Diversity
Intent vs. Impact
By: Meredith Ashton Cohen, CD(DONA) Last month I attended our UDA Spring Conference with keynote speaker Dr. Courtney L. Everson, PhD. The topic for her Friday evening presentation was “Inequities in the US Birthing Landscape: Understanding Difference, Power & Discrimination” and one of the ideas she brought to our discussion was that of intent vs.…
Read MoreBetter Together: A Message From the New UDA Board President and Vice President
Hi everyone! I’m Karina and I’m excited to serve as the UDA President this year alongside the brilliant Bonnie Baker! Our theme for this year is “Better Together”. We want to create unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation. We believe we are better together than we are separate and that many hands make light…
Read MoreSpirituality and the Doula
Our post this week comes from an interview with Heather Tolley, chaplain and doula. Heather has been an advocate of compassionate healthcare for over four years. She loves helping her doula clients have a positive experience with pregnancy and birth by cultivating confidence and providing individualized support. Can you share about your path to doula work? Heather: I…
Read MoreWhen Baby Dies—A Guide for Doulas
By Lindsay Dougal, CD(BAI), RYT A sometimes hard truth to swallow is the fact that death is a part of life. Even harder to acknowledge is the truth that babies are among those who die. In the United States, 1 in every100 pregnancies end in stillbirth (fetal death after 20 weeks gestation)—roughly 24,000 babies every…
Read MoreComunidad Materna en Utah
By: Mayra Zamudio El nacer significa más que una experiencia física en la vida de la mujer, es el reencuentro con nuestra fuerza interior unida a la fuerza de un nuevo ser. Esta experiencia puede estar llena de sentimientos encontrados y muchas preguntas como ¿Qué sucederá? ¿Cuánto tiempo durará el parto? ¿Podre resistir el dolor?¿…
Read More4 Reasons a Surrogate Needs a Birth Doula
Surrogacy is a beautiful gift to families that have struggled to have a child. There are so many aspects about surrogacy that are planned and thought out from the beginning. One of them can and should be is if the surrogate should have a doula for the birth. As a doula myself, I see the…
Read MoreThe Briana Project
By: Sara Vranes, CPM What is The Briana Project? The Briana Project is a mobile outreach program providing free postpartum care, education, and advocacy for underserved women and mothers in the Salt Lake Valley. We provide in-home and mobile prenatal and postpartum visits and community classes in Salt Lake City. We meet with and assess…
Read MoreBirth In African Cultures
By: Marilyn Sorensen This year marks my third year living in Narok, Kenya, Africa. A place that has become the source of many awakenings for me. Including immersing myself back into the wonderful world of birth. Last year at this exact time, I had the opportunity to go to a local hospital with a midwife…
Read MoreOn Birth, Diversity, and “The Last Man on Earth”
It was just after 8 o’clock. We finally got the kids down to sleep after a long, chaotic day, and I decided it was time to unwind with a mindless episode of The Last Man on Earth. Do you know it? In a nutshell, it’s a comedic tale of a rag-tag group of people who…
Read MoreChallenges in Childbirth: What You Need to Know About Trauma and Military Veterans
Guest post by UDA Vice-President Rachel Winsley Most people in our community know that I am a combat veteran, and have worked to support women in childbirth, breastfeeding, and peaceful parenting for many years. What you may not know is that I am also someone diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Military Sexual…
Read More