Babies in Common

On today’s show we will be discussing how birth has changed over the last 25 years.

Our guest today is Ananda Lowe, a long-time birth doula in Massachusetts who will share what she has seen and heard.  Ananda has been part of the Boston/New England and even national birth scene for a long time--since 1995.  She is co-author of The Doula Guide to Birth: Secrets Every Pregnant Woman Should Know, she’s a Lamaze-trained childbirth educator, as well as a Certified Lactation Counselor, and former Licensed Massage Therapist specializing in pregnancy.  After many years of supporting families, she became a new mother in 2010.  

During this episode, we discuss the following:

• how Ananda came to become a birth doula 
• the history of informed consent and informed refusal in birth and a better way for care providers to offer informed consent and informed refusal
• having her first baby at the age of 40
• being vulnerable and the concept of coercion during birth
• taking ownership of anger about one’s birth experience
• how for decades we have known there are health disparities and that racism is responsible
• the importance of listening to and reading birth stories
• the rise of inductions and Cesarean births over the last 25 years and why this isn’t a good thing
• how “intervention begets intervention” and our obsession with technology
• COVID restrictions and why having even a virtual doula is helpful

Resources:

https://www.bostondoulacircle.com/

https://www.wbur.org/news/2018/05/11/doula-culture-of-consent

https://www.yougoodsis.co/

During this episode, we discuss the medical model of obstetric care, how to find an OB or other care provider that will support you in your goals for your birth, why doulas are such a key player in his work and why he recommends them so often and what has influenced the culture of obstetrics in the United States. Our guest today is Dr. Bill Chun.

Dr. Chun is a board-certified OBGYN in Woburn, Mass with over 30 years experience in medicine. Dr. Chun is a graduate of Ohio State University of Medicine and worked at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center) during residency.  He currently treats patients at his practice, Women’s Healthcare of Woburn, which is affiliated with Winchester Hospital. He has worked in communities north of Boston for over 15 years and is a leading provider of minimally-invasive robotic surgery in New England.

Dr. Chun is also a Korean-American immigrant who came to the United States when he was 12. On his own podcast, The Bill Chun Show, he shares the stories of his fellow immigrants with lively discussions centered on all the things close to his heart: life in America, parenthood, the US healthcare system, how to adapt to the challenges of our modern life, and the immigrant experience.

In 2019, Dr. Chun co-founded “Doc & Doula” which is a social media driven network of multidisciplinary, holistic healthcare professionals dedicated to taking the confusion and fear out of pregnancy and empowering soon-to-be and new parents with the knowledge and support they need to get expert care and live healthy lives.