Welcome Our Newest Doula: Andi Conkright!!

We love growing our team to be able to serve more clients & Andi is honestly just the perfect addition.

New doulas have the BEST energy about them. They are ready to take on the world and help their clients have the best birth possible. There’s nothing like the passion of a new doula either, and when I met Andi for the first time, it was so very clear that she is a great doula in the making! She has the easiest most gentle smile and navigated me peppering her with questions with grace and poise. Though she’s young, she’s prepared and so very thoughtful in her approach to clients already. I was really impressed by her, and I invited her to join the team on the spot!

In Her Words

“I am a trained birth doula currently working on full certification. I was born in Evansville and returned to be closer to family after spending a couple of years living on the coast in Florida. My pregnancy and the birth of my daughter in 2021 inspired my journey to becoming a doula and made me fall in love with the miracle of life. I am passionate about holistic health and look forward to integrating that into my practices as a doula when applicable. “

Why did you want to become a birth doula?

I became a doula because the birth of my child proved to be the most powerful and impactful experience in my life. There is so much to learn about pregnancy and birth, and so many options that birthing people don’t even realize they have. It is so important to me to support and inform every birthing person to help them have an empowered birth.

Andi Conkwright, Birth Doula

What do you love about living in Evansville?

What I like the most about Evansville is the growing diversity and individuality. Different communities are expanding and thriving. I feel as though we are all becoming more aware and accepting of one another.

Where can we find you on a regular Saturday?

If i’m lucky my partner and I will go out hunting for mushrooms in the morning- something we love to do together. I’ll then spend my day with my daughter, exploring and laughing and loving.

Andi is a new birth doula who is looking forward to serving clients starting NOW! If you are expecting in Evansville, Newburgh, Owensboro, Jasper, Vincennes, Washington, or Henderson, she’d LOVE to talk to you about birth doula services. Don’t let the newness dissuade you, Andi has a team of 9 other doulas behind her helping her navigate all the twists and turns that she’ll be helping her clients navigate. Our team not only helps back each other up in case we need someone to step in on our behalf, but also is behind the scenes encouraging one another, answering questions, bringing each other supplies/food, and all kinds of other things you’ll never see. Andi will be on the list of approved doulas at The Women’s Hospital soon as well, just like all our other doulas! As we support our clients, so we also support each other. It’s a pretty great set up really.

Andi Conkwright, Birth Doula

So reach out today if you’d like to talk to Andi about doula services. She’ll surely wow you with her sweetness and knowledge about birth! Welcome to the team Andi. We’re so glad you’re here to help us serve more families in the tri-state!

Exciting Additions!

Adding value to your experience is what doulas do, and in 2022 we are expanding to help our clients even more. We’re excited about a couple of additions to our birth doula package that we really think are going to be helpful for our clients. These are of course in addition to what was already included, and partly to fill in some gaps that will help us serve you better too.

First, we have added a client workbook! We purchased a beautifully designed workbook from our doula friend Victoria Wilson at Mother Well Doula, because we honestly love what she put in there. This workbook will help our clients throughout their pregnancy with excellent advice, and will help your birth doula know how you’d like to be supported. I was especially excited that Victoria quoted a very famous medical anthropology study in the workbook! I added a few little touches to the workbook to make it more our style, but I promise you are going to love these 42 pages of ideas, questions, & activities that will get you thinking and talking about your birth.

Cover of our birth doula client workbook

The other exciting additions we have added to our birth doula packages come from another doula and childbirth educator friend: Alice Turner! All of our 2022 doula packages now include 2 online courses created by Alice: Supporting Her & Birth Tool Box! These two classes would be $78 to purchase on their own, and they are now included for all our birth doula clients. We know that a quality childbirth education course can help clients feel prepared for pregnancy, labor, delivery, & postpartum too. Birth Tool Box is a full evidence-based online childbirth education class that is ready to watch whenever you have time! We’ve also seen some pretty amazing partners who would really like to learn specifically how to be more supportive for labor and delivery. The Supporting Her online class will help them learn all kinds of techniques and tips for helping on the big day.

FREE Access for Doula Group of Evansville Birth Doula Clients ($78 value)

The Doula Group of Evansville 2022 Birth Doula Package includes:

FREE interview to choose your birth doula
2 prenatal meetings with your chosen birth doula
Unlimited support via phone, text, email
Online client resource classroom
Birth Doula Workbook
FREE access to Birth Tool Box & Supporting Her
1 meeting with a postpartum doula
In-person birth doula support for labor and delivery
1 postpartum visit from your birth doula

We’re so excited to be able to keep expanding our offerings to help birthing families here in the tri-state area. We attend births at 7 local hospitals and work as a team to make sure that you will always have a qualified and approved birth doula to support you at your birth. We would LOVE to talk to you about how a birth doula can support your family as you journey from expecting to beginning.

More exciting news about our group coming soon!

Measuring Change: Local 2020 Hospital Statistics

That numbers are out for 2020, and they might surprise you.

Statistics tell us part of the story of how a hospital cares for their patients and about the culture of a place. They do not tell us the entire story in any way shape or form, but they are a way to measure change and track goals. Leapfrog is a group that tracks statistics about hospitals around the country using a survey that 75% of hospitals participate in each year. Today was the day that they published this data for 2020.

You can find the 2018 Statistics in this post we wrote. I did not write a post for 2019’s statistics, but I think we all remember April 2020 right? You can look these statistics up for yourself here, because you really don’t have to just take my word for it.

Definitions & notes for you:

This Cesarean Section data is for NSTV (research speak for 1^st time parents, 38+ weeks pregnant, with a single head-down baby) cesarean rates and does not include repeat cesarean deliveries or 1st time cesarean deliveries in people who have had previous vaginal deliveries. This is an important distinction. Leapfrog Group uses the Healthy People 2020 goal of 23.9% for primary cesarean deliveries in this category. I want to note here that the WHO stated target NSTV cesarean rate is 10-15%, so that is something to also think about when looking at this data.
Early Elective Deliveries are defined as elective induction or cesarean sections before 39 weeks. This does not include medically indicated early deliveries, therefore the goal is for these to be less than 5%.
Episiotomies are a cut made to the perineum during the birth process. While sometimes necessary, routine episiotomies are not evidence-based practice, and Leapfrog sets their goal as less than 5%.
The numbers in (parentheses) are the previous numbers reported in 2018. I did not include numbers for Good Samaritan Hospital previously, so apologies to our friends in Vincennes for the lack of change comparison possible in this table.
New numbers that reach or exceed the Leapfrog goals are in blue.

Hospital	NSTV Cesarean Sections	Early Elective Deliveries	Episiotomies
The Women’s Hospital Newburgh, IN	26.2% (22.9%)	6.8% (1.7%)	11.5% (14.8%)
Ascension St. Vincent Evansville*	25.3% (27.2%)	0.0% (.8%)	5.9% (6.8%)
Owensboro Health	29.5% (29.7%)	.7% (1.4%)	5.7% (12.7% )
Deaconess Henderson Hospital**	25.5% (26.1%)	0.0% (2.4%)	2.8% (2.4%)
Memorial Hospital & Healthcare Center Jasper, IN	11.1% (12.8%)	5.9% (0.0%)	7.9% (9.8%)
Daviess Community Hospital Washington, IN	17.9% (15.2%)	0.0% 1.9%)	8.2% (13.1%)
Good Samaritan Hospital Vincennes, IN	20.7%	4.0%	14.2%

*Previously St. Vincent’s Medical Center of Evansville
**Previously Methodist Hospital of Henderson

What the Numbers Don’t Say

What these numbers don’t say is what an incredible strain 2o20 was on all hospitals, including in maternity care. While there were clearly jumps in early elective deliveries at Memorial in Jasper and The Women’s Hospital in Newburgh, we don’t know when those happened. Were those elective deliveries in March and April last year when everything was locking down due to the growing pandemic and people were truly scared for their lives? Conversely, maybe the pandemic was an easy excuse to push for early elective induction too. We can’t know that from the numbers. These statistics represent thousands of birth stories that we can’t know just by reading them.

These statistics are also not the only ones worth looking at when making decisions regarding your care. Other important factors such as VBAC success rates, availability of lactation help, availability of anesthesia, proximity to your home, provider access, insurance coverage etc. Sometimes that last one ends up being the deciding factor no matter what your preferences are on location.

How to Use These Numbers

First use them to think about where you want to deliver. You do have options and choices on where to go, and we would be happy to talk to you about our experiences at these places as well. Know that these are overall statistics that paint a generalized picture, and start there. Even if you don’t have a choice on where to go to birth, because we know that happens, these statistics can help you look at the norm where you will be delivering. They can help you know what to expect and watch for during your delivery.

Next use the numbers to start a conversation with your provider. Where do they deliver? What are their personal statistics compared to the facility? How do they feel about episiotomies?

We ALWAYS encourage everyone to have open, honest, and frank conversations with their providers. Don’t be intimidated by the white coats, they are people too. Keep it positive and be inquisitive, and go with your gut when it comes to making decisions regarding your provider and location for delivery.

We look forward to comparing 2020 with 2021 when those numbers come out!

What is the first question that comes to mind looking at this table?
Do any of these numbers surprise you?
Which of these statistics most line up with what you previously thought about these facilities?