Empowering Births: Inside the Role of a Doula with Trisha Baird

Ever wondered about the role of a doula in the childbirth process? Today we bring you a heart-to-heart with Trisha Baird, a remarkable doula and childbirth educator who's transforming the birth experience in Southern Utah. Trisha illuminates the critical and compassionate role a doula plays - think of it as your ultimate birth companion who brings an unbiased, nurturing, and knowledgeable presence to ensure your wishes are heard and respected.

Trisha doesn't just stop at childbirth; she stresses the importance of preparation. She instills confidence in mothers-to-be by encouraging them to trust their body's innate ability to birth . From comprehensive resources to holistic pre- and postnatal care, Trisha is all about ensuring you're equipped for this incredible journey. She also emphasizes the importance of a positive birth experience, underlining how the right environment along with understanding the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of pregnancy can be game-changing.

Finally, we ask the hard questions about research sources and "what happens when there's an emergency and you need NICU?" If you're interested or even skeptical about doula care or home births, this is a MUST listen.

Make sure and follow Trisha!
https://www.empoweredbirthwithtrisha.com/
@trishabaird

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Chapters

• 0:00 Doulas in Pregnancy and Birth Importance
• 6:02 Doula's Role in Birth
• 15:22 Preparing for Pregnancy and Birth Processes
• 27:01 Positive Birth Experience Importance
• 31:26 Empowering Women Through Birth Education
• 40:51 Childbirth Classes and Home Birth Concerns
• 55:35 Importance of Doulas in Pregnancy
• 59:01 New Terms and Pregnancy Fitness Resources

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

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Speaker 2: 0:35

Welcome to the Mint Project podcast. Today we have Trisha Baird, an amazing doula and childbirth educator, with us and we are so excited to have her on to share her knowledge. She is a superhero slash celebrity here in the Southern Utah birth community and I hope that as you listen to her talk about what she does, you'll be able to feel her energy and her passion and dedication that she puts into the work that she does. So a little bit of background. I met Trisha in 2020.

Speaker 2: 1:07

I was pregnant with my second baby and I was planning an unmedicated birth and I knew that I wanted to work with the doula this time, just to kind of help me through the experience and support me through the birth. So I had heard so much about her from every single person that I talked to. Whenever I'd bring up her name, the women that I talked to would just rave about her. So I was like, well, I hope I can get her, you know. And luckily she had some openings and I was able to book her, I guess, for my birth. But it was right during COVID, like right when the COVID shutdowns happened. So I reached out to her and she said I am still teaching my childbirth class, but it's going to be through Zoom and so I was that I did, I think your first Zoom class for your childbirth class. So it was all online, but it was still really good. It was awesome and I just like I loved what she was teaching and I loved her, even though I hadn't met her before. And even my husband loved her and which is saying a lot because he's kind of hard to impress sometimes, especially like we hadn't met in person. So it's actually kind of funny.

Speaker 2: 2:16

About two weeks before I was due, our hospital in town, which is where I was planning on having my baby, announced that because of COVID, they were limiting the support person to just one person in the room, so you could only pick one person to come with you. And I was really upset because that means I had to choose between Ray, my husband, or Trisha. And I had brought it up with Ray and he's like you're going to choose Trisha, aren't you? And I was like, uh, yeah, I am, and he goes, he goes. I don't blame you, I would do the same thing. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 2:50

And so I know, and so that I mean, that's how amazing she is. Like I, I would have rather had her, which that sounds bad, but not really, because she knows, what she knows what she's doing. And you know, Ray can be helpful, but he doesn't really know.

Speaker 1: 3:05

Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 3:07

So anyways, unfortunately I wasn't able to use her because I had ended up having a scheduled C-section because of some complications. But even through that, she talked me through the process, she, she let me just kind of talk it out with her because I really didn't want to do that but she, she supported me in my decision and I just really felt really supported and empowered in what I was doing, not like the decisions were being made for me. So she was a really good support for me at that time and she even was like well, I can come to the hospital with you and just be there while you're having your C-section, but I didn't want her to do that. I had to be there at like 4am. So I was like, no, you're fine, it's okay, but I mean, that's just how. How dedicated she is to her clients and to what she does. So that was just a nice little introduction of Trisha and, without further ado, let's let her tell us all about being a doula. Welcome, thank you. Thank you, cara.

Speaker 4: 4:01

Welcome. Thank you, betsy. Yeah, it's so nice to meet you guys too. I did come and pick up your placenta. Do you remember that?

Speaker 2: 4:08

You did. Yes, oh my gosh, yeah, there's so many things. So she did do that. She came and she picked up my placenta, which was so nice, because she was like, well, I wanted you something. She did that and she took it to a lady and got it encapsulated for me and so a whole Whole nother. Yes, that's a whole nother topic, but that was just yeah. Yeah, we can talk about that another time, but just, you know for the future, keep that in there. Yeah, I just really appreciated everything you did, though I just felt really tank care, even seen by her awesome.

Speaker 4: 4:44

Yeah, that that's what a doula is. I get that question all the time. What's a doula? Well, I don't want to have a natural birth. Well, a doula is just someone that knows the process, understands what's going on and it's just kind of there for you Whatever, wherever your birth Takes you. I listened to all of y'all's birth stories that you've put on and, yeah, you who maybe I just want to give you all hug. But yeah, women just need extra help, they need Support, they need understanding, they need love and compassion and you know, it's just something that our medical system is not necessarily providing, and I think that's where a doula can come in for any woman. Do you kind of want me to kind of tell my story of how I started or just what a doula is? I mean, what do you guys?

Speaker 2: 5:37

want. Yeah, we have all the questions. So, yeah, if you could, just, if you could just start by telling us you know what is a doula, kind of what's your role during your the birth and what's your role during pregnancy and even afterwards. Yeah, so One of the number one questions.

Speaker 4: 5:51

I get is when should I hire a doula? And I say as soon as you find out your pregnant, because when you have hired a doula she's kind of in your back pocket, you know, you can text or you can call her. She has all the resources that you will need. Now a lot of doulas might be listening and be like I don't know ever. I'm not saying that I know everything, but I know someone who does okay. So if I have a client that has an issue, even if it's at six weeks or 39 weeks, if I don't know the answer to that, or if I can't help her and give her the best of my knowledge, my opinion, obviously I'm not a medical person, so I can just give you my opinion, but I will kind of help her, navigate her, her whole process, you know, and um, there's one thing that is going to happen in your birth to everyone, and that is the unexpected, something that we did not plan, yeah, something that we don't understand what's going on. And I had one client call me an unbiased mom in the corner, and it's true, I I'm very like I'm not. I do act a lot like a mother and I'm not a mother and I'm not a mother and I'm not a mother and I'm not a mother and I'm not a mother Like a motherly figure to my clients, just because I'm very loving and caring for them. But I also have a knowledge base where your mom, like speaking to the listener, your mom might love you and have so much compassion for you, but she might have zero knowledge about how to take care of you. So that's what a doula can do. You know she steps in there and not that she always knows, but she will give you some options to understand. And I'm there for the partner as well, you know, because he might not know anything having to do with birth. But when, um, I'm there and I'm like, hey, remember how we talked about that. And then he's like, oh yeah, because so many.

Speaker 4: 7:39

Well, I teach the broadly method, which is also called husband coach childbirth. Um, I do have a lot of people that come to my class that are not married. So I usually will say your partner, and that's just what I say, because whoever that is, but typically when a woman is birthing, she does have a partner and he typically is male and, um, when you're choosing to be in a partnership with someone and living with someone, that's the person who should know all of his things and unfortunately In our society, especially males, they have zero clue and so they put it all onto the medical system, and the medical system, unfortunately, is not prepared to deal with your emotions and with all that comes along with it. So that's another thing that you know, do look anew.

Speaker 4: 8:25

But I'm also trying to train and teach these partners along their journey on how to do that too, and, and I believe, then that creates, um, a very unbreakable bond, not only with your partner but with your child as well. When you put that work in and just study together, and so a doula Is kind of there to kind of say, hey, they're doing this, or do you remember when we talked about this, or this is the right way to touch her or to talk to her, or you know? So that's kind of what a doula is. I hope that answered the question.

Speaker 2: 9:00

No, I love that. I I know one of the clients that or that you worked with. She's one of my friends and she said so. She gave birth at the hospital and she said you were Not only like supporting her and helping her through what she was going through, but you were her advocate, like when she couldn't talk to the nurses or the doctors because she was working through contractions or whatever, or she was really Overwhelmed. Like you were there making sure they knew what she wanted and so that her and her partner could focus on. You know what she was going through. And she said even at one point Um, like you get kind of feisty sometimes and you're like hey, she doesn't want that. Like stop, or you know, or like no, this is what she needs, you know. And like you are, you're like that, that strong mom in the corner being like no, this is you got her back, yeah.

Speaker 4: 9:49

I've heard that, that I have her back Because I know what she wants and every client is different. I meet with my clients at least three times. I I hope that they have taken my class because they really know me by then, but if not, that I've met with them personally, them and their partner, to know what she wants and I have a whole list written down and I know, like she doesn't want a, b or c. So I'm gonna make sure that if a, b or c is happening, I'm gonna be like, hey, yeah, she actually is saying no to that. She can't her use her voice right now, but I'm gonna use mine and I do.

Speaker 4: 10:24

But I I try to do it in a very political way, you know, because, um, yeah, I really respect nurses and doctors. Um, yes, I came into this profession Not doing that. Like I was just trying to convince everybody they need to do a home birth and I was right, my way of birthing was right and theirs was wrong, and that's just not the case. Like I take that back 10 million times because Everybody's birth is so different, everybody is different, everything about at all. It's just, it's so circumstantial so we can't say this is the right way and this is the wrong way. It's just like, hey, here's all of your options. What do you guys want?

Speaker 4: 11:06

And I don't know who you're specifically talking about, but I always like the, the main things about what happens in a birth. Those are the things that we talk about. Are you okay with this? Are are, let's just say, are you okay with an IV? Are you okay with continuous monitoring? Are you okay with them asking your pain level? Like? There's just so many things, and you'll learn all those things in a childbirth class. So, um, you know I don't call it a birth plan because we can't plan birth, but we can definitely know our options and in the midst of labor and delivery is just not the time to make a decision.

Speaker 4: 11:42

We need to know what our decision is already. So when they walk in and say, do you want this or I'm going to do this, you need to know exactly what that means. That's actual, true informed consent. And there's people over there not getting informed consent at all because they have no idea what they're saying. Yes, too, and that's a lot that's heavy on us, right, especially for a person that's not super into birth stuff and we didn't have a mom that did natural birth and we don't have sisters. There's popping babies out right and left. Like what if we don't know these things? Well, what happens, unfortunately, is we walk into our birth like this, just Eyes closed. We don't want to know. We just put our arm out and say just do whatever you want us to do, and unfortunately that's what they prefer. Over at the hospital, you know a willing, submissive person saying just do whatever you think. Well, that makes sense. But girls, there's a lot of things that we can prevent that Will be a major cause of trauma later in our lives that we didn't even realize was being taken away from us.

Speaker 4: 12:54

And because of my experiences, I understand my own personal experiences. I had two babies in the hospital which I thought were just fine, like everything was okay. You know they're both vaginal births, but I walked out of the second one specifically going what the hell just happened, like I didn't want any of those things and I actually even said no to most of them and I, to this day this was 25 years ago but I, to this day, cannot watch that birth video because I can't believe what I didn't know. But I'm here to say this is where my passion stems from is helping Mamas know that they they have a choice, that they can say things, that they can learn about their body and process it a different way. Um, and then, of course, I had two babies at home and then I was just like on a mission. I was like, oh, my gosh.

Speaker 4: 13:48

I couldn't believe. No, I couldn't believe you guys. It's like comparing a soccer ball and an orange. There's no comparison between the way I felt, the way I was taken care of, the way my baby was taken care of, the way I felt with my partner. I mean, it's why I do what I do, because we deserve more. You know, we deserve to not only have a healthy mom and healthy baby, we deserve to be walking out of hospital mentally Okay here, and that comes in the form of love and compassion and being taken care of, no matter where our birth leads us.

Speaker 2: 14:25

So yeah, I think you so. Here at the mint project, we focus a lot on, you know, movement, mental mindset and nutrition, and I love that you focused on like the mentality part of it too. Like Mentally, we need to be taken care of emotionally, not just physically. And, again, like you said, like hospitals are not evil or bad or those people, um, at all they're, they all have are really great. I know tons of great nurses and doctors, but I don't think that the system is quite, like you said, set up to care for them in in that way specifically. So, and that's exactly where you come in, there's a role for every everyone, yeah, and education really is the key.

Speaker 4: 15:04

I mean, I would love for every woman to have a doula, but that's not going to make or break your birth story, because what a doula brings is education, and she's going to be there to help you understand why and how and when, and Just make things just so much more doable. I mean, I've talked to just so many. Well, first of all, I there's always lots of moms around, like mother-in-laws, mom sisters, and they always like, if I had a dollar for every time I heard, I would have given anything to have a doula or someone that was doing that for me. I was just like suffering in the corner. I'm just like, yeah, I know you'd be so rich, right, he'd be so rich. We just birth.

Speaker 4: 15:47

Birth is a portal. Um, we walk through it. Well, we don't walk through it, we crawl and bleed. I mean, it's brutal. It is brutal no matter how your birth turns out. And I tell us, to mom us all the time that say, oh, I'm getting an epidural, so it's fine. I'm like, really, what are you gonna do before you get an epidural? And they're like what do you mean? What happens?

Speaker 4: 16:08

I'm like, oh, you might Tell you that Epidurals don't always work, you know. So like what? Imagine the mindset of oh, I'm getting an epidural, so I'm not gonna feel pain, and then the epidural doesn't work. Yeah your pain is going to be times 200.

Speaker 4: 16:28

Then a woman who's I'm ready for this, I, my body's and I can do it yeah my body was made to do this and I always say too I'm saying that a lot but it's a physiological process, girls, I mean, your body was made to do this, just like your heart is pumping right now. We don't question our heart pumping right now. We don't go Well, I hope it works, I hope it is. You know, we don't question air coming into our lungs. We don't question. Well, sometimes people have issues going to the bathroom, but, you know, most of us just Trust that our body's gonna do it and it does. It's a physiological process. Our female body was made to birth, you know. So why are we questioning that it won't or that it can't, or that we can't do it? A certain way, you know. So there's. So because of this mindset, it, it sets us up for a lot of failure Because we've already told ourselves I can't do it.

Speaker 4: 17:27

Um yeah, another analogy to kind of understand that process is every mammal? Um has instincts, right? So if you threw any mammal into water that's too deep to touch and they can't swim, every mammal, except for a human, would be able to kick in their instincts and swim and they would survive. But a human's mind says I can't swim, you can't swim, you're gonna die. You're gonna die. And guess what? We die because our mind is so powerful and so we just have to have the trust and understanding that our body is made to do this and we can do it. Um, it helps to have someone in your corner that's reminding you of that. You know, mama's saving me. All the time I kind of don't thought you. I'm like, yeah, you could have. I was only there to remind you. Yes, you can, you got this, you can get. That's the only reason why I'm there is so that they have a major reminder like, okay, I'm okay.

Speaker 1: 18:22

Yeah, I mean, that's super relatable to like why someone hires a coach at the gym too. Right, like, yeah, you could go, you could go figure it out on your own and it would be super challenging. But if you have someone in your corner to teach you the ways to make it more efficient and to push you along, like, why not? You know, it can be so helpful. But yes, after hearing all that, I also wish nine years ago I would have known you, because, oh my god, like Um, yeah, so so amazing. I love the way you describe that.

Speaker 3: 18:55

You know, I think I was definitely one of those women who wanted to go in with my eyes closed. Just get me out alive, get the baby out alive. I let's just get through it Right, thinking this is going to be terrible and I'm, but it's like two days worth and I'll be fine. So now, knowing that, first of all, two days worth still makes a big impression. Aside from that, what are you? What are some of the roles that you have during just the pregnancy part? For all the women out there thinking like, ah, whatever the burst, whatever, if they believe you're not, what is the pregnancy benefit there?

Speaker 4: 19:33

Okay. So through pregnancy as you all know because you've been there, you've had had babies in your bellies there's a lot of things going on in your body. So you have a lot of questions and I have most of the answers. If you're having back pain or sciatic pain or pelvic pain, I know exercises that can help with those and I also I have a four page new mom resource list that I give to every single one of my students and clients so that if you're having any of these issues, here's the people to call. So I'm there for kind of that, you know, just to kind of give them the resource to be more comfortable, to kind of be in the know.

Speaker 4: 20:13

There's also testings that happen all through pregnancy gestational diabetes, you get that test. There's also the group B-strap test. So I kind of heads up to my clients. This is coming up at week 34 or 32 or whatever, depending on, depending on the state you live in and depending on your doctor or midwife. It's kind of all different, so I can't tell you exactly what it is, where, wherever you're listening from, but I can kind of help them walk through those, because those can be pretty traumatic too, like the group B-strap all of a sudden.

Speaker 2: 20:48

Oh yeah, that one's not very fun. I mean years ago.

Speaker 4: 20:52

I had a client text me like you could have, you could have given me a warning, and I was like I'm sorry.

Speaker 3: 20:57

Let's. Can we give our listeners a warning for those of us who may have blocked it?

Speaker 1: 21:02

down. You've blocked it out, you've blocked it out you remember the drink?

Speaker 2: 21:07

Oh, no, that's the glucose one.

Speaker 1: 21:08

The group.

Speaker 4: 21:08

B-strap is worse.

Speaker 2: 21:10

Group B-strap is worse.

Speaker 3: 21:11

Well, it depends.

Speaker 4: 21:12

I mean, I've had really horrible stories told about the glucose drink. So okay, so just those two things I'm telling you. So the glucose test happens to every woman. I believe it's around 30-ish weeks, depending on your provider. So you go in, fasted, right, and they give you a drink that has 50 grams of sugar and you, if you are one of these people, you go in and you do it right, but if you're one of my people, I say, guess what? You don't have to drink that drink. You can drink orange juice. You can eat 50 jelly beans, you can oh my God, I would have picked that Right.

Speaker 3: 21:45

I know why don't they just hand women jelly beans. That would be so fun.

Speaker 4: 21:50

These glucose people that make this drink must be just making hand over fist or have like all the OBs in their pocket. I don't understand that. Yeah, they just like torture. It's what it's seriously. But someone's getting paid a lot of money for this. I don't know who. I wish it was me, but it's not. But also, there's another thing for listeners out there. It's called the fresh test. That is very similar to the glucose drink and you can order online. But, heads up, please ask your provider first, because you can't just show up and be like well, I heard that I can just eat 50 jelly beans. They're going to be like. Right, I brought my jelly beans with me.

Speaker 1: 22:29

I heard it on the MIM project podcast.

Speaker 4: 22:33

If you do your research and find out and then talk to them the thing that providers need to know, like you can't just walk in there and be like I'm going to do this they're going to say no, you're not. But when you walk in there and say, you know, I've really been doing my research. I know that it just needs to be 50 grams of sugar and I need to. I know that I need to be going in on a fasted stomach and I understand that's because you need to test my glucose levels. So I'm going to choose to do this instead of what you're handing out. Would that be okay? So knowledge is power, right there. Ladies Like you are going to get so much more out of your experience. Just understanding that. Okay, so that's your gestational diabetic tests, and then there's also the group B strep. Okay, so at 36 weeks typically. So you get.

Speaker 4: 23:20

You get tested for group B strep, and group B strep is something that all people carry in their bodies. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. Well, if you are carrying this strep virus when you deliver, there is a very, very small chance, but there is a chance that it could be passed on to your baby and then baby would have a strep virus. That could be very dangerous. Okay, so they don't take it lightly and that's why, across the board, it's like a. It's a state law that everybody has to take the test, because they really are trying to prevent. You know, a lot of sickness and possibly death in about 0.01% of the population is usually what that percentage is, but still, that is someone. Okay, so I'm not taking that away. So what happens is they swab your birth canal I'm going to use nice words, actually I'm not and then they they're going to swab your butthole at the same time. So swab.

Speaker 3: 24:15

Yeah, tell us, we need to know.

Speaker 4: 24:16

And sometimes Did I black this out, I don't know. So one of you guys had an early baby, right. What's that, betsy?

Speaker 2: 24:25

Betsy, yeah, oh, you might not have gotten it. This is why I don't remember.

Speaker 3: 24:28

I only made it 33 weeks.

Speaker 4: 24:30

Oh yeah, you didn't have it the whole way. So I mean, hey, you did dodge a bullet Right.

Speaker 3: 24:36

There you go.

Speaker 2: 24:37

There's some pros, there's some upsides in it, upsides of early. It can be shocking when you don't know what's happening here, like whoa, what was that?

Speaker 3: 24:47

I kind of wish I'd had it, just to see my reaction. Like I used really appropriate language. I can do it yeah.

Speaker 4: 24:54

I'm like dude, anybody's going to be carrying some sort of something in that situation. I don't know what, but it's something that they test. Also, you know, when you pee in a cup that first visit?

Speaker 4: 25:03

we pee in a cup every single, but the first visit they they actually screened that pee for group B and they will put you on a round of antibiotics while in pregnancy just to kill that virus right then and there which that's always an option you don't have to if you don't want, because you're only like six weeks pregnant or whatever. So if they, if that culture comes back at 36 weeks, then when you go into labor they want to treat you with antibiotics in the hospital and they want to have those antibiotics hung for four hours before delivery. Okay, at least two bags of penicillin is usually the antibiotic that they use. If you're allergic to that, then they will use something else. So those are just. Those are just two things that most people don't even really know about.

Speaker 4: 25:48

And it was just like oh, you know. So when you have a doula, you know you'd be like hey, I'm going in for this test, can you give me some heads up? Can you help me understand? And then, if you do test positive for it, we have lots of options that you know very, very crunchy type of options, and then very medical, meaning antibiotics and then, after you know your baby is born, then you kind of, if you do test positive, they do kind of watch your baby a little bit more. So there again, a doula being their understanding, like, yeah, this is why they're extra watching you, this is why they want you to save for 36 hours instead of 24 hours. Just just knowledge, you know, just understanding, and just like having that calm sense of oh yeah, I remember this, oh yeah, it's okay.

Speaker 4: 26:30

Instead of like, what are you doing, especially in the most vulnerable time you'll ever have in your whole life, in the hospital, delivering a baby? Like there's so many like, like flashlights in your face, like you're just like, what are you doing now? You know, like, but if you already know, it doesn't have to be so shocking. It's like, oh, that, or if I'm there, hey, they're doing this, Okay. So it just kind of keeps you calm because, ladies, when, when your baby is coming out of your vagina, we need to be very calm about that. You know like, think about going to the bathroom, like, well, you all have little kids. So you know, the little fingers under the door are like nah, nah, nah, I wanna talk to you in a box or whatever. It's not very comfortable to go to the bathroom. You know, I'm just like, oh, my gosh, I'm never gonna get this done because I'm just being annoyed.

Speaker 4: 27:19

So that's very similar to having labor and delivery. You know, when you're calm did you see how I chained my voice? When you're calm, when everyone in the room is like, oh she's, you know she's doing this, she's doing so great. You know, when you have calm, music playing, we have some essential oil, like there's just so much that's happening in your body. And when you're totally mentally, physically and emotionally relaxed, girls, your body just does this thing like that sometimes. Like it's wild to watch how fast some women's bodies have babies. Like I was at a three hour labor the other day and I was like, girl, you're freaking bombast.

Speaker 2: 28:00

Like it's crazy. That's so awesome yeah.

Speaker 4: 28:04

But she knew she was, she was surrounded by love and caring and we were doing pressure points, we had hot towels, we put her in the bath. You know, no one was poking and prodding her, no one was saying you have to move in this position, you have to do this, like her body just birthed the baby, like you know.

Speaker 1: 28:21

So there's just, I don't know, yeah, the mood of a room and mindset can make such a big difference. I'm sure Trainers did. You know that 85% of women will become pregnant in their lifetime? This means that you will work with pregnant and postpartum clients, so get the information you need to safely and effectively guide your clients through this chapter of their fitness journey and become an expert in the space. Not only will you learn about movement, you'll learn about nutrition and mindset, from fertility through pregnancy to postpartum, as well as how to market yourself as a professional in this space. You'll interact with the Mint experts throughout the course, giving you the guidance and accountability to finish and get to work. Head to theMintProjectcom and go to the Education tab to learn more.

Speaker 1: 29:13

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Speaker 1: 29:47

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Speaker 4: 30:32

Yeah, so funny. I didn't ever have a doula, because I mean my baby's 17. I found home birth before I found a doula. There wasn't any doulas. I mean, my 22 year old is my first home birth, so I had a midwife and she kind of when you have a home birth midwife she acts very similar to a doula, with all the knowledge base, with the comfort, with the love, the compassion typically. So I had that I also. My husband and I took a class so he felt he was like night and day difference. He actually knew what to say, he knew what pressure points Like. He was amazing with both of my home births. But I also have a twin sister and so she was at both of my births as well. So she kind of acted as a doula, so she was kind of there rubbing my back and helping with food, whatever. So after my two home birth experiences I mean I was just stopping people in the grocery store that were pregnant, like you- need to have a home birth.

Speaker 4: 31:34

They're just like what, like this was before Instagram, when we were watching all these beautiful stories about birth and all of this empowerment with women and I was just this wild, crazy lady that was wearing my baby and telling everyone to have a home birth. So I decided that education was where I wanted to start. So I started. I got my certification to teach Bradley Method. That was about 16 years ago, and as I was teaching all of these sweet couples about all this stuff, it just kind of came natural. They were like well, will you come to my birth? And so I was like, sure, yeah, let's all come. So then I got certified to be a doula through Dona, probably about four or five years after, but I was attending birth Like I was.

Speaker 4: 32:18

Here's the thing about a doula Is anybody can be a doula. You just kind of need to know how to be a doula. So I was trained by a trainer up north who I love and she still is like my hugest mentor, and so then I started. You know, then I was a doula and started being able to call myself that and just kind of added to my resume of you know what I did. And then about three years ago actually, it's almost four now I had so many women coming to me especially if I was their doula saying I want to become a doula, how do I become a doula? And I was always sending them up to my mentor that taught me. And then I was like, why don't I teach somehow? Cause I live in Southern Utah, I know how the hospital works here, I know everything about the procedures and the protocols, and so I started training doulas in 20, well, it was actually 2019, my first training and so, yeah, and that's kind of how the southern Utah birth village started.

Speaker 4: 33:23

I don't know. We kind of mentioned something about that, but when I got trained to be my doula, like I said, my mentor lived up north, so she was just like, hey, go be a doula. And I was like I don't know about doula other than I was already teaching classes, so I was having constant pregnant women in front of my face going, hey, do you want me to be your doula? You know? And then they're like sure, so, but that was the one thing with doulas is they just don't. It's like you have to be really confident and be able to approach people. Now we have wonderful Instagram and it's literally the yellow pages of nowadays, which is really wild and weird, I don't know. But you know, we have to just jump on to it because it's the only way that people are going to find us. So we can use that.

Speaker 4: 34:08

But I found that I really, as I started training them, I was giving them what I needed when I was a new doula and that was mentorship, constant communication. So we have a group me app where I have over like 80 people on my group me app so any of them can always ask me a question, or now I don't even have to answer the questions anymore. I have so many women out there that are very, very trained and available for that advice. But we also meet once a month to go over some specific issue. I mean, I'm still learning, you guys.

Speaker 4: 34:42

I learned something new at every birth, so this is why birth is such a wild right like we can't predict it. We can't say, oh well, I've been doing it for this long, so I know exactly what you need, but it's just not the case. You know we get like, whoa, what happened? You know? So they needed that constant like mentorship of myself and other doulas to talk about birth. Like this happened. What would you guys do of this? Or hey, my client has this. What do you guys think? So? So that's kind of how you know, my whole doula-ing has kind of changed over the years, but um, but yeah, I know I said a lot more than you asked, but no, that was great with your.

Speaker 2: 35:23

So you said you have the southern utah birth village, right? Am I saying that right? Yeah, and then.

Speaker 4: 35:31

But your company itself is called empowered birth with trisha yeah, the empowered birth doula company, but my website is empowered birth with trisha okay.

Speaker 2: 35:41

So how did you come up with that Nate like the, the word empowered and just kind of, yeah, what? What is the significance of that word with what you do?

Speaker 4: 35:50

well, it's hard because a lot of people hate on that word and then a lot of people love it and I mean it kind of sounds cheesy. Empowered women empower women. But the thing the thing is is when I have a first time mom come into my office or come to my class, um, she's very empowered in all of her life experience thus far, but I have about probably 25 more years of empowerment on top right. So what I'm trying to give her is all of all of the confidence and power that I have learned over these years and kind of give that to her and help her understand no, you got this. No, you got to trust your body. No, this is, don't be scared about that.

Speaker 4: 36:32

I always say let's replace all of your fear with knowledge, because every fear about birth can just be debunked right away with some sort of knowledge when it comes to our bodies and birthing. So I just kind of kept with that name. I just felt like I am empowering women to find their voice. Say, no, that actually is that. That's not going to work for me. Um, I would rather this, you know, and this is why.

Speaker 4: 36:57

But a person that's empowered has to know why. You know, they need to know the education behind why they're doing what they're doing to you, because, um my two birth experiences in the hospital, I felt like my power was stripped away from me and I walked out of both of those experiences going what just happened like I just felt so broken and just not taken care of and my voice wasn't heard. And so I want to empower women to use their voice. But you can't use your voice unless you know how to use it and why. So that's really where the empowerment kind of comes from. Um, I want to empower everyone to be their most authentic self. Um, and I believe I believe in God. Um, I believe God gave this to women for a reason. Um, you don't walk through birth, the birth portal, without being changed. And, oh, I can't handle the slogan bounce back like.

Speaker 2: 37:57

Let's bounce back like you oh, thank you, can we oh?

Speaker 3: 38:02

my gosh, you're a changed woman.

Speaker 4: 38:05

You don't want to bounce back to that because, girl, you do not want to go through that again you have come through a different person, a more empowered person, to enable you to take care of this human being that's just came out of your body. So that's where the empowerment really like. I just feel so passionate to buoy up everyone and just say no, you got this. No, you were born to do this. Let me just help you understand how and why so yeah, I love your emphasis on, you know, replacing fear.

Speaker 2: 38:38

We talk a lot about that in our. What we do, too, is replacing fear with facts. You know, let's focus on the facts over the fear. As far as there's a lot of fear around working out while you're pregnant or after, how do I get started like I'm so nervous that this will harm me or the baby? Okay, let's talk about, maybe, why you're having that fear. Let's talk about you know your different options here. So we like to give options too and just, yeah, I love, I love that it goes. Just teaching our clients, teaching women about their bodies, about themselves, is so powerful.

Speaker 3: 39:12

Yeah, for sure, yeah, yeah, just letting women become educated and knowing there is, like you keep saying, empowered, there is such a power in like feeling, like you kind of at least know what's going on, um, and letting that take the place of fear. Tell us a little bit about. I see on your website you've got natural childbirth classes too. So you've said that, like you prepare everyone for everything you'll do Medicaid, at births, hospital, whatever. There is a little little corner of your heart that's pretty passionate about natural childbirth. So tell us more about about those classes. When is, like, the best time to take them? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4: 39:51

So I teach the Bradley method, and the Bradley method covers everything from nutrition and exercise to postpartum and breast feeding, so everything in between and that's what I'm really trying to help everyone just be okay with, like understanding your body is changing. These things are going to be happening with you. So I any woman that's pregnant I'm like please just take a class. That doesn't mean people always say to me, oh, I'm going to get an epidural, I don't need your class. I'm like I'm going to teach you so much, so much more about getting an epidural. You know, like there's so many things happening in your body and when we kind of understand that we can help ourselves. You guys, our bodies were made to heal ourselves, to help ourselves. And yeah, we might need an extra boost every once in a while, like by a medical professional, but for the most part we just need to understand. So so that's kind of where the education you know really is just so powerful for me.

Speaker 4: 40:51

So I recommend taking any type of childbirth class in your last trimester, if you can, just because in those last three months when your, your body is changing the very most, your baby is growing, things are changing. There's specific exercises, as you all know very well, to help our bodies prepare for birth, certain things you can be doing every day, like just sitting here. We could be doing something different with our pelvis. It's going to help our baby be in the right position for birth, and a baby that's in the right position is going to be a need a lot less contractions to get to where it needs to go. So my goal is let's get your baby in the most optimal position possible so that your labor doesn't have to be as long, because labor, you know, can vary from 24 to. I had one of one of the girls in the village literally just had a 45 minute labor.

Speaker 4: 41:47

You guys woke up at 2 am and her baby was in her oh 245.

Speaker 2: 41:53

I know who that is.

Speaker 4: 41:54

Yeah, that was crazy right, like while, and then there's other women that are laboring for 48 hours, like it's just like this. So we can't say, because what if we taught everyone exactly what that specific girl went through? Like that's not, yeah, that's not so. We just need to really understand. So, even if, if you don't have a doula, if you don't have someone who knows, just be in the know.

Speaker 4: 42:20

And I actually have my nephew and his wife attending my class. They live in Spokane, washington, and I just saw them at a family reunion and I hadn't met her yet. So I was like hi, so you're pregnant, do you know what I do? And she was like, yeah, I'm interested, but like I still want to get that drone. I'm like, totally cool. And she's like yeah, I asked my OB, like I'm thinking about getting a doula, what do you think? And my OB just said no, you don't need it. There's going to be nurses there, you won't need it. Just trust me, you know, just come to the hospital, it'll be fine. And so I was like do you want to know why she said that to you? And she's like no, I'm like because it's so much easier for them to manage you when you don't know anything.

Speaker 4: 43:07

And she was like oh, and she actually happens to be in the medical field, so she's very trusting of medicine, which is fine, yeah, but already they've already taken my first. Just the first week of class and just the feedback I've already gotten just from her is just it's life altering you know, like I really just want people to not have the experience that I had the first time, which was blindfold on and very, very sad.

Speaker 3: 43:37

So yeah, so yeah, that's my childhood class, so I have maybe some controversial or challenging questions here because people always want to hear those and I love to get educated answers, which I know you have them. So one of the things I would say that women are fearful about with a home birth is in case of emergency or in the event of where a NICU team needs to be quickly responsive. So can you speak on that topic a little bit?

Speaker 4: 44:06

Yeah, for sure. So whenever I, whenever someone says, well, what if something happens? I always say tell me in a scenario what would happen so I can help you understand in that scenario what's going to happen. Because usually people have heard a story where, like specifically, you just said Betsy, and NICU team needs to be there.

Speaker 4: 44:26

All midwives are trained in neonatal resuscitation. Okay, I was an assistant of a midwife here in town for about five years until I got too busy and I couldn't do it anymore. So, but I myself was trained in neonatal resuscitation. So we have all the equipment at a home birth to resuscitate a baby. And I've seen only one time at a home birth and everything was just fine. But but yeah, midwives are very, very trained. People just think, oh, you're just doing a home birth, like you're just going to have a baby, you know. But yeah, that's not the case at all. Midwives are very, very, very trained and they have to have had at least 100 bursts under their belt before they can even say that they're a midwife. Okay, so they have seen 100 different cases, you know. So they know how to work a scene. So, with that being said, they're very, very trained to take care of and also 911. Okay, we have an ambulance that can be really to a place within five to 10 minutes of any place in in the area that I live and we will have them on the phone right away if we even think something could be going down.

Speaker 4: 45:48

Usually with birth, if there's no medicine given, if no medical things are happening physiologically, our bodies will tell us a story. Okay, we're watching very, very closely, we're monitoring the baby or watching mom. If there's something out of normal, out of like a normal physiological process, or if something like if a baby is going to need the NICU, most likely we have already transferred this mom because we know just inside baby's not doing well. Okay, so midwives aren't heroes. They don't try to take on anything that they don't believe they can handle and they will transfer way before they think that something could go down. I mean, I've heard stories where midwives are like I just have this feeling we need to head in and there's nothing telling us why we head in and then, after the birth happens, then we find out oh, it was because the placenta was starting to come apart or away from the uterus or something like. And I mean I speak for myself and I speak for the midwives that I work with. They're very intuitive with their work. They're very in tune with the woman's body and you know everything in the atmosphere that's going on very, very intuitive. So they don't try to take on anything that they don't believe that they can.

Speaker 4: 47:09

Also, a woman who is birthing at home should be very low risk. You know, a midwife will rarely take on a client. That's high risk. We've heard Kara's story of her home birth transfer for her last. You know Kara is considered high risk, you know. So for a midwife to take her on she had to feel very, very confident in her abilities and I know that some midwives here in town would have not taken Kara on because of her high risk status.

Speaker 4: 47:38

Okay, so women birthing at home typically are very low risk. So the chances of something like happening, like your baby in the NICU no midwife would have delivered a baby at 33 weeks at home. That just wouldn't have happened. Immediately, go to the hospital. In fact, they check iron levels as well. If your iron level isn't right, where they need it, you're birthing at the hospital. They're not going to take you on at home because the chance of bleeding too much. So there's a lot of things put into place that people that are not knowledgeable in birth don't understand, and they just think you're crazy. Well, we're not crazy, we just trust our bodies and we trust the people that we hire. So I didn't catch that, sorry.

Speaker 1: 48:26

I watched it all the time.

Speaker 4: 48:28

So did that answer your question?

Speaker 3: 48:30

Let's see, yeah, it did and it's so interesting. One thing that keeps kind of ringing in my head, as you're saying, that is, midwives really must be someone who is that's a fine line to walk of very confident in what they're doing in a very heightened situation. Yeah, stressful yet also humble enough to say I'm not, this is I got to pass it up a ton.

Speaker 3: 48:58

So that was. That was something very interesting to hear about that. One more question I had was tell us a little bit about whether that's your training or kind of your education up until now or things like that. Like where are you getting where, where do statistics come from on this? I know that and again a very uneducated kind of question here, but where are? Where's the science coming from? Right, because I know that science on pregnant women, like there's a, there's a real weird ethical line that can and can't be crossed. So where do people find, or where have you found, some good research articles on all of the things that you advise on?

Speaker 4: 49:40

Yeah, that's such a great question. So evidence based birth has a ton of great information. It's all very evidence based in medical and non-medical situations. So whenever someone has a question like that, I say, hey, let's look it up on evidence based birth, because we can have a lot of opinions when it comes to birth. And when someone has a question, I mean I have opinions about what's happening.

Speaker 4: 50:07

But the thing with birth is it can it can flip a switch real quick, and so we have to really trust who we've hired to know when it's time to transfer. You know, there's a reason why we have hospitals and we're so thankful for them, so beyond thankful. But 90% of the population usually could birth with no medical intervening whatsoever. That 10% man, we're just so glad that we have it. But however, with the pendulum swinging the other way, we have to recognize and understand that when we use medicine and medicine isn't needed, this is causing issues as well. So all of these elective inductions that are happening at 39 weeks are just.

Speaker 4: 50:57

We are setting ourselves up for problems, because mother nature knows when it's time to have a baby. Your body and your baby knows when it's time to go into labor 95% of the time. Okay, I'm not going to take it away from anyone's experience where I was like my body would never go into labor, and I hear that all the time. But there's a lot of things that we can do to coerce mother nature a little bit, but it's just.

Speaker 4: 51:22

We need to understand that because it's a very physiological process. We have to understand the way our body works and our body will give us a message if it needs help. You know, just like when we have a headache, our body is telling us something. Or when we lift too hard at the gym and we're like whoa, that was my lower back is not happy right now. So I'm going to take a little bit of a break. I'm probably not going to do deadlifts for at least a week. You know, like our body is always sending us messages, whether we're listening or not and in pregnancy it's the same thing we're always getting messages. So when you surround yourself by people that want to listen to your body's message instead of giving you a pill to feel better, then the outcome is going to be a lot better.

Speaker 3: 52:03

So working with your body, not against it.

Speaker 4: 52:07

Exactly.

Speaker 1: 52:07

Yeah, so if a woman wants to go and find a doula for her pregnancy and birth, what are the best ways to do that and like? Are there questions that you would recommend, like interviewing their doula to make sure it's a good fit?

Speaker 4: 52:23

Yeah, so there's lots of resources online. Like Dona, has anyone who's been trained through Dona certified trainers and have done all of their certification through Dona? So Dona is just doulas of North America. So I believe it's Donacom ororg I'm not positive, but you can go on there and look. Dula care is another website that you can look on. But you can Instagram. I know I said it before, but like Instagram will tell you all the things you need to know, just like how to do in my area. Like any doula in your area is most likely going to have an Instagram page or talk to friends. Hey, do you guys know any doulas around or look up?

Speaker 4: 53:13

Doulas usually won't have like an ad. Like some of them have websites. I have a website so you can always look up. I mean doulas in Southern Utah and you will get a lot of different websites from doulas. But you could also ask midwives, like, even if you're not birthing at home or want nothing to do with the midwife, they're going to know the doulas in the area. So call a midwife or message a midwife and say, hey, I'm looking for a doula, I want to birth in the hospital. Do you know of any? And nine times out of 10, they're going to have a whole list. So that would usually be the best way to search out a doula.

Speaker 4: 53:49

I recommend interviewing at least two or three if you can. I mean, phone interviews are awesome too, but there's something about being in a space with a woman that you're interviewing that I highly recommend. So if you can do person to person interviews, I would do that because you'll know within five minutes if this is someone you want in your personal space. You know it's very personal. And then some good questions to ask, like how long has she been a doula? How many births has she attended? Um, has she had herself? Has she had a, uh, natural birth?

Speaker 4: 54:25

Um, what's her birth philosophy? You know, because you know I don't fit the mold for a lot of doulas, a lot of. I call them crunchy, you know. But, um, I believe a doula, she needs to swing in the middle somewhere. She can't have a birth philosophy that's like you need to have a home birth and you need to do this Like. No, that's not what a doula should be saying or should be. She's just a loving, caring person that wants to help you. So if she comes swinging for the fences and you're just like whoa, no wonder I don't want to do it Like obviously that's not going to be a fit for you. So just kind of understanding where she's coming from, um, and I highly recommend bringing your partner too, um, because most of the time he is just going to be like what is a doula, you know? So him meeting her too, so he can have a good feel for her as ideal if possible. But but yeah, that's kind of the process of it.

Speaker 2: 55:24

Yeah, that was great. Good, Well, thank you so much for coming on, I, I feel like there's so much that we could talk about Um, cause you just know everything, really. But, um, you know a lot of things, right, Um, and there's so much more that we can learn. Yeah, you too, Um. But if there is like one thing that you could say to a woman who's considering getting a doula or like you just gave that example of your um nephew's wife who was pregnant but just one thing that you could say to them that could like give them a little bit of an idea of do I want to do a yes or no? What would that be?

Speaker 4: 56:01

Of course, yes, yes, you want to wait. You want to create a birth team that's surrounding you that you trust. Um, you want someone in your corner that's going to understand you, that's going to listen to you, that's going to be there at 4am the way. Maybe someone else won't. So, um, yeah, please just do your research, find someone that you love and care, and do look price point. A lot of people are like I can't afford that. I'm already spending this much. You know doulas can be as cheap as $300 up to 3000. You know so, um, that that also like, don't let a price scare you because most doulas will do a free consultation with you. Like, go and talk to her. She's going to give you so much good information and kind of help that first part of your pregnancy to navigate. So, yes, go, look for someone that's going to want to be in your corner Awesome.

Speaker 2: 56:56

Thank you so much. Yeah, girls, do you have any other questions?

Speaker 1: 57:00

No, that was amazing.

Speaker 3: 57:01

Probably yes, but no.

Speaker 1: 57:02

Yeah, I, yeah, I do, but yeah.

Speaker 3: 57:05

I mean, we could all day yeah.

Speaker 1: 57:07

Yeah, moral. I think the moral of the story is like you can be so educated and you know ready to go in and such a more positive mindset with the help of someone who can support you. So I loved that. I loved hearing all your knowledge. Um, I think my last thing was like tell people where they can find you if they wanted to check out your classes and all that good stuff.

Speaker 4: 57:28

Yeah, so you can just go to my website and powered birth with Trisha. I have all of my um doula training. Um, I have a doula training coming up in September. For anyone's like I want to be a doula September 15th and 16th Um, but you can sign up for my birth class on there as well. Um, you can read about me. There's testimonials on there. You can also check out my Instagram. It's just Trish Baird. I'm super original, so I'm just not a techie girl. But, yeah, you can um DM me with any questions. That all my website has all of my um information to message and to email and stuff. So, yeah, reach out Just. You don't have to do this by yourself. You guys, we live in a in a time where women are taking their power back in every way, and it is about time that we take it back when it comes to the most crazy changing thing in your life you know becomes better.

Speaker 4: 58:31

Let it be a bounce off board for you. Like it's, it can be so amazing. No matter how your birth turns out, you can still walk out of it being like I did as much as I possibly can. So yeah the time for us to to hide behind a bush and not, you know, be out. There is just over. It's just. I've had it. You know. We, we need to, we need to take our power back and and yeah, there's lots of people here Hell yeah.

Speaker 1: 59:01

New terms. Yes, I feel empowered. Awesome. Thank you so much, tricia.

Speaker 2: 59:07

Yes, thank you for coming on. Thank you, tricia, you're so awesome.

Speaker 1: 59:10

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