Beautiful Birth from One Tree Photography (Doula: Kristin Dibeh from Kind Birth)

I really wanted to share this with my Belly Blossom Families!

This birth is near and dear to my heart, as my doula, Kristin, was the doula here, and it took place at the same birth center where Violet was born, Eastside Birth Center, in Bellevue, WA.

Please Enjoy!

Summer's Birth and One Tree Photography

Good Mothers Don't Ask Questions, article from ImprovingBirth.org

Good Mothers Don't Ask Questions suggests that we change the way we look at what it means to be good mother through education and support. And poses the question: Why are we still struggling to have the right to-be-informed and make decisions that feel authentic and healthy from our own perspectives, experiences, and knowledge about our own bodies when it comes to maternal care? This is a short, really well-written article. 

Expecting Kindness Childbirth Education Series at Village Pediatrics starting October 9th 2013

I am so excited to invite you to my very first 8-week comprehensive childbirth education series for expectant parents in Issaquah this October, called Expecting Kindness. 


Expecting Kindness, written by Kristin Dibeh, is a childbirth curriculum focused on a kind, holistic, family-centered approach to maternal health, childbirth, and early newborn care. The 8 weeks series covers prenatal health, detailed discussion of each stage of labor and delivery, variations that might cause intervention and how to avoid them, guidance through writing a birth plan, healing from labor, and breastfeeding and other newborn care in the first few days after birth. Each class will run about 2 hours. To preview the Expecting Kindness curriculum on Amazon.com, click here, no need to purchase for the class, as it will be provided for those who attend.

The series will take place at Village Pediatrics, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioners located in Gilman Village that can be accessed from the southwest parking lot near the Issaquah Coffee Company.

 

 The series will begin Wednesday, October 9, 2013 and run thru November 27, 2013

Specific dates are 10/9, 10/16, 10/23, 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, 11/20, 11/27
Series starts at 6:30 PM and will go to about 8:30 PM
This series costs $300

To sign up for series please contact me either by Email: bellyblossomdoula@live.com

A special thank you to Staci Scott and Kristina Garrido for opening Village Pediatrics and Village Family Clinic & Wellness Center as a new home for teaching Expecting Kindness Childbirth Education. And to Kristin Dibeh for putting your life work onto paper, and for sharing your experience and wisdom so that other birth professionals can journey alongside women and their families, empowering them to reach their healthy birth goals and to intuitively transition into parenthood.  

I look forward to sharing this amazing piece of work with expectant parents in our community. My mission is to empower women and their families to realize the strength and wisdom that already lives inside each of us, to inspire a healthy vision for the birth process through education, discussion, and application, and to offer support and encouragement to all.

 

Shine Bright,

Melissa Tuton
Belly Blossom Doula

 

 

Kind Birth Services, Kristin Dibeh: Collaboration

Kind Birth Services, Kristin Dibeh: Collaboration: My word of the day. I had the awesome privilege today of meeting with two incredible women/professionals. Now, I have always said that I ...


From my dear friend and partner! Please read!!!

Village Pediatrics (Now excepting new patients!!!!)

Good Afternoon Friends,

I am privileged to welcome Staci Scott, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with Village Pediatrics in Gilman Village in Issaquah, to our community!

Staci is extremely passionate about pediatrics. Her medical interests include asthma, cardiology, and infant and child growth and development. She is a huge supporter of breastfeeding, integrated medicine, and healthy births, which you know I am excited about!!!

Village Pediatrics has opened their doors to Belly Blossom Doula to teach Kind Birth's Expecting Kindness Childbirth Education Series this October-November (schedule coming soon, please stay tuned).

If you are looking for genuine, quality, individualized care for your precious child(ren), in your neighborhood, please call her or visit her website today, where you can read her bio, register online, make appointments, and view insurance providers she is covered under. You and your child(ren) will be so happy you did.


Staci Scott's Contact Information:

Village Pediatrics, PLLC
317 NW Gilman Blvd Suite 48
Issaquah, WA 98027

425.996.3396 ~ Fax 425.274.7294
Please visit www.villagepediatrics.biz for more info, to register and make appointments.

Staci Scott
ARNP, CPNP, MSN

5 Biggest Myths About Midwifery

http://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy/160193/tk_biggest_myths_about_midwives?utm_medium=sm&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=natural_fanpage

I just love this blog! Sharing her fun article!

Purpose and Value of Labor Support - Slightly Revised

 

Undoubtedly, women deserve access to and benefit from continuous labor support. No matter at what point a doula or labor support professional accompanies a woman in labor, her presence alone, can bring calmness, confidence, and normalness to the labor process.  The doula’s specific set of skills and experience balance the mom’s worries and concerns of labor’s unknowns, helping her maintain a sense of control throughout the process allowing her to trust in her baby's and body's inherent wisdom of birth. 

The health and safety of mom and baby are among the doula’s top priorities. Being able to identify when and where mom is in the labor process, understanding the needs of each individual laboring woman during each of the stages of the labor process, helping mom labor in ways that feel natural to her, and keeping her well informed empowers mom to follow her instincts, keep perspective, and advocate for herself. When women receive continuous support and make decisions about the course of labor that are evidence based, women need less medications and interventions. Healthier outcomes for both moms and babies usually tend to follow. 
  

I’ve found great importance in supporting the laboring mother’s partner as well, and encouraging his/her involvement in the labor process. The doula’s experience with labor and understanding of mom’s needs, pair beautifully with partners and the rest of the birth team. Women who feel connected to their partners during labor, who feel they are seen in a positive and beautiful way, seem happier and more relaxed, they remember their births in a more positive light. When love is in the air, more Oxytocin is released in the brain which we all know encourages labor progression!  

Doulas tend to mom with kind emotional and physical support, medical advocacy, and celebration in the abundance of love and joy that comes with birth and becoming a parent. Most doulas provide some postpartum care, when needed connect her to helpful resources, and encourage mom to reach out and surround herself with loving, helpful family, friends, and mommies groups. 

My experience has shown me the immense gratitude women and families have for the doula’s presence and help in achieving their goals. Commonly, I hear the phrases, “I couldn’t have done it without you!”  Or, “I couldn’t have imagined what it would have been like without you!” Truth be told, there is no replacement for a doula. Just like dad, partner, mom, or friend, just like the health care provider and her assistants, the doula has a special place before, during, and following labor. Those of us who have labored with a doula, (myself included), we have found value in: her expertise, the anticipation of, and ability to tend to mom’s needs, the ability to remain calm and objective, her kind, loving nature, and her ability to keep us informed, in the moment, feeling safe, secure, and confidently achieving our goals of positive birth experiences and healthier birth outcomes.