ChicagoDoula » Blog

Who Is ChicagoDoula?

Rachel Dolan Wickersham — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:31:38 +0000

So Amy is trying to get me to blog. I have to say, I have never considered this and am not so sure how good I’ll be at this. I’m only here because she has the smarts and the drive to get us both here. Maybe I can start by giving you the back story. For the past 15 years, I’ve practiced as a childbirth educator, doula, doula trainer and occasional midwife’s assistant. I’ve used the web since the beginning and have always used the screen name identity “ChicagoDoula.” But as the web developed, I remained a very basic user – email, the occasional instant message, web-browsing.

I always thought I should make more of it. I even took a website design class. I created a draft version of a very pretty website. And it sat there on my computer for years. I had no idea how to get it published. Two years ago I finally figured out that I needed to purchase a domain name. So I did. But that sat there too. When Facebook came along, I figured it out to some degree, though I only have personal pages – no business page.

Then along came Amy, a new doula on the block, with some really neat ideas. She hoped to develop a website and call it ChicagoDoula.net. I agreed to this because after all, though I’d been using the name for years, I did not yet have a website and thought I would never get around to it. Amy began building the site and after a time we realized it was something we could work on together. We began to think of ChicagoDoula as a concept rather than a specific person and several months later, here we are.

Who is ChicagoDoula? She is a little bit of everything, just like the city she serves. She is an activist, a doula, a mother, a midwife (of babies or ideas or communities), a mentor and a student. She is experienced and wise, yet she is fresh and enthusiastic and full of new ideas. She is knowledgeable about a variety of childbirth preparation techniques and is comfortable working with them. She believes that life is precious and she also believes in a woman’s right to make a full range of decisions about her reproductive health care – whether that means choosing to terminate a pregnancy, choosing an epidural for labor, or choosing a homebirth with an underground midwife. She strives to help women understand the full implications of their choices and help them find their innate power, so their choices are not driven by fear. She understands that there is no single right answer for any given situation. She is willing to support women in whatever choice is right for them.

ChicagoDoula loves her city and the people in it. She joyfully serves families from all walks of life. She is ever-hopeful with a strong vein of cynical, anti-racist, queer-friendly, working on recognizing her privileges as well as her own internalized oppression, challenging others and herself to see and understand things differently. When faced with obstacles, she looks for creative solutions rather than struggling to achieve particular outcomes.

She envisions a world where all women get the support they need across the spectrum of pregnancy, labor, birth and parenting – a world where every woman in every community has access to the information and support she wants and needs so that she can be affirmed in her choices.

She envisions a world where women are respected, safe, honored and empowered.

In short, ChicagoDoula is many things. We invite you to get to know her, us, as we continue posting here and continue building our websites.

Birth Day Appreciations

Amy Catania — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:12:48 +0000

I came home late tonight to a quiet house after spending the last 26+ hours providing labor support. Partner and kids are already tucked in bed for the night – so my birthday has passed by here for my family without me. And I am kind of sad about that. We will have to make it up later.

But instead!… Instead, I got to spend it doing something I love! Something that is truly an honor. And I was rewarded by witnessing the birth of a completely posterior (and asynclitic!) baby. For those of you who don’t speak “Obstetric”, that can be a very tough birth and frequently results in a cesarean rather than vaginal delivery. Anyway – it was simply a miracle. I do love my job.

And now I am enjoying one of my favorite meals after a long day (and night) of doula work: Thai food (Panang noodles that were waiting for me in the fridge) and a dirty gin martini.

But the especially cool thing is that along with it, I got to read through so many birthday wishes from such a fantastic group of people. I got a little weepy (either the sleep deprivation or the gin or both) and thought I’d write a bit just to say: “Thank You!!” I am so glad I get to stay connected with each and every one of you.

I feel very blessed this January 23rd.

…And in case you want to know more about preventing posterior positioning – or ways to try turning a baby who’s already there. Check out spinningbabies.com!

Local Cesarean Rates Vary Widely by Hospital

Amy Catania — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:37:57 +0000

In my birth preparation classes I often discuss the concept of “entrainment“, or the phenomenon that takes place when two forces influence each other so that, over time, they move in the same way or with the same rhythm. When one force is stronger it more easily pulls the smaller force in line with itself.

One of the ways this can happen at birth is in the way that the attitudes and beliefs of all who attend may influence the decisions parents make “in the heat of the moment”, as well as influencing the final outcome. Even when parents have an express desire to birth a certain way, and truly believe in this as the “right way” for them, if the collective force of all those present at the labor (including doctors, midwives, residents, and the nurses in triage, labor and delivery, and the nursery) differs with this belief, it may well steer parents in a different direction than they planned to go before labor began.

The overall birth culture in a hospital should be at the top of the list when considering whether the forces that will be “entraining” your labor are in line with your own beliefs and attitudes about birth. One indicator of (and influence on) the birth culture and routines in any given hospital is the rate of cesarean births that take place there.

The types of labors and births that are more commonplace (e.g., unmedicated labors, induced labors, labors with epidurals, and cesarean births) can impact the way that hospital staff is inclined to view normal birth and may lead parents to want to ask more questions to find out if the hospital and the care providers there feel like a good fit.

Here is recent coverage from the Chicago Tribune that includes a link to data reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health for Illinois hospitals in 2008. The report cited in the link provides a range of information, including the total number of births and the number of cesareans for each facility in the state. It is a good starting place for finding out more about a hospital you or someone you know may be interested in for giving birth.

Feminist Mothering

Amy Catania — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:45:22 +0000

I read a lot a fabulous blogs and want to repost more often than I actually manage to do it. As I am beginning the reworking of ChicagoDoula.net to include more fabulous activism and information, this post from a new contributor at Feministe stood out: “So, What is Feminist Mothering?”

If you are a Chicago feminist, anti-racist mama and birth advocate let me hear from you!

Summer Done-so-far List

Amy Catania — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:33:14 +0000

Now that summer is here, my posting has been lighter than ever. My stats suggest some of you may have noticed, so I offer by way of excuse, a brief, but by no means complete, overview of what your friendly Chicago-area doula-birth mentor-mama-domestic violence and anti-oppression trainer and sometime trouble maker has been up to:

☀ Enjoying the roller coaster that is parenting – including helping one delightful toddler with her potty training and helping an equally delightful, yet completely different, 5 year old navigate the emotional terrain of a brand new group of kids at summer camp

☀ Attending births of some truly resourceful and amazing families. I have now attended 9 births since I began late last year. And, wow. It has been such an honor and a privilege to be a part of each one. I learn something new at each one.

☀ Planning (and re-planning) my next Birthing From Within® class – which still has space open and is now scheduled to be three, six-hour sessions on Sunday afternoons from 12-6pm starting July 19th and running through August 2nd - You can register or find out more by contacting me on my fixed-so-it really works-now contact page.

☀ One lovely family road trip to my grandparents’ former home in Northern Wisconsin (so good we’re doing it again this weekend)

☀ Supporting the good work and activism of the brand new Chicago chapter of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC) and its effort to lower maternal and infant mortality rates in the state of Illinois

☀ Preparing for and conducting two trainings on the effects of domestic violence on survivors, including one to 50 probation officers

☀ Helping out with the outreach and planning for HealthConnect One’s upcoming fall conference: Birth, Breastfeeding and Beyond – which you can register for now!

☀ Reading! Articles and posts and books…stay tuned for a few of the good ones.

Hillary tells it like it is

Amy Catania — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:57:28 +0000

My definition of reproductive health includes access to, and support during and after abortion. This is certainly not something all doulas and birth workers agree on. Yet, it is most definitely part of what I do as a doula and as an advocate for women. Here Hillary breaks it down from a global and national perspective:

Homebirth Safety Act Update – And Pictures!

Amy Catania — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:48:27 +0000

Despite a setback earlier this month, and what this article might lead you to believe, Rep. Julie Hamos and the co-sponsors of the Illinois’ Home Birth Safety Act, HB 226, are still working on getting the bill passed this session. They need all the help we can give them to turn legislators’ “no’s” into “yes’s”.

If you live in Illinois, please let your legislators know that you support HB 226 and women’s right to give birth where we choose. You can go here to find out who your state representative and senator are and get their phone numbers and mailing addresses. For tips and talking points you can refer to info here and here. This bill needs ALL the support we can give it, so please understand – I am asking YOU to join me and do this!

As an incentive, I finally finished going through my pictures from the road trip I took with my kids to lobby for the bill earlier this month. (Thanks to Kathleen, for helping me figure out how to post them). The photos aren’t going to win any awards (except maybe one that Elijah took). But they tell the story of the day, so have a look at them and then support the effort and call and write your legislators!

And We’re Off!

Amy Catania — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:05:33 +0000

A little later than we aimed for, but that’s why we aimed early. The organizers say they are hoping for 200 supporters to show!

Look for updates at http://www.twitter.com/ChicagoDoula via my cell phone and here when I can.