVYjcr4wrg

Resources:

April’s site: https://www.facebook.com/bellybuddy.doula

Orgasmic Birth: www.orgasmicbirth.com

Midwives’ Association of Washington State: http://www.washingtonmidwives.org/

Even if you are not in Washington State, check out this link and read the studies and statistics. It is AMAZING!

Penny Simpkin (The Godmother of Doulas): https://www.pennysimkin.com/

Infant mortality rate by country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate

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