Hi, everyone! My name is Josh and I'm working with Wendy and the rest of the Snugabell team on Press and Public Relations. I ended up on board through my wife, Amy, who you learned a little bit about last month. Since Amy is a Certified Lactation Counselor and does social media work for all sorts of mom-oriented companies like Snugabell, I've been pretty well surrounded by birth, breastfeeding, and all-things-parenthood since our daughter was born three years ago.
I'm a freelance writer with a background in traditional marketing, now collaborating with Wendy to try and get the word out about PumpEase and the Toni Top in fun, creative ways. I spend a lot of my time working for a big, traditional insurance company so it's always refreshing to work with small, nimble companies like Snugabell. The things you can get done with social media, networking, and good-old-fashioned legwork are amazing and always rewarding. Plus I get to tag-team with my wife supporting something that we both really believe in and want to see succeed.
Together we make up West Freelance Communications, focused mostly on social media and blog development. By far one of the greatest things about being in business for yourself is getting to pick and choose which companies you're going to work with. If we don't believe in something, we don't have to do it. That's a great feeling.
It's great to have a chance to introduce myself to everyone. Looking forward to getting to know each other better as time goes on!
Hi! My name is Amy West and I’m the woman behind a lot of the social media work that goes on around here. Wendy has been a great, long-time client and it’s an absolute blast to work with her.
My job is basically to keep up with what’s happening in social media and to help the Snugabell team connect with all of their great fans and customers online. We post new content every day and love reaching out to you to see what you think about things that hopefully kick off great conversations.
The thing about my job is that you really have to feel good about the companies you work with. I’m a CLC (Certified Lactation Counselor) and very proud to be a member of the Best for Babes team – an organization that Snugabell supports generously. Because my life and work are so entwined with breastfeeding and parenting in general, Wendy’s company really speaks to the things I care about.
This is a great gig and I’m very proud of the work I get to do every day. My company, West Freelance Communications, does similar work for a number of other clients, mostly active in the parenting sphere. This allows me to work from my home, which has been fantastic – especially during our first years with Ava, our now three (going on twenty-three) year old daughter.
Anyway, that’s a little bit about me – the one who’s usually behind the curtain. The moms I get to meet through my work with Wendy are amazing – I’m so grateful to be a part of the Snugabell team!
Giving birth is one of the most intensely powerful physical and emotional experiences a woman can go through. Labour and birth themselves are intense, as well as the transformation of a woman into her new-found role as a mother.
Our North American culture does not always seem to honour this process or transition. Historically, women were able to rely on a community of other women to support them throughout this experience. Today, women generally are expected to carry themselves through pregnancy, birth and postpartum with minimal support or nurturing from other women.
Enter the Birth Doula. The word doula is a Greek word meaning “female slave” or “woman’s servant”. In the birth world, a doula is a woman who provides familiar, knowledgeable emotional and physical support to a woman prenatally, during labour, and postpartum.
The support a doula provides allows women to remember their births as more positive, blissful experiences, feeling honoured, heard, comforted and supported throughout.
Here are 5 ways a doula can make your own birth more blissful:
1. A doula is focused on your emotional and physical needs 100%. Your doctor or midwife is a medical professional, trained to ensure you and your baby stay healthy. We’re lucky to have them as safeguards for birth, there to intervene if things don’t go as smoothly as they usually do. Because their role as medical professionals is their number one priority, they are not able to provide continual support as you cope with the intensity of contractions during labour. Your doula is not a medical practitioner, and does not have this responsibility pulling at her attention. This allows her to put all of her energy into making sure you are as comfortable, relaxed and taken care of as possible.
2. A doula can do the left-brain work. During prenatal classes and in birth books, you learn about different labour positions, comfort measures, specific things to try for certain situations that may come up during birth. You may also have heard that it is important to allow yourself to go inward, switching to the more meditative, right-brained mentality and focus on letting your body do its work. It is difficult to stay in that meditative, focused state if you are constantly reaching into your “left” brain to think of all the things you could be trying. You doula can do that thinking for you, making gentle suggestions for trying a new position, reminding you to have a sip of water between each contraction, getting you to the washroom once an hour to make sure your bladder is empty and there’s lots of room for baby to move around. She will also have a few tricks up her sleeve for dealing with especially intense labour or discomfort. This allows you to stay focused inward, steadily focused on coping with each contraction.
3. Doulas provide continual and familiar support. If your are birthing in a hospital setting, there will be nurses around to check in and monitor you between visits from your doctor or midwife. An important thing to point out is that hospital staff work in shifts! Labour can be a long journey, and in your time at the hospital, you sometimes go through one or two OB's and multiple nurses. Your doula will likely be your only support person that you and your partner became familiar with during pregnancy, and will stay by your side through the entirety of labour. Your doula knows you, knows your birth vision and knows what you’ve experienced so far in your birth. This steady and familiar presence offers a feeling of safety that is so important to minimizing your stress level during labour.
4. A doula takes stress off your partner. We are lucky here in North America to live in a time where fathers are invited into hospital birthing rooms. It wasn’t long ago that women birthed without any familiar support in hospitals, left only with doctors and medical staff. However, men have traditionally never been a part of birth, and in our culture, people barely talk to women about birth, never mind men! Because of this, it is a lot to ask of the father to be your sole support person during birth. Doulas do not replace the father’s role in your birth experience. They simply remove the pressure on dads to remember their crash course in labour and birth over the last few months. Between holding mom, taking steps to minimize her discomfort, making sure the whole birth team is nourished and hydrated, asking the right questions of medical staff, and suggesting techniques for keeping things moving along smoothly, there is no shortage of support to give mom. Having a doula to aide in some of these tasks makes birthing a more blissful experience for both mom and dad.
5. A doula will make sure you continue to feel supported after birth. You’ve had your baby. Now what? As you settle into your new role as a mother, your doula will be available for breastfeeding support, emotional support and to help you find any postpartum resources to make the entry into this new part of your life as smooth and blissful as possible.
Having a birth doula to support you during birth is one of the easiest ways to create a sense of calm trust in the process. The biggest enemy of birth is stress, which interferes with progress and can slow or stop contractions altogether. Having a doula by your side providing continual emotional and physical support during your birth makes it so much easier to create a blissful birth for you, your partner and for baby.
Jessica Austin is a Birth Doula and Childbirth Educator based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Her doula practice - Birth Takes a Village - has a mission "to promote a gentle and informed birth culture". You can also find Jessica on Facebook and Twitter.
I for one wish I had hired a doula for my birth. Don't get me wrong, I had "textbook" pregnancies and wonderful births both times. As well, my doctor and the rest of the hospital staff, as well as my husband, were all amazing during my labour and birth and I wouldn't change a thing. However, a doula is there to support you in a different way and I would definitely opt to have that support if I were to have another baby. Jessica's five points really resonated with me. It just makes sense. How about you? Did you have a doula? If so, what was the best thing about having one? If not, will you have one "next time"? Please share your experiences below.
Have you ever wondered what's involved in exhibiting at a wholesale trade show? How about a million square foot show with over 1000 exhibitors and thousands of buyers from retail stores and distribution companies all over the world?
Well, it is a LOT of work. And it is expensive. And it requires loads of planning (many exhibitors book for the following year before they leave the current year's show) - show specials, promotional giveaways, displays, staffing...
Then there is the post-show follow-up which many exhibitors fail at miserably. This year, for once, I had all mine done within a couple of weeks. <---- SO proud of myself.
Before I started Snugabell, I had *no clue* what exhibiting at a trade show of this magnitude would look like.
So after reading this post from Peter Shankman, I was inspired to buy a GoPro HERO camera, strap it to my chest and give you a taste of trade show life. Follow me as I set up my booth for the ABC Kids Expo in Loo-uh-vul, Kentucky while wearing the Snugabell "Boob Cam".
Special thanks to Glen and Natalie Sanders of PeekAway for helping me out! (at 1:05)
Let me know what you think in the comments below...
This is the fifth of six posts in the "Pumping with Weather Anchor Mama" series by Stacy-Ann Gooden.
Stacy-Ann currently delivers the weather week nights in New York City, however considers her most important role being a wife and mom. She writes about balancing career and motherhood in her blog Weather Anchor Mama.
One of my biggest concerns as a nursing mom has been keeping my milk supply going strong. I’ve spoken with so many moms who say they were unsuccessful at breastfeeding because they ran out of milk. I didn’t want that to happen to me, so I consulted my doctor for advice. Basically, I researched my butt off.
Here’s what I’ve been doing to keep my supply going:
1) When I told my daughter’s pediatrician that I was going to breastfeed, he told me to drink waterbefore, during, and after each nursing session. As soon as we returned home from the hospital, I sent my hubby out to buy several gallons of bottled water. I kept it close by throughout my maternity leave. The doc also mentioned that I shouldn’t give my baby water for the first 6 months. So, taking in water myself meant my baby and I both stayed hydrated.
2) I’ve maintained a healthy diet by taking in about 500 extra calories a day. The added bonus is that breastfeeding helps me burn a lot of calories. (Every now and again I hit the gym, so eating more is sometimes necessary).
3) I nurse a lot (the more I nurse, the more milk I produce).
5) There are plenty of lactation cookie recipes that include the ingredient brewer’s yeast that’s believed to increase milk supply. Other mamas swear by Fenugreek or other galactagogues. I haven’t got around to trying any cookies, and I didn’t notice much of a difference when I took Fenugreek. However by maintaining a healthy diet and nursing and pumping as much as I can, I have kept my supply solid. It’s all about dedication baby!
Following these simple tips has helped me through my breastfeeding experience. It’s been over a year and I’m still going strong!
Did you ever feel that you didn't have enough milk? Was it real or perceived? If the former, were you successful at increasing your supply? Tell us how you did it below...
The content of this post is based on the personal experiences of Stacy-Ann Gooden and may not reflect evidence-based information. Your experiences may differ. Please consult your health care provider and/or a Board Certified Lactation Consultant for advice.
Hi, everyone! My name is Josh and I'm working with Wendy and the rest of the Snugabell team on Press and Public Relations. I ended up on board through my wife, Amy, who you learned a little bit about last month. Since Amy is a Certified Lactation Counselor and does social media work for all sorts of mom-oriented companies like Snugabell, I've been pretty well surrounded by birth, breastfeeding, and all-things-parenthood since our daughter was born three years ago.
Hi! My name is Amy West and I’m the woman behind a lot of the social media work that goes on around here. Wendy has been a great, long-time client and it’s an absolute blast to work with her.
