2023 Reviewed

22 births

11 additional babies born with Amy as doula (and not included in following stats)

18 hospital births, 4 home births

16 vaginal, 6 Cesarean (3 planned, 3 unplanned)

3 VBACs (vaginal birth after Cesarean)

11 unmedicated, 11 epidurals

13 with midwives, 9 with OBs

7 inductions

Smallest baby: 5 lbs, 9 ozs

Biggest baby: 8 lbs, 9 ozs

Longest gestation: 41 weeks 1 day

Shortest gestation: 36 weeks

First birth: 7

Second birth: 10

Third birth: 4

Fourth birth: 1

Shortest labor support time: 0 hrs (client was COVID+ and baby came before midwife arrived)

Longest labor support time: 31.5 hrs

Average labor support time: 10.5 hrs

Location of births: Baptist Health Lexington 2, Home 4, Norton 1, Norton Women’s and Children’s 1, UK 14

Individual provider who caught the most of my clients’ babies: Megan Sharp, UK Midwife Clinic (4 babies)

Practice whose providers caught the most of my clients’ babies: UK Midwife Clinic (9 babies)

Professional development: Recertified as a DONA doula

Here are some interesting facts from 2023:

• One baby born on his due date

• Lots of “early” babies- only 6 babies came after their due date

• Missed two births- one client had COVID and provider didn’t even make it to her birth, one had baby about 45 min after she called me to come

• Popular baby names: Benjamin (3) and “Josie” (2 Josephine, 1 Josie)

• Alphabet babies- only letters of the alphabet not used in a baby’s first or middle name were Q, S, U, Y, and Z

No grand or wild thoughts come to mind when reflecting on 2023 clients and their births. You could even say that the year was a little boring which was due in large part to having a doula partner with whom to share the work. Last year, I attended 32 births (and did all of the prenatal and postpartum support as well). In 2023, I only went to 22 births. It felt so incredible to have Amy Jessie supporting not only our shared clients, but also me as a partner and friend.

One trend this year did seem to be breech babies. We had a lot of clients whose babies were breech pretty late in pregnancy and some who were still breech at birth. Some clients opted for ECVs and others opted for c-sections. There also seem to be more and more clients with blood pressure issues, either gestational hypertension or preeclampsia. I wonder if other doulas and providers have noticed this.

One sweet personal connection this year was that I was able to support a dear client during the birth of their third baby after having been with them for their first baby’s stillbirth and their son’s live birth. Then, I got to attend the birth of the OB who supported them for the first two births. Both the client and the OB hold very special places in my heart and I’m glad that I got to be by their sides as they welcomed their daughters. And when I attended the OB’s birth, I also got to see my 50th provider deliver/catch a client’s baby. I’ve now seen 53 different providers in action at the time of birth with many others who’ve been a part of the labor process. I think having worked with such a variety of providers is one of the greatest benefits to my clients. The knowledge I’ve gained from watching them practice helps me provide solid informational support and advocacy for birthing people and their families.

Thanks for continuing to support my work as a doula. Looking forward to supporting five repeats (so far) and incredible new clients in 2024!

2021 Reviewed

31 births

29 hospital births, 2 home births

24 vaginal, 7 Cesarean

1 VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean)

14 unmedicated, 17 epidurals

9 inductions

20 with midwives, 11 with OBs

Smallest baby: 4 lbs, 6 ozs

Biggest baby: 9 lbs, 1 ozs

Shortest labor support time: 2.5 hrs

Longest labor support time: 35 hrs

Average labor support time: 9 hrs

Longest gestation: 41 weeks 5 days

First birth: 17

Second birth: 12 (4 were repeat clients)

Third birth: 1

Fourth birth: 1

Location of births: Baptist Health Lexington 6, Clark Regional 1, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center 2, Frankfort Regional Medical Center 2, Home 2, UK 18

Individual provider who caught the most of my clients’ babies: Hayden Meza, UK Midwife Clinic (5 babies)

Practice whose providers caught the most of my clients’ babies: UK Midwife Clinic (17 babies)

Professional development: Body Ready Method

My house is quiet and still as I write this- my children are at school, my husband is at a job site, my dogs are asleep on a rug. Outside my window, it is also still (and bare and cold). It feels like such a heavy contrast with the way I would describe this year in birth work. I’ve had more clients than the previous four years due in large part to situations related to the pandemic. So many of my clients’ labors and births were unique and unpredictable. Because of that, I’ve grown quite a bit in this work. The never-ending learning as a doula continues to challenge and amaze me.

Three of my clients had preterm births, meeting their babies at just over 35, 33, and 32 weeks of pregnancy. One had IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) and severe preeclampsia that required induction of labor and the other two went into preterm labor. Two of the three had Cesarean births and all of the babies spent weeks in the NICU.

Due to the pandemic, I supported two clients virtually. One was at Baptist Health Lexington which was not welcoming doulas at the time and the other was COVID positive (on her last day of isolation- so close!). I was also unable to attend two of my clients’ births at Baptist Health Lexington because they had C-sections and the current policy does not allow doula support in the OR, in recovery, or on postpartum. I was able to support some of my clients in the OR at both UK (unplanned Cesareans) and Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center (planned Cesarean). I also had to call a backup doula for the first time this year because I was at another birth down the hall. I walked in shortly after their baby was born; they had wonderful care from my backup and I’m so grateful she was there for them.

While my clients’ induction rate was lower this year than the past two years at 29% (9 of 31), some of them happened suddenly/urgently, which I think made them take center stage in my brain. Six were medically indicated (e.g. preeclampsia, IUGR) and three were elective or unclear on the medical indication.

I’ll end with some interesting situations and highlights of the year:

• Supported a client during the worst ice storm of the year. We drove around downed tree limbs on the way to the hospital.

• A home birth client had a vaginal birth after having a Cesarean with her triplets about 2.5 years prior.

• Two of my clients were in labor at the same time in rooms right next to each other. With permission, I was able to leave one client to support the other’s precipitous labor, then go back to the first client.

• Two of my clients are best friends and they gave birth less than two weeks apart.

• Attended my first birth at Clark Regional in Winchester.

• Supported two 40 year old clients, one having her first baby and the other her second. They both had spontaneous vaginal births.

Reflecting on the year, the theme that comes to mind is team building and collaboration. One obvious advantage of attending more births is that I met and worked with more nurses and providers. I’ve said it many times, but learning nurses’ and care providers’ styles and approaches to different types of situations and developing collaborative relationships with them is so valuable to folks who choose me as their doula. I have now seen 40 providers catch/deliver babies! I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of what to expect from different practices, individual providers, and hospital staff.

I was also fortunate this year to team with Bundle Birth Nurses and cover tuition for five L&D nurses in their Physiologic Birth Training. Nurses from Baptist Health Lexington, Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan, Frankfort Regional, and UK claimed the spots. I know that the pandemic has been extremely taxing on nurses and this small gesture was a way to show how appreciative I am that they’ve continued to show up the way they have for my clients.

Birth work has not been easy this year. 2021 was harder than 2020, in my opinion. We’ve seen loss, illness, hospital staffing concerns and changes (compensate these L&D nurses and hospital midwives fairly, please, NOW!), and almost everyone I’ve known has felt burnout at some point this year. I’ve witnessed so much community support, though, which has provided some solace. I hope that this spirit of community care and collaboration continues and grows in the new year.

2020 Reviewed

21 births

15 hospital births, 6 home births

20 vaginal, 1 Cesarean

1 VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean)

14 unmedicated, 7 epidurals

9 inductions

15 with midwives, 6 with OBs

Smallest baby: 5 lbs, 9 ozs

Biggest baby: 9 lbs, 1 ozs

Shortest labor support time: 3.5 hrs

Longest labor support time: 34 hrs

Average labor support time: 13 hrs

Longest gestation: 41 weeks

First birth: 10

Second birth: 9 (6 repeat clients!)

Third birth: 1

Fourth birth: 1

Location of births: Baptist Health Lexington 1, UK 9, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center 1, Frankfort Regional Medical Center 2, Norton Women’s & Children’s 1, St. Joe’s East 1, Home 6

Individual provider who caught the most of my clients’ babies: Sarah Hood, Home Sweet Home Midwifery Services (4 babies)

Practice whose providers caught the most of my clients’ babies: UK Midwife Clinic (7 babies)

Professional development: Became an NRP Provider (Neonatal Resuscitation Program) and started childbirth educator training with Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings

2020 ended up being my busiest year yet. It started off beautifully, with my first repeat client giving birth at home (her first baby was born at a hospital) under the care of a midwife. Three more babies came before the pandemic, with one being born the week before everything started shutting down in KY. I had planned off call time in April due to a spring break trip (that got cancelled), so thankfully I was not dealing with the initial insanity caused by frequently changing hospital policies and had time to prepare for the possibility of supporting clients virtually. Thankfully, I was able to support ALL of my 21 clients in person. I had one client switch from hospital to home birth because of the pandemic, but others considered it.

My clients’ induction rate went down to 43% (9 of 21) after last year’s 50%. Not surprisingly, my longest continuous support time of 34 hours was at an induction. Even though I tell clients to expect inductions to last days, it’s hard to wrap your head and body around what that feels like until you’re in it; exhaustion is typically a huge factor in the process. Out of the nine inductions, there were only two that I would consider elective (although I don’t know that that is how they were labeled by the providers).

Some other stats that I want to highlight are that one of my clients had a VBAC (100%) and that six were born preterm (2) or early term (4). Both of the preterm births were originally planned home births, but transferred to hospital care- one for hypertension/preeclampsia and the other for imminent preterm birth at 35wks 1day. Not surprisingly, I had a COVID exposure at one birth (that I know of). The hospitals stopped rapid testing at some point and unfortunately, we found out that a client was positive two hours after baby was born. Thankfully, I did not get infected and the mom and her baby are healthy! Also, I had a Leap Day doula baby this year! He was born at 12:48am on February 29, 2020.

The year was hard for lots of reasons, but I feel that it was the one in which I’ve grown the most as a doula. It no longer feels difficult to share confidently about my value when talking to potential clients; I’m really good at doula work. Thank you to the providers and nurses who provided over-the-top excellent care to my clients during some seriously stressful times. Thank you to the six families that allowed me back into their birthing spaces this year and to the fifteen others who welcomed me for the first time. You all have provided some of the brightest moments of 2020!