Tag: Newburgh

Jennifer Remaklus: Birth Doula

We’re excited to grow our team to serve more birthing families in Evansville & the surrounding areas.

We are so very excited to announce a new birth doula on our team!! I knew I wanted Jennifer on my team of Evansville doulas as soon as we met. We spoke about her experiences and philosophy regarding birth, and I felt the fantastic positive energy that she has about her. Jennifer’s positivity and gentle nature will leave you feeling refreshed from every encounter, and she will be an amazing asset to any birth team. She’s already approved to attend births at all local hospitals.

Here she is in her own words:

“For me, personal experience has often turned into opportunities for service.  The minute I learned what a doula was, my heart lit up. I was lovingly supported by a doula and midwife through two birth experiences and through one pregnancy loss.  I ignored the calling for years until after the birth of my second child.

After my daughter was born I was immersed in a dark postpartum time and my path to healing was to learn more about supporting mothers and families through their own pregnancy and birth journeys.  I took a DONA-certified course, advanced my yoga teacher training studies to include prenatal yoga, and continued to explore energetic healing modalities that had become part of my own healing journey. After I experienced a miscarriage of my own, I dove into courses with the Institute for Birth, Breath, and Death to learn ways to hold space for mothers through pregnancy and infant loss. 

My intention as a birth doula is to guide intuitive and empowering journeys through pregnancy and into early motherhood.  Reconnecting with our intuition builds a beautiful foundation to guiding and nurturing ourselves, and our children. As a reiki practitioner, I support each experience in a loving and gentle way, helping to hold space for the various energy shifts that occur as labor progresses. 

I recently relocated to Southern Indiana from Reno, Nevada to be near my family and to watch my kids and husband run free on 4 acres.  I am passionate about finding joy, following my intuition, and maintaining a healthy balance between laughter and tears. I also recently started wearing socks with my Birkenstocks, which makes me question everything I thought I knew about myself.”  

Now Booking Birth Doula Clients

Jennifer is planning to offer all birth doula clients one reiki session as part of her birth doula package. She is now booking birth doula clients with due dates of May 2021 or later, and would love to talk to you about how she can help you on your birth journey. Having her experience and knowledge in your corner will enhance your birth experience, no matter where you choose to give birth.

We are so proud to have Jennifer as part of our team of amazing doulas here at Doula Group of Evansville!

Birth Planning During COVID-19

Knowing what to expect can really help, especially right now.

Preparing for birth is important. Preparing to give birth during a pandemic can be even more important. Birth planning is something that I do with all my doula clients. Writing a birth plan is less about mapping out exactly how you want things to go, because birth isn’t about control. Birth planning is more about exploring all your options so that you can communicate them clearly to the people trying to help you.

Know Your Options

Learning what your options are is really important usually, but some of those options are more limited because of COVID-19. My friend Alice is a doula in Seattle, and she made this great video full of tips for giving birth during a pandemic and talking to your provider. One of my other favorite resources for information Evidence Based Birth made a FREE online birth class for this specific situation. I am writing a separate post about more general childbirth classes, but these are both really great situation specific resources for right now. It is really important that you talk to your provider about all your wishes and make sure you know what policies are in place wherever you are planning to give birth.

Supporting Your Partner

Birth planning during COVID-19 is important, and now more than ever it is important to learn how to help your partner cope with labor. Maybe you planned to have a doula present and now that isn’t an option. My friend Alice has a very inexpensive online class** designed just for partners, and I highly recommend it. She has even added a module on practicing labor! If you are looking for a book to learn more, I highly recommend The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin. She was one of the founders of my doula training organization and this book is an excellent resource. My doula friends in Quebec have also produced a FREE download on labor support that you might find helpful.

Helpful Experience

In the last 6 years I have attended over 140 births as a doula. Keeping abreast of all the local hospital policies is important to me, and am a certified childbirth educator. I have lots of experience, and I would love to sit down and talk to you about your birth plans. I am offering virtual birth planning sessions for $150 that include a 2 hour meeting to talk about your birth plans, a PDF copy of my 96 page childbirth education booklet full of information for you to learn about childbirth, example birth plans, email support to review your birth plan to get it just right, and bonus handouts including a birth themed coloring book. This doula would love to help you walk through your options and decide what is right for your family right now.

I have been able to attend one birth recently at a hospital, and it honestly was wonderful. The staff was honestly impressive and the entire experience wasn’t nearly as scary as I had imagined it would be. It was great to be able to support my client in person, but I don’t know how much longer that is going to last during this pandemic.

Birth planning during COVID-19 can help you feel more secure and ready. Knowing what to expect can take so much of the anxiety out of the process. I’ve been there, and I would love to help you.

P.S. If you haven’t heard, you can now stream all parts of the movie The Business of Being Born here if you are interested!

**This is an affiliate link and I will receive money if you click through and purchase the course. This is not a way I am planning to get rich, but a nice bonus for recommending products that I really do believe in to my clients. I’m happy to talk to you about it if you have any concerns.

Home Birth in Evansville, IN

Home birth is an option here in Evansville, and I love attending home births as a doula. This post will help you think through some of the considerations.

As a doula, I often get asked about home birth here in Evansville, IN. There are plenty of myths and misconceptions about home birth, midwives, and doulas, and plenty has been written on these. My purpose with this post is to give you Evansville area specific resources and a little bit of advice too. As always, I am happy to chat with anyone who has questions about home birth here, and about my experiences as a doula at home births as well.

Choosing Home Birth

There are plenty of reasons that people choose to birth at home. Currently, I am fielding concerned messages about the safety of the hospital and visitor policies. We haven’t seen a restriction of zero visitors here yet, but it could come in the future. One important fact: only low risk parents are able to choose home birth. That means if you have any risk factors such as insulin controlled diabetes or placenta previa, then you are not a candidate for home birth. The good news is that 85% of pregnant people are considered low risk!

Finding a Provider

There are currently 2 home birth midwives that serve the Evansville area: Michelle Sanders, CPM & Jennifer Williams, CPM. They are both Certified Professional Midwives who carry emergency supplies such as oxygen & medicine to stop bleeding. Both are newborn CPR trained, very experienced, and have local assistants in Evansville. They both hold prenatal meetings at their office spaces around 2 hours away. I believe they are both doing virtual visits currently because of the concerns about COVID-19.

Both midwives also require you to have a parallel care provider. That means if you hire a home birth midwife, you will still need to have another provider with hospital privileges such as an OB or family doctor. There are not many providers locally who are able to openly support home birth. That may be changing, but I am also happy to talk to you about which providers we have found to be supportive. It is important that you have an open and honest conversation with all of your healthcare providers about your wishes and plans for your birth.

Cost

Home birth is not cheap. It is also not covered by most insurance companies. You can ask your insurance about a “gap exception” for covering the cost of your midwife. The midwives are not able to bill your insurance, and you should expect to pay your midwife out of pocket and then to perhaps be reimbursed from your insurance company. Some people may be able to use their HSA or FSA for these costs, but again you should consult your individual company.

In addition to the cost of the midwife, you also need to factor in the cost of either renting or purchasing a birth tub and supplies for it if you want one. You will also need to purchase other supplies; your midwife will give you a list. I always recommend getting more towels than you think you would ever need and that you don’t mind throwing away if necessary.

Other Considerations

  • If you are thinking about a home birth, call early! Both of the midwives who travel here get busy very quickly, so don’t wait to contact them.
  • Study up on childbirth and coping techniques! You will want to know what to expect even more at a home birth. I will have a blog post up soon about online childbirth education options.
  • Unassisted Birth or Free Birth is not an option you should choose lightly. If this is something you are thinking about, please reach out to us so we can talk to you about some of the things you might want to consider. Home birth with a midwife and free/unassisted birth are NOT the same thing.

Home Birth Doula

I love being a doula at home births. I have worked with both of the above mentioned midwives. My job as a doula is very different than their job as a midwife. I have balanced on the end of a bed while holding my client in a supported squat position as she pushed her baby out. One client gave birth sitting on my lap. I’ve poured warm water over one clients back as a she labored in a birth pool for hours. As a doula at a home birth, my job remains to help my client ask good questions, move around, be more comfortable, & be emotionally supported. We doulas always try to fill in where we are needed, no matter the location. I often arrive before the midwife and their assistant. I am there to help you.

Reach Out

If you are thinking about home birth in the Evansville area and want to talk about your options, please reach out to us! I love talking about my home birth experiences. Birthing at home might not be the right choice for everyone, but it is an option here. I have spent the last 6 years gathering resources, making professional connections, and learning all I can to help support families in all kinds of birthing situations. I would be happy to talk to you about all of your options.