This is “the” day…right? We get the positive pregnancy test and begin the calculations, the calendars and red Sharpie’s come out, and we wait. And, we wait, and wait, and wait.  Fortunately, I happen to be cared for by a provider who has a LOT more patience than most and really trusts – as do [...]

A HUGE welcome to the new doulas of BirthFocus Austin!!!             Today was a SUPERB day! We just finished our second “eat, drink, DOULA” event in Austin and are thrilled to be connecting doulas  – both labor support and postpartum doulas – with expecting families of Austin! As the Executive [...]

Sunday is Daylight Savings Time and we will all be “springing forward” together! BirthFocus is very happy to share all of the ways that we are “springing forward” with you. To begin, bellies are growing all around and my family and I are very excited to be starting our Spring off with the birth of [...]

Happy new year! 2013 promises to be a year full of unpredictability, adventure, and sheer bliss for many of us! Certainly, if you’re planning to give birth this year (or are in your first year of parenting) these three things are pretty much a guarantee (and not necessarily in this order). As I put one [...]

Since I can remember I have been scribbling, doodling, sketching…BOWLS. Overflowing bowls full of clementines, plants, nourishing food, or just spiraling joy or empty bowls when I feel especially depleted or overwhelmed with loneliness.  Over the years my bowl collection has become near and dear to me – some bowls purchased in other countries, some [...]

BirthFocus DOULAS rocked it during the National Rally for Evidence Based Care in Obstetrics in Manhattan on Labor Day 2012! Please join us for another opportunity to CELEBRATE Empowered Birth Awareness Week this Saturday, September 8 at an “Intimate Conversation and Tea with Suzanne Arms” 10:30am-12noon Museum of Motherhood – NYC Pre-registration: $20-$35/person (sliding scale) [...]

**You are Cordially Invited to an Intimate Conversation and Morning Tea with Suzanne Arms** This is your opportunity to ask Suzanne anything! In honor of Empowered Birth Awareness week (http://www.birthpower.us/eba.html), BirthFocus is excited to host Suzanne Arms, Internationally Renowned Activist for Birth, Mothers, Babies & Midwives and Author, for an Intimate Conversation and Tea.  Suzanne [...]

A blissful greeting to each of you! I recently heard a yoga teacher say “beginnings and endings are easy…it’s the process of allowing for a smooth transition that takes our focus”.  This concept can certainly be applied to birth; as we all know that the transition phase of labor is often referred to as the [...]

The last birth I attended at the Genesis Birth Center in Johannesburg, South Africa, was a waterbirth with a midwife. This was the first waterbirth I attended, and it was very exciting! Perhaps what will stay with me even longer from this birth, though, is the power that visualizations had in helping a mom come [...]

I attended my first birth in Johannesburg, South Africa! I supported an excellent midwife-doula team as a well known stand up comedian delivered her second baby boy via c-section (known as a “Caesar” in South Africa) at a birth clinic here. The mother, let’s call her Tsholang to protect her privacy, switched her care providers [...]