Why I love the UDA Retreat

By Raquel Alfaro: When I think about the meaning I hold for the word “retreat,” I think about a beautiful location surrounded by trees, in a peaceful place away from the rest of the world.  In battle, retreat means to withdraw and pull back. In many ways our UDA Retreat embodies both of these meanings…

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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.…

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Community Partner Spotlight

Rowan Steiner with Salt City Birth and Newborn Photography What is your background and how did you develop the skills to start your business? “I started photography 3 years ago in college to capture moments of my young children and the hobby quickly turned into a passion. I spent about 2 years building my skills…

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National Cesarean Awareness Month

By: Meagan Heaton, Co-Owner of The VBAC Link, CD(DONA), AD(MCU) Have you had a Cesarean section, or know someone who has? 1 in 3 babies are born by Cesarean. The nation’s Cesarean section rate is 32%. That number has substantially grown since 1916 when it was 5%. A lot has changed since 1916 and during…

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Throwback Thursday

By: Andrea Lythgoe ,BS, LCCE As we prepare for the current UDA conference, I thought it might be fine to look back twelve years ago to 2007, the year I was the conference committee chair. It was also a year with a lot of “firsts” for the UDA: The first Fall Retreat, the first mentoring…

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World Doula Week

By Dezarae Weyburn The term “doula” is a relatively new one. Although the Greeks used the term “doula” to mean a female slave, or handmaid, it wasn’t until 1969 that the term was first applied to birth work. In the half-century that followed, doulas went from completely unknown to a household name. With the formation…

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ThrowBack Thursday

By: Andrea Lythgoe, BS, LCCE Bill Clinton began his first term as president, Sleepless in Seattle was packing the movie theaters, Whitney Houston crooned that she would Always Love You, and Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears & Christina Aguilera were all Mouseketeers. It was 1993. The Utah Association of Childbirth Companions, founded by Kristi…

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Spirituality 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…

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