Experience Natural Childbirth
New Birth Company Blog

Hydrated Holidays

Have you noticed the air in your house is dry?  Fly away hair, itchy skin, more coughs and sneezes.  Whenever I think about complaining, I remember what it was like to be pregnant over the holidays.  Our skin is already stretching to make room for baby.   Some pregnant women experience additional itchiness in our hands and feet.  Others have less dry skin.  We each experience pregnancy individually so bring up any concerns you have with your Midwife.

Its the day after Christmas at New Birth Company, and I am soaking up our humidifier (the water wall), the infused water with cranberries and nectarines, the fire (ok, the fire app) and the smell of our Lavender shea butter skin ointment; perfect for rubbing on growing tummies, rough elbows and sore feet.  Stay hydrated Mommies…inside and out !

Hydration for Mommies, Inside and Out

Birth Bullies -NOT ALLOWED

“No one likes a bully” they are aggressive jerks!  Bullies are found everywhere!  Bullies are defined as people who use intimidation and sarcasm to “get their way” and “in their minds” they somehow believe they have the authority to demean anther person.  Bullies are self-governed by their narcissistic motivation to elevate themselves.  Bullies actually get satisfaction when they belittle another individual.  The bully will do anything and everything they can verbally to tear down another person. They do this by laughing at them, not listening, interrupting and even “telling them off”.  Bullies thrive on being right and letting everyone know it!

Everyday while working with women,  I listen to stories from clients  about how they believe they failed at birth.  I hear words like ” failure, wimp, didn’t try, “they made me get an epidural”, and “not a ‘real’ natural birth”.  They will tell their “birth story” and over and  the common thread of defeat is ” I feel like a failures” because they did not experience birth like their friends, co-worker, and family.  Women will talk of a so called “friend having a painless easy birth” and question why they could have them same, they must have failed.  The feelings of failure arise from conversations whereas women challenge each other on their birth options and outcomes.  Often, one can hear the conversations “well I had my baby at__________, why would you ever think of anything else? If you go to that facility  ____________they will _______, and _________, or ________.”

Sometimes one can hear ” that can’t be safe”……. or ”you’re crazy to consider that”

Just fill in the blanks, it can be fun.  No matter where you are the birth bullies try to make their personal opinion and outcome the one that is best for others.  It can be such a strong influence that one can feel reject and like a failure if they don’t even try what the bully suggests.  Bullies often use fear to make to coercive their opinion.  They will attempt scare you into believing that options are not options by using the biggest scare tactic of all, “they will take your baby”.

My philosophy is that all babies are born.  Think about it -they are born.  Very few are born in a “blissful breathing baby out with harmonious singing and happiness and no pain.”  This is not the norm, and it definitely doesn’t happen often.   Believe it or not, in our world today, over 90% of all  babies are born as “natural .”    The birth itself  is also one of the most powerful athletic events of all times!  This event surpass all team sports,  olympics,  gold medals and trophies.  This event uses an entire body to rhythmically and gently move a living being out of another. Yes, there is pain, exhaustion, physical, mental and emotional work and most importantly there is great reward.  Birth requires training, health, and strength, it is not for wimps, failures, and cowards. Even bullies can give birth!

Every athlete in our world endures pain, training, exhaustion and reward.  Athletes need encouragement, coaches, trainers and the cheering audience, not bullies.   GOD’s plan was for women to be the champions.  He chose women because they are strong, wise, fearless and able to complete the task.  Each women who desires and is chosen to given birth will win and receive the prize!  It is a miraculous event that can happen.  BIRTH IS FOR CHAMPIONS -NO BULLIES ALLOWED.

The bible describes the evilness of the tongue in Psalms 52, reading the the tongue is deceitful, devises destruction like a two edgedsword.   Reading these scriptures one can understand how words can be so painful that the cut to the heart of an individual. Our words to one another are very strong, and can either uplift or tear one down.  I am challenging myself and you to champion positive influencing words to empower women in having an INCREDIBLE BIRTH DAY!

League of Extraordinary Women Giving Birth

You know that excited feeling you get when you receive something in the mail and can’t wait to open it?  That was me sliding the Fast Company magazine out of the mailbox.  ”The League of Extraordinary Women” highlights women across companies and non for profits who are making a difference to improve the lives of women all over the world.

I believe Moms choosing natural childbirth and birthing at the birth center are INCREDIBLE and they inspire us every day with their efforts in birth and taking care of their babies and families.  We have made such progress  gaining access to more insurance networks and that is a tribute to the hard work of our moms and dads.  THANK YOU !

We’ve found that its really important to keep telling everyone what insurance networks we are in.  Please help us spread the word to your friends and family.

All BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD plans, FREEDOM NETWORK, PREFERRED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, CIGNA, TRICARE/TRIWEST, KANSAS HEALTHWAVE, MISSOURI HEALTHNET.  We are actively working with UNITED & HUMANA to finalize our contract with them (Yea!).

Please call us if you have any questions as there are many plans that fall under a different name. We also offer a self pay option.  We encourage families to be smart consumers and compare like services.

Thank you everyone for supporting birth center birth !

Tanzania Team 2011

This year during the holidays I will be focusing on a people group who have much more need than the average American. About 10 years ago, while I was working on a medical mission in Kenya, I met a young pastor named Daniel Ouma. He asked me at that time to come to his homeland and be of service. We have corresponded in several emails over the years and it was most recently that he cries for help quickened my heart into bringing a team of health care providers to his home and church called the Valley Of blessings, in Musoma Tanzania. His cry for was for the people of his large congregation and his own wife who were loosing babies in childbirth and many women were also dying. His cry is for life, the life of his two baby twins as well as the many babies who had died before they came home and the many women who were dying around him, all in childbirth related illnesses.
The world Health organization reports the following Key Facts:
Every day, approximately 1000 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
Maternal mortality is higher in rural areas and among poorer and less educated communities.
Adolescents face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of pregnancy than older women.
Skilled care before, during and after childbirth can save the lives of women and newborn babies.
Between 1990 and 2008, maternal mortality worldwide dropped by one third.
I am leaving today with 3 physicians, 3 nurse practitioners and 2 nurses, our mission is to be a blessing and in God’s help, help just one….one at a time. We will perform surgery, deliver babies, teach, consult, and just listen. Please pray for us to be a blessing to those in Tanzania. I will do my best to keep you updated. We are departing a 4pm today from Kansas City!

Merry Christmas

African & Island babies growing at New Birth

New Birth Company invites all families to partner with us in the promotion of prenatal care across the globe! Our goal is to provide as many vitamins as we can to pregnant mothers and their children. We will be starting in two specific areas initially, the island of Trinidad in Caribbean Islands & Tanzania Africa. We will be working with Dr. John Powell in Trinidad & Pastor Daniel Ouma in Tanzania to promote prenatal care.
Our newly formed 501C-3 non-profit at New Birth Company is called Les Amis de Naissance. Les Amis de Naissance will procure the vitamins, through donations and prepare them to be freely given to mothers. Les Amis de Naissance, I will abbreviate as LAN, is collecting vitamins now for a team leaving for Tanzania December 9th.
Les Amis de Naissance is French for “friends of birth”. Our mission with Les Amis de Naissance (LAN) is to promote safe and natural childbirth. The friends of birth, LAN, will function in the following manner:
1. Promote safe and natural birth through advocacy. Serving as an incubator to arouse awareness of safety, standards and education of natural childbirth in our local community and throughout the world.
2. Using World Health Organization millennial goals to promote and aid in safe birth for women globally.
3. Fund raising for the promotion and awareness of birth globally and to procure needed supplies and medications for birth attendants in developing countries.
4. Provide funding to enhance education, standards and birth equality globally.
All of us can be friends of birth and promote safe birth and healthy babies globally. Our current project is to collect vitamins to give out to women who are pregnant. Ideally, the best vitamins are children’s chewable vitamins simply because mothers will often share their vitamins with their children. Prenatal vitamins are too strong for a child to ingest therefore we can safely offer children’s vitamins and supplement with folic acid.
If you would like to donate vitamins, you can bring them over the New Birth Company in Overland Park. Follow on the blog to see how they will benefit women and their babies!

Open House Celebration

Open House this Sunday, October 16 from 2:00-4:00. You are in for a treat; not only will you see  the beautiful NBC , birthplace of  2 boys and 5 girls just since opening, you will also taste lots of yummy foods and sweets, receive gifts and put your name in the basket for a drawing every 15 minutes. Listed below are many of the folks who will be here to help us celebrate…many of them bringing gifts for our drawings. Of course our Certified Nurse Midwives, RN’s, Medical Asstistant and even yours truly, your senior scribbler who keeps you updated on our facebook and twitter.

Wonder what is Baby Planning? An Itsabelly Baby Planner will be on hand to answer questions and explain how we help parents relax and enjoy their pregnancy. We will also be displaying a large range of well researched, safest and Itsabelly-recommended products for mama and baby. You will definitely want to put your name in the basket to win their beautiful basket of mommie/baby gifts. Also you might win a great baby shoe rack, organic body products & baby bath goodies.

 Enjoy a piece of Bo Lings celebration cake. Bo Ling’s Custom Cakes and Cupcakes! “Let your imagine go wild – we create a cake to match!”Bo Lings, Chinese Please!

Freedom Chef, Becky Ross,  is bringing treats to taste too, gluten & sugar free :) You will find her in the kitchen at NBC, serving up treats and ready to visit with you about her services and any food allergies you or your child may be experiencing.

Dr. Kezia Shine, Align, Chiropractic care for mommies and babies, has donated 2 $85 gift certificates. Dr. Shine sees patients at New Birth Company on Tues. Wed., & Thurs. She will be in her room at NBC to answer all those questions about how your body is changing.

 

Smooth Labor Smoothie Bar will be opening and churning out some piña colada  smoothies. You have heard alot about our wonderful smoothie bar…opening at all hours of the day or night. For those of you wondering, that is a little signal that a mommy is in labor. She is offered wonderful smoothies supplying her with an amazing amount of energy…after all she IS running a marathon.

Costco will be here to share some delicious cookies and visit with you about their programs. Whatever your needs, a 52″ TV, a diamond ring, a multitude of diapers, a car,  churros, they have it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPEN HOUSE

OPEN HOUSE

NEW BIRTH COMPANY

9209 West 110th

Overland Park

Sunday October 16th

2:00-4:00

Please join us to celebrate the opening of New Birth Company, our beautiful freestanding birth center in Corporate Woods.

We want to share with you our beautiful birth suites; open community room with a very calming water wall. Stroll through our full kitchen, which has already been put to good use baking BIRTHday cakes for our wee one’s families. Our “SMOOTH LABOR” smoothie bar will be open for a tasting. We want you to put your name in the pot for some great prizes.

We recommend you find us by turning into Corporate Woods onto Grandview Street from College Blvd.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Update: Occupancy, Licensing, Credentialing

Dear New Birth Company Family-

We are excited to give you an update on our status with BCBS and give you some homework !  Back in June, Cathy was the first of our midwives to be approved by the BCBS of Kansas City credentialing committee.  This means that BCBS believes Cathy to have the appropriate credentials and skills to serve their members (Kelly and Justine are next). Next, while we are finalizing our financial agreement,  we prepare to receive our certificate of occupancy from the city of Overland Park (scheduled for September 9th) and our license to operate as a birth center from the State of Kansas (shortly thereafter).  BCBS will then credential our facility, allowing families with BCBS to birth at the center with in-network status.  BCBS has indicated their interest in creating a short term waiver status for Moms to start receiving their prenatal visits with us during this interim period.

What we need from women with BCBS:  Please send your Name (as listed on your BCBS card), your Member ID, and Plan Sponsor (employer) directly to me at kendra@newbirthcompany.com.  If you are pregnant, add your Estimated Due Date.  Please put BCBS in your email subject line.   Spread the word to your friends and colleagues over facebook to help the effort to open BCBS to midwives and birth centers…but please keep your information safe by responding with your information to us directly.   We would like to send an initial list of  interested BCBS moms by Thursday evening 8/25. 

Let’s birth this baby together and open the door to more options for natural childbirth for all women in Kansas City.   Thank you !

Midwest KidsFest

Title: Midwest KidsFest
Location: Overland Park International Convention Center
Link out: Click here
Description: Beat the heat and visit New Birth Company at the Midwest Kidsfest ! Come check out the floor plan for the birth center, tile and floor samples for all three birth suites, and register for natural pregnancy and birth prizes, just for stopping by and saying hello. Refer a friend to New Birth Company for registration for additional opportunities to win. You’ll find us on the program sharing space with our good friends ItsaBelly Baby Planning. Print out this coupon for $2 dollars off your entry fee.  See you there !
Saturday & Sunday July 30-31st 10AM-5pm

Goddess Green Smoothie

Goddess Green Smoothie

Goddess Green Smoothie

(recipe by Smoothie girl, Heather Wurtz)

Throughout history and across many cultures, pregnancy and childbirth have been viewed as a time in life when women are especially in tune with the earth, natural forces, and a higher power.   According to Bayar Odun, a Mongolian shaman, “…being pregnant and having a baby were the most powerful ways for a woman to access the creative and transformative powers of the natural world” (Tedlock, 2005).  In many cultures, childbirth is considered an important rite of passage and a time of transcendence, for both the mother and baby, from one stage of life to another.  Some ancient archeological remains, such as the Maya birth vase (identified by Michael Coe, 1977), depict women whom scholars believe to be goddesses giving birth, signifying the reverence, mystery, and power that has surrounded childbirth since the beginning of mankind.

Many women, today, embrace their inner goddess during pregnancy and childbirth.  They use this special time in their life as an opportunity to improve their health and well-being, reflect on life changes, and prepare for motherhood by strengthening their bodies, minds, and spirits.  Whether she chooses to do this by hitting the yoga mat or pumping iron at the gym, every pregnant mama needs the necessary nutritional support to be successful.  Iron is one of the most important (and one of the most commonly deficient) nutrients in a pregnant woman’s diet. Iron is an essential element in hemoglobin, the protein found in red blood cells, which transports oxygen to all body cells. It also helps to regulate cell growth and differentiation.  The National Institute of Health recommends that all pregnant women double their usual daily iron intake to 27 mg (NIH, 2011).  Pregnant women have greater iron demands due to their increased blood volume, fetal growth demands, and blood loss during childbirth (2011).  Iron deficiency during pregnancy can produce many adverse effects, including preterm labor and low birth weight infants (IOM, 2001).
In this recipe, the spinach, parsley, and raisins provide a boost of iron.  Couple this smoothie with a cup of iron fortified oatmeal at breakfast (10 mg of iron) and you’ll have nearly half of your daily iron demands knocked out before 9:00 in the morning!  Check that one of your list!  Embrace your inner goddess by embracing your health and preparing yourself as best as you can to welcome your baby into this world and onto the start of their journey.

Serving Size: 8 ounces
Servings: 1

1 ½ cup spinach (can substitute with kale)
½ cup frozen mixed berries
½ banana
½ cup almond milk (can substitute with soy milk, skim, etc.)
1 T raisins
Few sprigs of parsley

Nutritional information, according to www.mypyramid.gov

Calories: 173 kcals
Protein: 7 gm
Fiber: 5 gm
Fat: 0.8 gm
Vitamin C: 58.8 mg
Vitamin A: 956.9 mcg
Iron: 2 mg
Potassium: 874 mg
Sodium: 89 mg

References:

Institute of Medicine. Food and Nutrition Board. (2001). Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium and Zinc. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

National Institute of Health. Office of Dietary Supplements. (2011). Dietary supplement fact sheet: Iron. Found at:  http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/iron/#h6

Tedlock, Barbara (2005). The Woman in the Shaman’s Body. New York: Bantam Books.

Maya Birth Vase: shows the young birthing goddess hanging on to serpent birthing ropes for support. Chak Chel—an important Maya goddess—is depicted as a very old woman and is standing at the side of the young women, as her midwife, holding a bowl to receive the afterbirth and wearing a headdress of snakes.