ImprovingBirth.org - New Orleans, La

03/26/2020

Have you experienced or witnessed birthing people who tested positive with COVID-19 being separated from their newborns after birth in hospitals? Share your story with ImprovingBirth.

Have you experienced or witnessed birthing people who tested positive with COVID-19 being separated from their newborns after birth in hospitals?

Share your story with us. Feel free to send us a PM if you prefer. Thanks for your help as we gather this information!

Edit to add: We chose our words intentionally. Any insulting or unsupportive comments will be deleted. Our page is not the place for your rant. There are other outlets where you can do that.

03/25/2020

Please help us spread the word! Contact ImprovingBirth if you know of any pregnant person who tested positive for the virus, has been hospitalized, and in ICU. Read more below.

** URGENT **
Please repost and share!
We have learned of one confirmed case of a pregnant person in the United States that has been infected with COVID-19 and has been put into ICU.
We urgently need your help with 2 very important things:
- Please reach out to us with any details about other pregnant individuals who have been confirmed as having COVID-19, hospitalized, and in ICU.
- Contact us if you are a hospital administrator or know of one who is interested in developing protocols for the care of pregnant people who have tested positive for COVID-19.
These numbers are not being shared widespread, and we need your help to pinpoint if and how many other pregnant people are infected. We respect patient privacy and want to connect care providers in the same situation. Help us gather as much information as possible. Please send us an email at [email protected] or private message here on Facebook if you have any insight about the above.

Thank you for your help in getting the word out.

07/16/2019

Be sure to use the ImprovingBirth link whenever you shop Amazon! Whether a Prime member or not, a percentage of your purchases will be donated to our organization when you shop using our Amazon Smile link.

Bookmark this link NOW before the Amazon.com Prime Day deals start!
HERE: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/46-1254884
Every time you use our Amazon Smile link to shop for anything on Amazon, a percentage of your total purchase will be donated to ImprovingBirth. Use the link if shopping from a computer.
For Android users, you can also select our nonprofit organization as your Amazon Smile recipient right from the app. Open the Amazon Shopping app on your Android device. View Settings, and select Amazon Smile. Then search for Improvingbirth.org Inc. SO easy!!

12/05/2018

Thanks to you:
- 154 pregnant families who sought direct support from ImprovingBirth this year were able to find evidence-based providers and make informed decisions about their care options.

- 450 people were able to download tools to help them heal and seek accountability for the traumatic births they suffered at the hands of a broken maternity care system.

- Hundreds of thousands of other families were reached this year through social media.
On behalf of them, thank you for making a difference in their lives in supporting our organization by sharing, shopping in our online store, and most importantly, through your donations.

Read more below about the Mother-Friendly Hospital Accreditation Program.

We need your help to make it happen. Would you be willing to make a special year-end donation of $50, $100, or whatever you can afford to help us meet our goal and save more families from unnecessary trauma?

11/23/2018

Sondra was 39 weeks, healthy, no signs of any danger for her or baby. Yet her doctor encouraged her to induce. “Do you want to meet your baby today?” she said in a cheerful upbeat tone walking into the exam room, a room where a pregnant mother sat with swollen feet, an aching back, and dozens of sleepless nights behind her. The idea of meeting her baby that day was an offer she couldn’t resist...

Read the rest of Sondra's story below.

Sondra was 39 weeks, healthy, no signs of any danger for her or baby. Yet her doctor encouraged her to induce. “Do you want to meet your baby today?” she said in a cheerful upbeat tone walking into the exam room, a room where a pregnant mother sat with swollen feet, an aching back, and dozens of sleepless nights behind her. The idea of meeting her baby that day was an offer she couldn’t resist.

There was no discussion about what to expect or the risks involved. It was obvious that she regretted her decision on the second day of the induction when she was trying to crawl back on the bed, only to get caught up in all the wires that were now required and seemed to be attached to her from every place possible. She looked at me with her arms and legs splayed out, and she cried. She looked like a stringed puppet with wires coming from both arms, her belly, her va**na.

The “day” of meeting her baby turned into a 3-day induction that ended in emergency surgery, because her baby was now in distress. Add another 3 days of recovery for a total of 6 days spent in the hospital. “I was so conflicted. I was falling madly in love with my baby, but I was seriously traumatized by what had just happened,” Sondra said. “I eventually recovered from the serious physical pain, but I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from the emotional pain.”

“What the **** just happened?”

These were the words from a mama who should have been elated with her new baby in her arms, but instead was reeling from a system that doles out interventions like Halloween candy.

This is our “Why.” Sondra’s experience happens everyday to thousands of pregnant people. 70% of labors are induced or sped up – often for non-medical indications and not resulting in improved infant outcomes. This practice has a direct impact on the number of cesarean sections that are done each day.

These issues are complex, intertwined, and are FINALLY getting taken seriously by mainstream journalists. News articles are showing up weekly about the abysmal state of maternity care. People are talking and want to act.

Friends, we have been a huge contributing factor to this new focus. We’ve done a lot in 6 years. ImprovingBirth has grown into the largest consumer advocacy organization for maternity care in the United States. We have raised much awareness around the issues of maternal and infant mortality, maternal morbidity, our failing maternity care system, the rise of unnecessary c-sections and interventions, lack of truly informed consent, obstetric violence, and traumatic births.

But there is still so much that needs to be done. Your generosity helps us continue this forward momentum. Moms and babies are depending on us – and we’re depending on you. As the year-end giving season approaches, your generosity guarantees that we can continue to drive change.

As a non-profit organization, we depend on your financial support to climb this mountain of change. Please join us in challenging a broken system that is long overdue for change by making a one-time or a year-round recurring gift to ImprovingBirth.

Donate today: http://bit.ly/support-ib

May the holiday season bring your family joy and precious time spent together.

In love and service,
Dawn Thompson
on behalf of the board of ImprovingBirth

11/16/2018

The holiday season is upon us. 🍂 🍁 🍽 🥘 📯
(Gosh, that snuck up on us fast!) A season of joy, giving, gatherings, food and more food, and also a season of labor inductions.

Around the holidays in the U.S., the number of labor inductions soar. Undoubtedly the rise in inductions are not due to necessity, but quite often because of pressure from a provider or related to what is “convenient” for them and their schedule.

TRUTH: Babies do not know it’s Thanksgiving. Get the facts so that you can make informed decisions about your body and your baby. Letting labor begin on its own is usually safest for moms and babies. You should not feel pressured to induce without medical necessity.

Below are some helpful links surrounding induction. . . .
Saying 'No' to Induction: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595289

Cytotec Induction and Off-Label Use: http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/cytotec.asp

Small Pelvis? Big Baby? The Truth about CPD: http://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth/small-pelvis-big-baby-cpd

The Evidence for Induction for Low Fluid: https://evidencebasedbirth.com/what-is-the-evidence-for-induction-for-low-fluid-at-term-in-a-healthy-pregnancy

The Evidence for Inducing Labor for Going Past Your Due Date: https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-inducing-labor-for-going-past-your-due-date

The Evidence for Induction for Suspected Big Baby: https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-for-induction-or-c-section-for-big-baby

11/14/2018

Read one expectant mother’s story about how she was spoken to and left feeling vulnerable at a prenatal appointment. Can any of you relate?

“I recently had one of the most disturbing experiences with a medical professional in my life, and since I'm awake at five thirty in the morning with rage-brain, I can't think of anything to do but tweet about it.”

08/31/2018

We need YOUR help to continue our work as a nonprofit organization, which is why we are bringing back the IB menstrual cups fundraiser. It was such a hit a few years ago, and we have now added cloth pads!

Using a cup every month instead of disposable tampons will save you around $400 over the course of 5 years. That's HUGE!!! Think of all the other things you could do with that money.

By purchasing a reusable cup for just $19.99 and/or cloth pads from our fundraiser, not only are you saving money now but also for the long haul, as our cups cost significantly less than competitors'. PLUS, you can save even more by ordering cups in bulk. Place a cups order with your friends, and save 10-15%!

SHOP & FAQ HERE: http://improvingbirth.org/fundraiser

Using a cup every month instead of disposable tampons will save you around $400 over the course of 5 years. That's HUGE!!! Think of all the other things you could do with that money.

By purchasing a reusable cup for just $19.99 and/or cloth pads from our fundraiser, not only are you saving money now but also for the long haul, as our cups cost significantly less than competitors'. PLUS, you can save even more by ordering cups in bulk. Place a cups order with your friends, and save 10-15%!

SHOP & FAQ HERE: http://improvingbirth.org/fundraiser

07/31/2018

The Community Advocacy Training program is here! Visit https://improvingbirth.org/make-room-for-advocacy for more information and to sign up today!

When I was a Doula I pretty much treated it like a hobby and not a business. I just deposited checks. I didn't manage the money at all. Most of us who are drawn to birth work are not naturally business minded so we don't have systems in place to manage it.

How would it feel knowing exactly how much money you need for your life goals every month and have a clear, realistic plan on how to get it?

Join us and create an achievable income plan to support you and your family that leaves you time for all the things you want to do

Birthing families need more advocates, people on the front lines in their communities who are working to improve birth beyond their clients. The first step in being able to be that advocate is getting our own business and personal life in line.

07/24/2018

Interested in holding a local Rally to Improve Birth this September? Feel called to be a coordinator? Visit the link in the attached post to apply today!

Let's do this!

We had several express interest in coordinating a Rally to Improve Birth this fall, as we have been doing for several years now, so we are opening up registration. With the short timeline, we may not have as many printed resources available for coordinators, but all of the "how tos" and support will still be there.