Warning Ladies!!!  We are going to discuss something a bit more personal in this blog post today: your pelvic floor health. This issue is FAR too often overlooked, whispered about or ignored all together. The truth is that being afraid to laugh or jump, experiencing pain during intercourse, or feeling instability "down there" is NOT an inevitable part of having a baby.

A pelvic floor that is out of balance can have far reaching consequences both during and after pregnancy. It could be as seemingly harmless as leaking a bit of urine when you cough, laugh or jump, to far more serious issues, including trouble with your baby descending during birth, stretching during the crowning process, and even bladder or uterine prolapse later in life.

I am so honored to have Dr. Libby Trausch, D.P.T. as our featured expert this month at Powerful Mamas! Powerful Mamas is proud to include expert features such as this one as part of our  Online Natural Birth Course.

Dr. Trausch is a physical therapist and clinical assistant professor at Des Moines University.  She has a passion for helping both women and men regain confidence and wellbeing:

"I love working with women throughout the lifespan, but especially during pregnancy and post-partum (even 30 years post-partum!). There are a special set of circumstances that involve women during these years that does not happen to men, and I believe this group of women is grossly underserved in regaining strength, function and their sense of self. Along with this, I work a lot with pelvic dysfunction in both men and women, treating bowel and bladder issues as well as pain." - Dr. Libby Trausch, D.P.T.

I hope you'll see from our interview with Dr. Trausch that taking care of oneself "down there" is a vital part of our overall physical and emotional wellbeing as women. Powerful Mamas is proud to include expert features such as this as part of Powerful Mamas Online Natural Birth Course.  If you're currently pregnant or looking at becoming pregnant, I hope you'll consider joining us in our interactive, online birth community... And of course we'd appreciate you sharing our birth course with all of your pregnant friends and family!!!

It's time to talk about something doulas don't like to think about...the fear of missing a birth. I take my career as a labor doula very seriously. After all, the women I work with have put their trust in me to help them through this vulnerable time in their lives. The possibility that I might not be there, especially after I’ve grown familiar with their situation, anticipated the birth with them and begun the process of preparing them for the birth…well, honestly, it gets to me! And I'm sure there's more than one client that has had the fear, "what if my doula can't make it?!"

This is when I remind myself, (and my clients), of something my CAPPA trainer once said. Our goal as a doula is not to rescue a woman from her birth experience. CAPPA-certified doulas are there to assist, guide, support and encourage our clients to advocate for themselves.

This way, their triumph is their's and their's alone. 

Telling myself this helps me not only cope with the anxiety of potentially missing a birth, but also helps me remind the client who's birth I HAVE attended of this critical fact: SHE DID IT - not me!

A grateful client will often profess profusely that she couldn't have done it without her doula.  This makes me very uncomfortable, because it disempowers her. 

After all, I'm not the one that got through those contractions, overcame a wall she thought she couldn't climb, or stood up for something she believed in...SHE did that, not me! A doula with an inflated ego is not something anyone wants in the labor room, and could in fact do long term harm.

I fiercely believe in the power of doulas to change birth outcomes, so it's a delicate line to balance between emphasizing the value of a doula while maintaining the strong belief that ALL women are capable of finding the strength within themselves to birth their children. 

As a doula I have to be careful to not become overly attached to my client's birth experience. It's hers, not mine. I'm just a tool in her labor bag. I provide valuable information, counter pressure, massage, or anything else I can do to lessen her pain and/or anxiety. But any decent back up doula could and should be able to do those things...Part of my job as your labor doula is to do my best ahead of time to make sure you feel prepared and knowledgeable heading into your birth experience, with or without me... (the idea of missing the birth makes my stomach turn, but it's true that a great back up can and should be just as good as the Doula you originally hired!). 

While its very unlikely that a doula that has responsibly booked her schedule and is committed to her clients will miss a birth, life can and will happen, especially if you do this career long enough. Part of our job as doulas is to prepare our clients for the unpredictable nature of birth and equip her with the confidence to overcome obstacles or changes in plans...this applies to who attends your birth as well. A doula could be physically ill, or have a sick child at home... Even if she could make it to the birth, you likely do not want her exposing your precious newborn to germs. A family emergency could arise, such as a funeral.  Or maybe two births are happening at the same time, even with estimated due dates days or even weeks apart.  Birth is unpredictable!

If I have to miss a birth, there is no doubt that I am deeply saddened.  The one birth I've missed I had a good, long cry in the privacy of my home, if for no other reason than I missed an incredible experience, had been planning to be there, and had grown comfortable with the client in the months prior to delivery, even becoming friends. It stinks to miss out on something so amazing!

But ultimately, I AND MY CLIENT trusted that she is PREPARED, CAPABLE AND POWERFUL. Having a doula you know and feel comfortable with helps, but the longer I’ve been a doula, the more I’ve realized that our clients don’t need US to have a fabulous birth experience. They have it within themselves. Are job is to prepare them as best we can prior to the birth, support them with our whole heart during the birth, and provide a wonderful back up doula that can do those same things should we not be able to attend.

I'll end by saying this - Trust me when I say doulas want to be there! We don’t want to let our clients down. We have high standards of professional ethics. But sometimes, life happens. We can’t plan everything, especially in this line of work. Our clients need to know that THEY are ultimately the key to their success, not one specific doula.

With love,
​Jacquelyn