vincennes indiana – Doula Group of Evansville

Our 5 Favorite FREE Places to Play in the Tristate

When I looked at the list of required preschool items for my daughter’s school in Berlin, Germany, I was surprised to see rain boots, rubber overalls, and a raincoat on it. The Germans have a saying, “Es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, nur schlechte Kleidung.” (There’s no bad weather, only bad clothes.) Let me tell you from experience, they take this and the requirement for daily time outside in the fresh air VERY seriously, & it changed my life. Getting outside changes our moods and helps regulate our nervous systems. We <3 Evansville for so many reasons, but especially because of this areas great FREE outdoor areas to explore that are kid friendly! Here are our 5 favorites.

Mickey’s Kingdom Playground

If you haven’t explored this awesome accessible and fenced in playground on the Evansville riverfront, then what are you waiting for?? With an attached bathroom and lots of parking, this playground is so much fun. There is even an area for littler kids while your bigger kids run to the other side. If you are prone to anxiety when you can’t keep eyeballs on your kid, this might not be your cup of tea. The whole structure is parent accessible, so you can definitely chase your wild things all over too. Extra special bonus points: a giant T-rex statue, structures form recycled milk jugs, & the world’s largest solar powered CommuniTree too!

Smothers Park

With an into-the-woods theme and so many play structures to explore, this park right on the Owensboro riverfront is so much fun! In the summer there is a wet section that your kids will LOVE to get into, so don’t forget to bring some towels and maybe a change of clothes too. My kids LOVED to pretend they were hunting at this park, and crawling through the fishes mouth was always part of the agenda too. This park is not fenced in, so if you have a toddler that likes to run, you may want to bring a leash. (Zero judgement, a parent’s gotta do what a parent’s gotta do!) Smothers park is a perennial favorite of ours, and not just because the drive back to our house is about the perfect amount of time for a big kid quick nap.

Friedman Park

If your kids thrive in more wide open spaces, Friedman Park in Newburgh is the spot to check out! There is a trail through the grassland that that is beautiful and a fully paved path all the way around the park great for balance bikes & strollers alike. The playground isn’t fenced in and there are not too many places to hide from the sun, but this is a great spot for a spring picnic or water fowl watching on the nearby pond. Google will get you there fine, and yes, you do drive through a neighborhood to find it.

Burdette Park

There is so much to love about Burdette Park on the west side of Evansville. There are several play areas that aren’t so huge that you’ll spend your time searching for your kid while they’re on the structures. Short trails beckon if you are looking for just a little forest bathing to soothe your wanderlust another day. In the summer, the swimming area is super fun too. Did I mention the paved trail that goes from Burdette Park to USI? Its also relatively quiet, especially in the spring. Burdette has always been one of my favorite places to wear out the kids, and I’ve heard the chalets are pretty great to rent for overnights too.

Garvin Park

In the heart of Evansville, Garvin Park is one of my favorite places to wile away an afternoon outside with the kids. This park has multiple playgrounds with abundant shade. Parking has never been an issue for me, and there are always all kinds of events happening in this park during the warmer months. Garvin is right next to Bosse Field where the Evansville Otters play as well as next to Deaconess Aquatic Center. If you haven’t been to this park other than to drive around it at night around Christmas, then you really should come check it out during the day too!

These are our top 5 favorite FREE places to get outside with the kids in Evansville. Whether you are pushing your baby in a stroller or wrangling toddlers on leashes, getting outside, even when the April showers roll in, will help improve your mood. Don’t worry, you and your kids are washable! Grab some snacks and spend some time outside together this spring. It might just make you smile and wear your kids out too.

Insider Information

Doulas have the inside scoop on local options without any of the insider bias and protections.

As a doula who has been working here since 2014, I’ve learned quite a bit of insider information that can be really helpful in several situations for expecting families. I recently had a great conversation with a nurse friend who was bemoaning the fact that because she works at a specific facility, she can’t warn people about specific provider habits or tell them all the things that she wishes she could because of policy. My reply, “I do that!” As doulas we are employed by our clients, therefore we answer to them. We get to say the quiet part that hospital employees might know but can’t say out loud, and that’s a pretty valuable service that doulas can offer. Here are three ways that we use that type of insider information with our outside voices.

Provider Selection

Have you ever wondered if your provider is the one driving up the episiotomy rate? The biggest issue I see is a lack of transparency regarding individual practice statistics. Until that issue gets solved, we doulas are happy to tell you what we’ve seen with our clients’ providers. Since 2014, we’ve had the privilege to be able to see most of the providers in our service area catch babies. That means that we know which ones like to pull the old bait and switch–telling you what you want to hear your whole pregnancy and switching gears to their agenda at the end, so late that you don’t even feel like you have a choice to switch to another provider. We know which providers deal well with push back and which ones don’t. We know which ones love to help you have a great experience in the OR and which ones will talk about sports ignoring all of your wishes. Wondering if your pediatrician is going to judge you for exclusively pumping or using a supplementary nursing system? We can tell you that! If you’re looking for a provider, don’t ask your friends or some random group of strangers on the internet all of whom probably only have experience with one or two providers max; ask a group of doulas who’ve actually seen them work and can talk to you about those experiences.

Policy vs Evidence

In case you don’t know, there are a TON of maternity care policies and practices that aren’t based on the scientific evidence at all. As doulas, we can not only tell you what the policies are, but we can also remind you that a hospital policy is not the law. In case nobody has ever told you: you cannot be arrested for drinking water during labor. We work for you, and know that not only is this type of policy not based on the latest scientific evidence or statements from organizations like the American Society of Anesthesiology, but also that it is cruel. We’ll remind you that you are the boss of your own body and you get to make all the decisions regarding what goes in and how things come out too. That’s doesn’t always make us popular, but it does make our clients happy.

Reporting

Whenever we repeat stories of medical mistreatment, we often hear the refrain, “oh I hope they will report them.” It’s pretty hard to report behavior if you don’t know how to do the actual reporting. Not only will we doulas help point out bad behavior, but we’ll help you know how to report it if that is something that you want to pursue. Seriously, we know what to do and will be happy to help you write the correct letters and deliver them to the correct people to help make sure people are held responsible. Reporting obstetric violence is really important to us by the way, and even if the information is supposedly publicly available, we know that finding it can be challenging and especially overwhelming when you have a new baby.

One of the benefits of being a doula is that we get this insider perspective without having any of the bias that comes from being employed by the facility or providers that we work with regularly. We’re employed by our clients. That kind of freedom comes with all the usual self-employment caveats, but it also means that we’re free to say the quiet part out loud. We’re free to talk about our experiences and let people know about which providers we wouldn’t send our worst enemy to versus who we’d let catch our babies. (Yes, there are a few locally that I’d still let do that.) That essence of doula service, the outsider with insider knowledge, is KEY to why we’re such a valuable part of your team!

Hiring a Doula

We know that the decision to hire a doula can be a BIG one for many families. Maybe you’ve been thinking about it for a long time and trying to decide if adding a doula to your team is something you want to do. Maybe hiring a doula for your birth isn’t really that important to you, but planning to have help around the house and someone to ask all the questions postpartum would be nice. We know hiring a doula is a big investment, but we also know that doulas help not only improve outcomes, but also improve parental stress levels, mental health, & overall confidence.

How does it work?

We have 2 types of doulas on our team: Birth doulas & Postpartum doulas. (One of our doulas does both, for those families that want that continuity of care too.) Our manager, Hillary, talks to every person who inquires about doula services to see what they are looking for and match them with a doula on our team who will be a good fit for that family. She’s kind of like a doula match maker that way. The family then gets to interview the doula to decide if they’d like to work with that doula. Once you make the decision to hire your doula, then we send you a digital contract & invoice. You pay a deposit to reserve your time on your doula’s calendar, sign the contract, & then get access to our online client classroom filled with resources and information for you.

Every doula in the group is mentored by Hillary, who has been a doula here in Evansville, IN since 2014. She’s served at more than 200 births and has been invited to speak about doulas at both our local Evansville hospitals. At this point, she takes less clients so that she can run the business side of things for our group including all the emails, contracts, invoices, website, social media, bookkeeping, outreach, etc. Clients interact with her as the primary point of contact, but then move to interacting with their specific doula for birth and postpartum services.

Birth Doulas

Our birth doulas are phenomenal! Their experience ranges from brand new to very experienced, and they set their own prices. Each and every birth doula client gets two prenatal meetings to get to know their doula, to talk about birth planning & logistics, to practice comfort techniques, & more. Birth doulas are there with you for the big birthing day to help with all the things like movement, deciding when to go to the hospital, handing you things you didn’t ask for yet, suggesting positions, offering information about options, and so much more. After baby is born, birth doulas typically stay for 1-2 hours to help with the initial feeding and bonding time before they skedaddle out of there to give you time alone as a family. Your birth doula will come visit you once more after baby is born to check on you, talk about how things went, and offer any resources that you might need at that time. We might even bring you a little present too. Hiring a doula means you not only have someone to text with random questions throughout your pregnancy, but you also have someone to walk with you for the journey from expecting to beginning. All of our birth doula clients will also be getting a postpartum planning session with one of our postpartum doulas.

Postpartum Doulas

If everyone knew about postpartum doulas, then honestly EVERYONE would hire one! Postpartum doulas come for 3-4 hour daytime shifts to help you with light housework that might be piling up because you’re busy taking care of your new human. They answer questions without any judgement & help with resources if you’re concerned that something isn’t normal. They hold the baby while you shower and help with meal planning too. Postpartum doulas help the family as a whole to transition to having a new baby in the house, because postpartum can be challenging for everyone. So whether you would like an in-home postpartum massage, help with meal planning & grocery orders, someone to look at your surgical scar or help you off the couch, then one of our postpartum doulas would be happy to help. We currently have one postpartum doula who is also able to do overnight shifts for families that would like help throughout the night for feedings & baby care too, so feel free to inquire if that is something you are interested in learning more about. Postpartum doulas are a little big magic and also *ahem* one of the BEST gifts you can get for your friend who already has everything they need for baby and could just use some extra TLC in those first weeks at home.

Don’t Wait

If you’re thinking about hiring a doula, don’t wait! We have an awesome team that is pretty flexible in being able to accommodate all schedules, but sometimes we really do ALL get booked up. July-October are the most busy times of year for us, so definitely reach out early if your due date falls in that range. (In case you’re wondering, September is the most popular birth month in the United States for several reasons.) As I write this, it is June 2022, & we’ve started booking clients into February 2023 already!

Hiring a doula takes some courage, and we know that. We also know that hiring a doula can help the entire process of bringing a new baby into the world feel much more personal and cozy when you have a doula by your side. We’re here to help you navigate it all like a tour guide who’s been down this path many times before. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in exploring, then hiring a doula might be right for you. Reach out to us if you’re interested. You can even see some great videos of our doulas on our YouTube channel before you reach out too!

AND, if hiring a doula isn’t in your comfort zone, we really do try to put out a lot of FREE content on our Instagram & Facebook pages too. Find us there! We have a FREE e-book available here on our website, as well as lots of free blog posts, including this perennial favorite about how to have a good conversation about induction with your provider. Oh yeah, and we do placenta encapsulation too if that is something you want to explore. We want to be a one stop shop for helping expecting families in the tri-state area.

FREE Online Class 2/28/22

I’ve learned a few things that I want you to know!

In 2014 I became a birth doula, and I’ve since attended more than 200 births at 7 different hospitals in this area. I’ve attended home births where the baby showed up before the midwife, planned cesarean births in the OR, amazing VBACs with (and without epidurals), and soo many variations between. I’ve learned some things that can be helpful for you to know, & I want to share them with you!

Hillary Melchiors PhD, MPH, LCCE, CD(DONA)

My name is Hillary. I have a whole lot of letters after my name, but I’m really the most proud of all the families that I’ve had the privilege to serve in my capacity as a birth doula. I’m the manager here at Doula Group of Evansville too, which is honestly so much fun!

In this online class, you’ll learn about different local birthing locations and what tools they have to help you during labor and delivery. Do you know which providers share call with each other and who else might be there helping at your delivery? What are the differences between locations for birth and postpartum? What about your rights as a patient? What does informed consent look like and how can you advocate for yourself? This class will also go over routine care and how to ask great questions to get the care you need.

One thing I want you to know even if you don’t come to the class: YOU are the boss! You make the calls when it comes to your care and consent is an on-going process. Nobody should do anything to your body or baby without your express enthusiastic consent. If rights are something you are really interested in learning more about, you should check out this class by Birth Monopoly. I’ve taken it and definitely learned so much helpful information as a birth worker:

I hope to see you on Monday 2/28/22 for this class, but if you can’t make it, don’t despair! I will be recording the class & it will be free to watch for anyone who signed up before the recording. I want this information out in the world to benefit our local birthing parents. I want everyone to know all their options and how they compare. I want everyone to know their rights as patients & have great conversations with their provider. This class is a step in that direction, & I hope you’ll join me.

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?