This episode features Jen Atkisson @jenatkisson.  Jen tells the story of how healing her own trauma from domestic violence raised her awareness around provider trauma in nursing culture and the clinical birth setting.  We talk about her trauma-informed approach and the techniques she utilizes as a clinical educator, her experience working as an expert witness in birth injury cases, and what she believes it takes for nurses and providers to co-create a new standard of care in birthing spaces.
 
Jen is a certified perinatal nurse and educator, with an MS in Clinical Nurse Leadership from the University of Portland. She has practiced in hospitals, birth centers and public health clinics for the past 15 years, supporting thousands of patients as they move through the birth process. Jen is also an expert witness in birth injury litigation. She believes in the power of trauma-aware practices to bring joy back into our professional lives and allow us to have meaningful patient relationships.  Her personal mission is to help nurses uncenter their fears and reconnect to their professional identity as a patient advocate.

Connect with Jen's work, resources, and classes at jenatkisson.com

T/W Domestic violence, substance abuse

In this episode, Jennifer talks with Mandy Irby (she/her) @thebirthnurse.  We discuss Mandy's journey to becoming a labor & delivery nurse, her decision to leave the bedside, and what it means to be a trauma-informed practitioner.  

Mandy is a board certified labor nurse with 12 years of experience supporting survivors of assault and trauma through pregnancy, birth planning, and at their bedside during childbirth and pregnancy loss. After experiencing her own birth trauma, she quickly learned that the birth care system is NOT centered on human rights, patient choice, and the individual human experience. In 2020, Mandy made education a full-time career. She now teaches and supports parents and nurses how to better center voice, choice, and physiology in birth. It's Mandy’s mission to change birth culture so that it's parent-centered, trauma-informed, and safe – for everyone.

Mandy enjoys teaching L&D units in-person Peanut Ball, Labor Support Skills and Trauma-Informed Care At the Bedside workshops. She also supports local parents with small-group Spinning Babies® Parent Classes when in-person learning is safest. Mandy is also an international educator through her online, on-demand childbirth ed classes and she supports anxious parents-to-be with virtual, one-on-one trauma-informed birth strategy sessions. She’s the co-founder of Fearless Birth, Delivered, founder and owner of The Birth Nurse®, and a proud co-creator of the BRAND NEW Trauma-Informed Birth Nurse Program. As a creative educator, Mandy is also the co-author of an Amazon-best seller VBAC book, Baby Got VBAC, and reaches millions of viewers each month through her very engaged, tongue-in-cheek social media platforms.

Connect with Mandy and her work:
mandyirby.com
traumainformedbirthnurse.com
The Pulse Check Podcast

Episode Topics:

9:23 - Mandy's experience of nursing school and hesitation joining the profession
18:00 - Witnessing birth as a student for the first time
22:50 - Why Mandy stepped away from working at the bedside
42:12 - What do hospitals and car manufacturers have in common?
45:35 - What do we mean by "trauma-informed?"
54:43 - The Trauma Informed Birth Nurse program

Kim Summer is a Southern California Full Spectrum Doula, writer, International Cesarean Awareness Network chapter leader, placenta specialist, and activist. A mother to three, she holds degrees in Behavioral Science and Anthropology. She is currently working on multiple books, and pursuing her IBCLC licensure at UCSD. She can almost always be found drinking coffee and chasing the sun.  Connect with Kim at kimsummer.com and @mamathreebirds

In this episode we talk about Kim's work as a hospital-focused doula and what she thinks every doula needs to be an effective advocate in the hospital.   We touch on Kim's move from California to Wisconsin and back again, grief and connection to "home."  We also cover Kim's time serving in the U.S. Army and how it informs the work she does today.

Cristen Pascucci is a former political and media consultant, now an advocate for human rights in childbirth.  Since 2012, she has worked to put obstetric violence in the news and amplify birthing people's stories, as well as worked closely with birth lawyers to defend and advance their rights.  She is the founder of Birth Monopoly and in production on a documentary film called Mother May I, which highlights obstetric violence, birth trauma, and the monopoly on birth that keeps us limited to abusive systems.

In this episode we talk about the art of communicating in advocacy work.  We discuss Cristen's upcoming documentary, the power of visual mediums, and the various ways her work is presented.  Other topics discussed include: obstetric violence, medical education reform, implications surrounding the buzz phrase "trauma informed," and Cristen's perspectives on what's missing in the birth advocacy community.   Cristen gives practical advice about seeking support and establishing boundaries in advocacy work to minimize secondary trauma.

Learn more about Cristen and her work/resources at birthmonopoly.com and @birthmonopoly 

In this episode I talk with Chemyeeka Tumblin, MSPH, MMFT.  @positivelymyeek

Chemyeeka  is an advocate, educator, and  speaker. She has a Master of Science in Public Health, Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy and over 5 years experience in the field of behavioral health. Chemyeeka is currently a Public Health Professional in the field of Maternal Child Health, a temp-licensed (post graduate under supervision) Marriage and Family Therapist,  National Show Your Love ambassador and chair member, a member of Black Christian Influencers and For(bes) the Culture, and MaMa Glow Full Spectrum Doula trainee with Birth Manifesta.

As a Preconception Health Strategist she focuses on health of all individuals in prevention of disease, as well as, promotion of healthy family planning. In her role as a Birth Professional she continues that same focus while centering her strategy and personalizing her delivery to families and individuals desiring to have children while using a holistic health approach. 

In this solo episode, I tell a bit of my story and how a series of unexpected challenging and ultimately enlightening events led to my birth ethics work and research.  I invite you to explore the question - can we truly change harmful systems if we participate in them, or do they just change us in the end?  Asking for a friend!

Pamela Serna is a birth doula, childbirth educator, prenatal yoga instructor and biomedical engineer. She advocates for birth justice in Mexico, where respectful birth attention is largely a matter of privilege rather than a human right.

Connect with Pamela on Instagram: @pamela.doula 

Lia Berquist is a certified doula and affiliated teacher of The Bradley Method® and Evidence Based Birth®. She also teaches Your Badass Natural Birth classes with Flor Cruz of @BadAssMotherBirther.  

Lia has been teaching childbirth education in Long Beach since 2011 and has been a doula since 2012. She has two daughters, both born using The Bradley Method®. One was born in a hospital and one was born at home. Ever since watching her own mother give birth to her sisters in the early 1980's, Lia has been passionate about physiological childbirth and advocacy during pregnancy and labor.

Connect with Lia:  @yournaturalbirth @yourbadassnaturalbirth and www.yournaturalbirth.net

Dr. Haya Zedan is a mom and an advocate for maternal mental health and wellness in Saudi Arabia. With a background in psychology, public health and primary care, she teaches and conducts research at university in the areas of health law, policy and ethics, health behavior, maternal mental health and e-health. She is a Perinatal Mental Health Counsellor (PMH-C), certified by Postpartum Support International, a certified Motherhood Studies Practitioner, certified Women's Wellness and Childbirth Educator and certified Lactation Counsellor. She is a writer and lifelong learner and believes there is untapped potential for women to thrive in themselves and their motherhood experiences. 

In this episode, Jennifer talks with Janell Barron about taking visionary action and what it means to extend the role of doula beyond birthing spaces and into the community.  

Janell is the self proclaimed “Savvy Doula.” She is a mother, wife, and entrepreneur. She has been working in the maternal health advocacy space for over 5 years in various capacities. Janell is a Doula who has trained with two organizations, and she's on her way to completing her childbirth educator certification. She also holds a CLC. She does all of this while working full time as a Maternal Community health worker. Janell considers herself a true Harlem Wombmxn. She prides herself on her hustle, her drive, and her ambition. She can be found on Instagram @thesavvydoula_.