This is a fun event for you to hear and share birth stories and learn about how to view birth holistically.
This event will give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the work that I do as a holistic healer and insight into my book series on childbirth around the world through a holistic perspective.
You will understand more about the root cause of chronic conditions in the pregnancy journey and why birth complications happen.
This will empower you.
Read MoreI mailed some packages. It felt so great!
It feels so great to give and to know my package will bring some joy to the recipients and help women on their holistic health and wellness journey!
Yay!
If you have been following me for a while, you know that I celebrated 15 years in business this year and last year, I started season one of Holistic Me TV and that the swag giveaway was my way to celebrate.
The winners were:
Terina,
Irmina,
Colleen,
Alycia,
Trudy,
and
Amanda.
Congratulations!!
If you didn't win a prize, there will be more opportunities to win prizes with me.
In fact on 8/8, I will announce another prize winner.
Last December, I wrote a letter to the President of the United States and I mailed it.
Last week, I received a letter in the mail from President Biden.
My dad was so excited for me.
“You have a letter from the White House!”
It was in a fancy envelope.
I opened it.
Almost a year later from when I mailed it.
What would he say?
I opened up the envelope.
The letter was typed on thick stationary paper.
Not on common computer paper.
On cream paper, not on blanched white.
The letter read “Dear Khristee,”
He spelled my name correctly.
He wrote four paragraphs and signed his name in a black marker.
But it was a form letter.
This month is International Group B Strep Awareness Month. Group B Strep is a bacteria that is found naturally in 1 in 4 pregnant women and affects 1 in 2,000 babies in the U.S. It is not that common, but this month is to bring awareness to the general public.
For my book about childbirth around the world I interviewed SheéLee Rock, a childbirth educator and doula, located in Virginia. I asked her about GBS.
KHRISTEE: What is GBS?
SHEÉLEE: GBS stands for Group Beta Strep.
KHRISTEE: How does it affect mothers when they test positive for Group Beta Strep?
SHEÉLEE: GBS is a normal bacteria that lives in the vagina, all the time. It can come and go. It also comes and goes from the intestinal tract. It typically doesn’t cause any symptoms or signs. Moms can have it now, in their pregnancy, during their labor.
The concern is that sometimes moms that have Group Beta Strep in the intestinal tract and in the vagina during labor can possibly pass an infection to the babies and a very small amount of those babies can die. What happens though is that moms are typically tested later in pregnancy for this by a swab that goes into the vagina and then a swab that goes into the rectum and if it comes back positive, they’re not tested again, even though, your GBS can change. You could be positive during your tests around 34-36 weeks and then can be negative during labor. Or you could have a negative test, and then be positive during labor; they don’t care. In the U.S., they test you once and go with those results.
Read MoreOn the day of deliver, Antonio Lévano, a well-regarded OB/GYN in Peru is in contact with his patients.
Many women ask him, “Antonio, how will I know when it is time to go to the hospital?”
He encourages them to spend as much time at home as possible. At home they are comfortable. They can eat, move, take a shower, etc.
“How do I know I am having contractions?” they ask.
He says, “You will know the difference. It will feel different than how you normally feel.”
He asks his patients to make a note of the time, every time they feel a contraction. When it is ten minutes in between the start and stop of contractions, they send him a message. He has an app for them to send all of the contractions and times, so that he can see the progression.
He prefers that they are at home until contractions are every 3 to 4 minutes and they feel a lot of pressure or pain in the pelvis. He emphasizes that it is not just the amount of time that is the indicator for him, if they are ready to go to the hospital to deliver. He wants to hear their voice to hear if they are out of breath or unable to talk as usual; this is a sign that it is time to go. If they can talk normally, it is not time yet.
Read MoreFirst time moms tend to have a lot of fear about childbirth, as it is, and sometimes, doctors have advice for mothers that doesn’t feel right intuitively.
During my interviews for my book about holistic childbirth around the world, I asked Dawn Bates from the U.K. if she had any advice for first time mothers.
Advice from Dawn:
“If you have any fears, journal it out. Anything that a doctor tells you, look at what is the medical argument for this and then look at medical arguments from different countries. If your doctor in the U.S. is saying this is what needs to happen, make a phone call to a doctor in a different country. There are lots of free help lines. Phone someone in the U.K. Find someone in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Germany. Find out what doctors in other countries are saying. And then go back to your doctor and say, what you are saying is not necessarily true… If others are pressuring you, go on a long holiday. Focus on you and what is important to you.
Read MoreHi Ladies!
It seems that everyone who I have been connecting with lately is feeling overwhelm and it seems that moms who are about to give birth even if it’s not their first birth are experiencing a new kind of overwhelm. Many places in the world are still not allowing husbands into the delivery room due to the Coronavirus, many are afraid of contracting the Coronavirus at the hospital, and one woman I know is overwhelmed because she is not allowed off the military base and she doesn’t want to give birth in a military hospital again.
What do we do to release this overwhelm that we are feeling?
Yesterday, in my private Facebook Group, Empowered Joyful Empaths, I discussed this topic and let everyone know that they are not alone if they are feeling overwhelm. I also provided some coping skills to help at this time. You can watch the video in the group or read some of my suggestions here.
Try these coping skills. Pick the ones that are best for you. You do not need to practice all of them.
Meditate. (This can be listening to music, breathing deeply or following a recorded creative visualization.)
Spend time in nature. (Soak up the sun. Be surrounded by green and peace. Let nature support you.)
Obstetric violence was not a term that I was familiar with until I started doing research on my book about holistic childbirth around the world.
The first person who mentioned the term to me was actually an OBGYN in Peru, Antonio Lévano, who admitted that obstretric violence was prevalent in Peru. After my interview with Dr. Lévano, a doula in Peru, Ariela Waltzer also brought up this topic without coaxing, which made me realize this was not a term that they invented, but a widespread issue in Peru and many other countries around the globe.
“What is obstetric violence?” I asked.
“Obstretric violence means they do not see your needs. They see their needs. They are not listening to you. They are listening to their book and the charts and numbers and what needs to be signed…. Obstetric violence is very big in Peru especially in private clinics.”
She admitted that obstetric violence is common in Peru and that people have been talking about it for the last fifteen years.
I was shocked.
I asked her if she could share specific examples. She described how the large percentage of c-sections in Lima, Peru is the biggest example. In Lima, the capital, 90% of births at clinics are c-sections. She mentioned that it wasn’t just taking away a woman’s choice about how she would give birth, but that it happens every step along labor
Read MoreHi Ladies!
Are you about to have your first child? There are so many great books out there on childbirth, but here are some quick strategies recommended from WHO (World Health Organization) and Lamaze for having a safe and healthy birth.
Six simple strategies:
Let labor begin on its own.
Walk, move around, and change positions throughout labor.
Bring a loved one, friend, or doula you love for continuous support.
Avoid interventions that aren’t medically necessary.
Avoid giving birth on your back and follow your bodies urges to push.
Keep mother and baby together-it’s best for baby, mother, and breastfeeding.[1]
Are you a mother? What other strategies would you suggest?
Read MoreMaria De Los Ángeles Chero and Ariela Waltzer pictured above are the first doulas of Peru. Dr. Angela Brocker is a doctor and a midwife in Peru who learned about doulas from living in Germany (where she is from originally) and decided to bring this tradition to Peru. In Lima, Peru, of all births in the private sector, the c-section rate is 85-90%, which is much higher than the national average of 35 to 40%. As a doctor in Peru, Dr. Angela Brocker witnessed a lot of obstetric violence and was even encouraged during her training to do practices against women that she did not agree with. In 2005, Dr. Brocker created a doula training program in Lima; Maria and Ariela were some of the first ladies to learn this tradition from Dr. Brocker at her birthing center, Pakarii. Both ladies continue to be doulas today and love it.
Ariela admits that in Peru doulas are not popular (compared to other countries) and that many women still do not know what a doula is, however, over the past fifteen years, more and more women are becoming aware of obstetric violence. She is happy to be one of the pioneers to support women.
Read MoreAre you a new mother? Are you familiar with all the birth professionals who assist mothers during labor? If you are planning to give birth it is very important that you are aware of your options so that you can pick what is best for you. Keep in mind, every country does not have the same options. There are birth attendants, doulas, midwives, and OBGYNS. In some countries, midwives deliver most of the babies (such as in Europe, Australia, and African countries) and OBGYNS only deliver babies if there is an emergency which requires surgery. In other countries, (such as the U.S.) OBGYNs are considered more prestigious than midwives. But in truth, OBGYNs are not more prestigious, but are more common in the United States. While in other countries (such as Kazakhstan) women are still not allowed to have their husbands or birth attendants present during the birth of their child or doulas present (such as in public hospitals in Peru) .
Read MoreIt’s International Doula Month! This month we celebrate all the hardworking doulas around the world who assist mothers before birth, during birth, and postpartum. Through their love and attention, they help to improve the health of mothers and infants.
For my book about childbirth around the world, I interviewed Maria De Los Ángeles Chero, a well-known midwife in Lima, Peru. Maria was one of the first doulas in Lima. She is a pioneer in Peru helping women to have an empowered childbirth experience. Unfortunately, Lima, Peru is a place with a very high c-section rate. Some say the c-section rate in the city is 80 to 90%. Thankfully with Maria’s calming, empathic nature, she is able to assuage many women’s fears and help them to feel supported at this vulnerable time.
When I was in Peru, I interviewed a well-regarded OBGYN named Dr. Antonio Lévano. He is a pioneer in his county for natural c-sections. Natural c-sections originated in the United Kingdom in 2008, but in 2010, Dr. Lévano was the first OBGYNs to implement this technique in his home country of Peru.
It has been well-researched that babies that reach full-term are healthier than premature babies. Babies that are born premature may have respiratory problems such as sleep apnea or require ventilators, and may even have asthma and allergies throughout their lives. Mothers have a harder time breastfeeding babies which are born via c-section too. To remedy these issues, natural c-sections also called gentle c-sections were created.
Lévano described to me how he does natural c-sections in Lima, Peru. These c-sections are planned. Women decide ahead of time that they would like to have a c-section over a vaginal delivery. Unlike scheduled c-sections, after the mother begins contractions, not before, she arrives to the hospital to delivery her baby.
Read MoreHi Ladies!
Let’s have an open conversation on childbirth!
As I mentioned in my first blog post, this blog is intended to be a conversation about childbirth around the world. I will provide some research, advice and tips from the mothers and experts who I interviewed for my book about childbirth around the world, but most importantly, this blog is for you to engage with one another. I hope that new mothers will come here with their questions on preparing for childbirth and pregnancy and how to make the postpartum period smoother. I hope women around the world will share their experiences and tips too. With so many countries around the world, I am sure there will be differences and that will be a great way for us to learn from each other.
Read MoreWelcome to my new blog! This is my third health blog and my first blog about childbirth around the world! This blog is based on the new book I am currently writing about childbirth around the world, Shock and Awe: Unifying Women Around The World Through Childbirth.
In June 2019, I was inspired to start writing my first book after talking with a friend. My book is about childbirth around the world from a holistic perspective. I started doing research and I was fascinated with what I discovered. But quickly, it became apparent that a book about childbirth around the world would be more interesting told from the perspectives of mothers instead of piecing research together. I set out on a quest to interview 50 women around the world and hear their heart-felt stories. My passion and enthusiasm grew and I decided to interview experts in the childbirth industry too, and I didn’t stop at 50 interviews but over 60, representing about 15 countries around the globe, spanning the last seventy-five years, from all ages and points of view from home births, birthing centers, and hospital births, to natural and medicated births, short and long births, and women of all backgrounds.
Read More
