While a 19th baby could sneak in before year’s end, I know that the family would be perfectly fine waiting until 2020 for their newest family member, so I am going to share my stats for this year:
18 births (17 live births, 1 stillbirth)
First set of twins!
17 hospital births, 1 home birth
16 vaginal, 2 Cesarean (1 scheduled for breech, 1 unplanned)
10 unmedicated, 8 epidurals
9 inductions
9 with certified nurse midwives, 9 with OBs or family practice doctors
Smallest baby: 5 lbs, 12 ozs
Biggest baby: 9 lbs, 6 ozs
Shortest labor support time: 3.5 hrs
Longest labor support time: 36 hrs
Average labor support time: 15 hrs
Longest gestation: 41 weeks + 5 days (induction)
First birth: 14
Second birth: 4
Location of births: Baptist Health Lexington 7, UK 6, Clark Memorial 1, Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan 1, Norton Women’s & Children’s 1, St. Joe’s East 1, Home 1
Baby’s sex: 12 females, 6 males
Most common first name initial: M (3)
Most common middle name initial: E (3)
2019 was my busiest and hardest year yet, for some reasons that I will share and others that I choose to keep private. 50% of my clients had their labors induced. I do not know what the average rate for inductions is at most of the practices that were included in this stat, but this felt very high. Some of the inductions were medically indicated and others were elective or for “squishy” reasons as one of my doula friends dubbed them. To me, “squishy” ones are where the provider gives reasons that one might want to induce, but they are sometimes not evidence based and may come with the additional pressure of fear/scare tactics. Again, that is my interpretation and perspective as a doula who has seen 22 different care providers deliver/catch babies. Inductions can be hard for a number of reasons, but one that often surprises people is how long they can take. My record setting labor support of 36 hours was at an induction.
Another reason that the year was hard was that I witnessed coercion and scare tactics from providers. Coercion is crushing to bear witness to and then difficult to untangle the events and emotions that come after it. I am good at helping clients navigate coercive behavior, but it’s not easy.
Was that too heavy? Okay. 2019 had some wonderful highlights. As the backup doula, I supported my first twin birth! For continuing education, I learned how to use a TENS unit in labor, went to the first ever Evidence Based Birth conference, and had a mentorship with Domino Kirke-Badgley, one of the founders of Carriage House Birth. I also became a certified birth doula through Carriage House Birth. One of the highlights in the birth room was seeing a hospital provider be almost completely hands off with a client (like I would see with a home birth midwife) and watch a partner catch his baby girl.
I’m looking forward to next year as I will have my first repeat clients! I am already more than halfway booked for 2020 as I am taking a limited number of clients, so if you’re interested in hiring me as your doula, now’s the time to connect! Thank you to the wonderful families that allowed me to support them in 2019 and to the people who supported me so that I could be at my best for them.