Just an update on what Jenny has been doing the last few months....she is starting a new doula agency, Parish Doulas! Please pray for her and the doulas she has hired, and that they continue to keep Christ at the center of their work.

In the meantime, Jenny has officially published the "Catholic Birth Preferences" Guide! You can get it at the link in her bio on her Instagram page: @Jenny_The_Doula or HERE. Please feel free to share with anyone who may be birthing at a Catholic hospital (remember they do not have to be Catholic to use it) or if they are Catholic and birthing at a secular hospital, it may help them with their birth plan there. God bless!

Choosing your birth preferences and reminding the hospital of their mission statement can make your birth a reverent and sacred event, no matter how your birth unfolds: whether is natural or medicated, surgical or vaginal, birth should be and can be sacred for all of us. In this episode, Jenny goes through what a "Catholic Birth Plan" would look like, but she prefers to use the words "Birth Preferences". Using the ERDs, ACOG Committee Opinions, and hospital policy guidelines, Jenny has prepared a document that you can use to create your own vision for a sacred birth. To get the document, you can either DM her or go to her Instagram page @Jenny_the_Doula and her link in bio to get a free copy!

In this episode, Jenny talks about Scientific Motherhood, which is the belief that women need the scientific advice of experts and physicians to birth and parent their children, instead of using their intuition and generational knowledge passed down over time. That Scientific Motherhood is just another form of Scientism, a belief system that purports that science should be applied to everyday aspects of our lives.

In our pursuit of knowledge in the science of our bodies, we left our faith behind, when in fact the two are inseparable. Science and faith should go together, not separately. Instead, we have broken our bodies down into its parts; and that over time, we have reached a point where we are hurting mothers and babies rather than helping them. Statistics show our outcomes are worse, and almost half of all women report having some sort of trauma from their birthing experiences.

We are at a crossroads in health care, where we need to fully bring in the sacred and add it to the safety of providing health care to women in the birthing process. Make birth both safe and sacred again!

In the next episode, Jenny will be speaking to resources we can all use to discuss our birth preferences (some call it a birth plan) with our care providers.

We all know birth is a very sacred moment; but in today's birth world, navigating faith and the birth system together can be difficult. In this episode, Jenny speaks to the contrast in birth environments - out of hospital birth vs hospital birth (not to pit them against each other!). The sacredness of birth is what is missing in our current day and age. Just like our marriage is a sacred moment, carefully planned and full of meaning and people we love, so too should our births be! Birth is similar to the Mass in many ways as Jenny explains. However, in our current system we have degraded the mother, treated the baby as unintelligent, and dismissed the Father's role in birth, shoving him aside as an observer rather than a full participant (participant can have different meanings and levels too depending on the needs of the family). The ultimate lesson here is that we as mothers and famlies can and should demand better care. That we should demand excellent care, rather than just the standard/lowest bar of mere survival.

Vaginal Birth After Cesareans (VBAC) are still not a common occurrence in the United States. Why? Cesareans are life saving, but overused and have many negative impacts on mothers, babies, families and society. In this podcast Jenny discusses the history of c sections, the challenges in discussing such a sensitive topic and having non-judgemental conversations. She speaks on why we should be concerned about the primary c section rate increasing and why VBACs should be a priority in our country rather than care providers and family members deterring them.

The Evidence on VBAC

Why the Cesarean Rate Matter to the Church by Mary Haseltine

This may ruffle some feathers. Tired of the secularization and "witch-ification" of birth, Jenny goes into the real history of how we ended up with our modern birth practices. Hint: It has nothing to do with "decolonization" and everything to do with early scientific thought - which she explains in this podcast. CORRECTION: The Age of Exploration/Colonialism has various dates. Roughly speaking it goes from the 1500s to the 1700s.

Outline:

Birth Work and Spirituality

The Debate in Decolonizing Birth

Historical Context of Birth Practices

The Shift from Midwifery to Medicalization

The Impact of Darwin and Eugenics

Reframing the Conversation on Birth and Science

Later episodes will discuss where Jenny leaves us off in the 1920s and 1940s. Its gonna be a good time!

Why would I need to hire a doula if the Holy Family didn't have one? Isn't birth supposed to be held as sacred, between mother and father? Well, not everyone needs or wants a doula, but there are some pretty compelling reasons as to why you should consider getting one! Your doula is not a stranger. In fact, its the staff at the hospital you will barely know at all, and they may not even share your beliefs or values! Hiring a Catholic doula or a doula that supports your beliefs can help maintain that prayerful and spiritual consistency and focus you may desire to have at your birth. Let's dive deeper into how a doula can help support your family in the birth space!

Why would a pro-life or Catholic family choose an out of hospital birth with a midwife? Isn't that unsafe and goes against everything we say about wanting to promote a culture of life? Jenny approaches this question in this episode. The short answer is, "yes, midwives are safe and pro-life, if you and baby are low risk AND you decide that this is right for you and your family."

Jenny's Website

Midwifery: Evidence Based Practice

A Midwife's Tale (book about a Colonial Midwife)

Lamaze 6 Healthy Birth Practices

Address to Midwives - Pope Pius XII

Lily Nichols, RDN

The term "Pro-Birth" has become a derogatory name to describe people who are pro-life but are only concerned with a live baby at birth, not what happens afterwards. Which couldn't be more further from the truth. In this podcast, we will explore what it truly means to be Pro-Birth: that Pro-Birth IS Pro-Life, and why birth truly does matter and cannot be forgotten in our mission to support life at all ages as Catholics. We will also discuss ways that you can get involved, and these are just a few!

Mary's Hands Network

Kristen Hawkins

Radical Solidarity

Made For This - a guide to birth for Catholic moms. A great resource to you and to us!

St. Gerard Society

Do I need to choose a Catholic provider (doctor or midwife) for your pregnancy and childbirth? How do I know who is the right person for my individualized care? What sorts of questions do I need to ask the doctor or midwife so I can make that choice? Using the Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs) and Mary Haseltine's book Made For This, we will discuss how to pick the care provider that serves you, your baby, and your family in pregnancy and birth.