What is a Doula?

Posted on May 13, 2013April 15, 2016 by Katy

What is a Birth Doula and Why Should I Consider One?

— By Sharon Muza, certified doula (DONA), BDT (DONA), LCCE, FACCE. To learn about becoming a doula, visit Bastyr’s Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations.

A trained birth doula provides continuous emotional, physical and informational support to a birthing woman and her family.

Many women and their partners wouldn’t think of heading into their birth without a doula as part of their team. The term “doula” (pronounced “doo-la”) comes from the ancient Greek language for “a woman who serves,” although nowadays both men and women fill the doula role.

A trained birth doula is hired by the mother (and her partner, if applicable) to provide continuous emotional, physical and informational support to a birthing woman and her family. Many research studies and reviews over the past few decades find that doula support during labor helps reduce interventions (including cesarean sections, forceps and vacuum deliveries), shortens the duration of labor, increases breastfeeding rates and raises overall birth satisfaction. You can use a doula whether you plan on giving birth in a hospital, a birth center or at home.

Before the Birth

If you are interested in having a doula support you at your birth, consider the resources atDoulaMatch.net, DONA International or the Puget Sound local doula organization PALS Doulas. You may find this list of questions to ask a doula to be useful. Interview several doulas to be sure you have found a good fit. Friends, family and your health care provider can also make suggestions.

Once a doula has been hired, she will meet with the family several times prior to labor to learn about the birth preferences of the mother and partner. The doula will ask about fears and concerns, share information, answer questions and help the family feel confident and positive about the upcoming birth. They will get to know each other and find out how the doula can best help make the birth a positive experience.

During Labor and Delivery

The birth doula will then join the clients in labor, offering comfort measures, providing emotional support for the partner as well as the laboring mother, and helping the client gather information and make decisions during the labor and birth. She will remain until a few hours after the baby is born and everyone is stable, then return for a postpartum visit or two in the days and weeks after birth, to help answer questions about feeding and newborn.

A mother can hire a doula at any point in her pregnancy, though she might find she can make best use of the doula’s knowledge if she selects one earlier on in her pregnancy. But no worries, if a mother makes a decision in the last month or weeks, there will still be a qualified doula available and ready to help.

The price of a doula can range from a few hundred dollars to $1,500 or more, based on years of experience, number of births attended, certification level and other factors. Financial factors should not prevent you from hiring a doula. Discuss your budget and needs and let each doula share how she can help you have a doula at your birth.

For families that meet income qualifications, Open Arms Perinatal Services offers free doulas in the Seattle area.

— By Sharon Muza, certified doula (DONA), BDT (DONA), LCCE, FACCE. To learn about becoming a doula, visit Bastyr’s Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations.

Stumbling Intentionally into Motherhood

Posted on October 22, 2012April 15, 2016 by Katy

Revelations on becoming a parent

Wowza! Life looks a little different now… Six months already into it and I’ve been meaning to write all along… one of the many things on the bottom of my incredibly long to do lists.

Revelations come daily, usually in the last moment while standing on the brink of sanity with “where the hell am I in space and time?!” moments along with moments of “Can I actually do this?!” Can I pull off this day of a thousand things, can I be a mother, a wife, a business owner, a nurturing therapist, a friend, a woman of this world AND a calm and centered person at the same time? It’s crazy, it’s turbulent, it’s shocking madness AND it’s wonderful, peaceful, joyful and quiet. Like I said, blessed revelations come in each moment when I feel like I just can’t take the rollercoaster ride for the day and I am left afterwards with a smile, strength and so much gratitude.

So, here I am for the first time hit with the cosmic 2 x 4 of “you can’t live in black and white, take it or leave it, on the wagon (of whatever) or off the wagon, all or nothing anymore”. I can’t map things out like I used to and I can’t count on the next day being just as I plan it to be. I can’t say that I’ll go to the gym everyday and expect each day to allow that for sure. I can’t plan things to infinite detail like I didn’t even realize I had the luxury to do before. I can’t say that I’ll sit and get two hours of work done and know that that will happen. I have mourned this part of myself that wants so badly to plan and control my destiny on a moment to moment basis and I am letting it go. I am learning that I if I don’t expect to have control over the details, then I don’t need to.

I’m learning this new flow of motherhood and am reinventing myself within it. A wise friend just told me to stop comparing myself BB to AB (before baby to after baby), to just let myself be who I am now. I would say that there are a lot of parts of myself that I didn’t even realize I valued as necessary for balance, sanity and happiness. Examples of this are: exercise, walks with friends, SLEEP, time alone, reading, organizing and cleaning and dates with my hubby. There are other things like travel, adventure, sports, wild nights out, concerts, looking hot, etc. that can just rest for a bit without too much loss. These other things I just can weave into this new fabric of my life as I can with such a huge sense of gratitude for them now that I hadn’t had before. I am so grateful for even twenty minutes of any of the above things. I get an hour to myself to write at a café and I feel new again and inspired.

I can now appreciate these moments as they come rather than needing to own them and plan them all out so much. It is just this great little gift that I’ve given myself that makes me more present as a mother, wife, therapist and all of the above. I hope for more of these but don’t expect them and that makes them even sweeter.

I ask you to reflect on those things in your life that make you feel whole. Are you making enough time for them or are other things more important right now? Are you holding onto old blueprints of who you think you are and how you should operate, are there any updates needed to shift toward the current, true you? Can you let priorities shift while still doing those things that are important for your mind, body and soul to feel good? Can you allow more flexibility and self-compassion in any area of your life?

Be well!

Baby Time!

Posted on March 5, 2012April 15, 2016 by Katy

I feel so blessed….

The Poetry of Pregnancy

It’s amazing and humbling to feel your body go through so many changes so quickly. I feel so thankful for many things that I have discovered along the way now at 8 months pregnant, I’m learning to move into it all with fascination and respect for the miracles I see in:

1) a woman’s body that morphs like the natural animals we are

2) conception, creating human life from such basic elements

3) a baby fitting inside of a space that previously housed other things ( I have yet to feel it “fit” through the way out).

WOW. I wanted to share some of the things that have really knocked my socks off through this very appreciated journey. It is a beautiful song that the body dances to in a time like this.

The lessons of each moment

The body changes every day (especially in pregnancy), the mood, mind spirit evolving every minute. In this fluidity, it feels there is a lesson around each corner. Some of my personal lessons in pregnancy:

Just eat some ice cream if that’s what calls you (oh, how it calls to me). Don’t dwell. Be happy while you eat it. You can eat a salad for breakfast tomorrow.
It’s nice to not get everything done that you could have before. Let it go.
If possible, allow your days to be mellow and short.
Set up reminders for yourself as pregnancy forgetfulness is real. It’s ok to laugh at yourself for not being “on it”. Who’s keeping track?
Attitude is everything and you can change it in a second, with some music, some reflection on what’s good in life, a conversation, a nice walk or whatever inspires you. It helps to have the added responsibility in this time of knowing that your child feels what you feel, so you want positive, loving, happy thoughts.
Let discomfort steer you towards your self-care. Don’t just accept that things are going to be uncomfortable without a little effort towards balance on your part. DO all of the things you think might help: hot water (bath, hot tub), stretching, drinking some tea/water, a nap, exercise, swimming/floating, get a massage or chiropractic or acupuncture, distract yourself with a great movie, book or a nice chat with a friend, laugh to a comedy. If none of the above work, then you can complain.

Hypnobirthing

From a video I saw on peaceful birthing to getting to be present at a very graceful hypnobirth, I decided to try it. I believe fully in the power of the mind to dictate what happens to us physiologically, especially with response to pain and intense situations. We signed up for Hypnobirthing as our “birth preparation class” and did 5 sessions over 5 weeks. We learned deep relaxation techniques along with how to reframe birth and our cultural perception of it as a medical emergency to new thinking that our bodies know how to do this. So long as we can think calmly, respond calmly and go inward as practiced regularly, at the time of birth, our bodies will know what to do and can work with the birth, rather than against it (fear=contracted muscles and resistance, calm thoughts= relaxed muscles and release).

Not only have I learned how to approach birth without fear, I have learned some amazing relaxation and meditation techniques that in daily practice are influencing my mood and my life every day. I feel like a lot of the anxieties that could be coming up in such a huge life transition as this are kept at bay, that I feel like a mellow and focused person (which is not what I’d always expect of myself pre-meditation practice).

It has also been cool for my husband and I to have a format through which to connect to each other and the baby in this time of change and growth as a family. We do guided meditations together and I laugh that now every time he puts his hand on my shoulder, I will go into a deeply relaxed state. It sounds like a great tool for him to use when he’s not getting his way. Ha.

So, just to explain, during the birth a Hypnobirthing mother is in a deeply relaxed state, rather than thinking of it as “hypnotized”. She’s still aware of the world around her, can respond and is still thinking and awake. She’s just able to go into a deep alter-world where she’s focusing on breath, affirmations and releasing that’s free from “pain”, fear and emergency. She’s super in tune with her body and the birth process. I’m sure I’ll have a different way of looking at it after our birth so I’ll keep you posted.

Prenatal Yoga

Thank you to the Seattle Holistic Center and Aditi Yoga for inspired classes that help me connect to my expanding hips in a loving way, to relieve the arm numbness I get at night from changing posture and for giving me the time to sit in peace with my body on a regular basis. There are many hidden gifts in yoga. I am grateful for the reminder of returning to practice in a time when the return on just one session is so huge.

Community

How nice it is to connect with other women, especially pregnant at this time. To be able to share, vent, listen and laugh with others is really, really healing. It makes me realize at such a sensitive, vulnerable time in life, how important it is to always be building community around you. This can mean whatever it means to you, whether its appreciating the same coffee shop with a familiar crowd every week or whether it’s actively seeking out a group (meetup.com is amazing) of like-minded souls to delve deep into things that fascinate and connect you, FIND YOUR PEOPLE! You’ll be so rewarded with the experience. In pregnancy, I’ve found this great benefit in yoga groups as mentioned above, in pre-natal classes at Birth and Beyond, and by not being too shy to strike up conversation with other pregnant women anywhere.

Other thoughts:

Doula’s are great for support and resources. Births statistically go much smoother with a Doula, regardless of setting or who else you have there.
Midwives spend a lot of time with you and hold your hand well through your pregnancy.
Some hospitals offer a centering group or mother’s groups to look into (Ballard Swedish).
So many other thoughts… I’ll share more later!!

Massages really can make the pain go away, study finds

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Katy

Originally published July 4, 2011 at 10:00 PM read online here

A new study reinforced what physical therapist have long suspected: Massage, when coupled with traditional medical treatment, provides significant relief from chronic back pain. The 400-person study was conducted by Seattle’s Group Health Research Institute.

By Roberto Daza

Seattle Times staff reporter

This was the first time in the decades she has been managing her back pain — the result of years of tennis, golf and “the crazy high heels you wear when you’re young” — that she couldn’t move.

Until then, she kept the pain at bay with regular exercise, the sporadic massage, and trips to the chiropractor. She also took aspirin, but those instances were rare. This afternoon was different. It took four hours, but Anderson made it to a phone and called for help.

Her situation is not uncommon; 70 to 85 percent of Americans experience back pain at some time in their lives, and it is the most frequent cause of limited activity in people under 45, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Anderson is one the 400 members of Seattle’s Group Health Cooperative whose persistent back pain was included in a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday. The findings suggest that massage therapy provided greater relief of back pain when compared to conventional approaches alone. Massage recipients spent fewer days in bed, were more active and took fewer medications. Research suggests massage stimulates injured tissue and calms the central nervous system.

“I knew I should not have tried lifting that,” Anderson, 68, said of the 40-pound box more than a third of her weight. Since that incident in 2006, she keeps heat therapy packs strategically scattered throughout her three-story town house. “It taught me to be prepared.”

In the emergency room, a syringe provided pharmaceutical-grade relief. She still winces at the idea of prescription medication.

She recuperated, but never fully. The pain was still there. Anderson was paired with a physical therapist, who in 2008 suggested she join the clinical trial conducted by the Group Health Research Institute. She would continue regular treatment with an added bonus: A weekly, hourlong massage.

The 10-week trial was for those with chronic back pain that had no identifiable cause. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: pressure-point massage, relaxation massage or usual care — what they would have received anyway, most often medication.

Anderson was assigned to the relaxation massage group.

“Almost immediately, it felt better and lasted a couple of days” she said, adding that subsequent massages offered longer relief.

And she wasn’t alone. At 10 weeks, more than one in three patients who received massages said their back pain had lessened or ceased. By comparison, one in 25 patients who got usual care reported improvements.

“For people who’ve tried more conventional treatment with no results, massage is a reasonable thing to try,” said Daniel Cherkin, leader of the study and an investigator at Group Health Research Institute, whose research has shown that massage is as effective in relieving chronic back pain as other treatments such as yoga, exercise and medication.

The study also found that after six months massage recipients still reported pain relief. After one year, reported benefits were no longer significant.

The one surprising finding was that both massage types were found to be equally effective. Pressure-point massage, which targets injured ligaments and muscle, is often more expensive and requires additional training, while relaxation massage, the most common form of massage, focuses on promoting a feeling of relaxation throughout the body.

One in six American adults had a massage in the past year — 25 million more Americans than 10 years ago, according to an annual survey by American Massage Therapy Association.

Roberto Daza: 206-464-3195 or rdaza@seattletimes.com

Great interviews available on Rise Up Radio!

Posted on August 24, 2011April 15, 2016 by Katy

Melina Meza: Seasonal Vinyasa Yoga

Melina talked with us this week about her own unique style of yoga called Seasonal Vinyasa. She’s had years of experience in the world of health and healing with whole foods nutrition, Ayurveda, teaching yoga classes, teacher trainings and yoga retreats that sound HEAVENLY! I’d encourage you to check out her website that’s inspiring on every level: www.melinameza.com I was encouraged by her own brand of self-care including an hour of sunlight daily (especially in the Northwest). YES! Listen to the show HERE!

Pat O’Rourke: Craniosacral Therapy

Pat shared some insights on this fascinating world of Craniosacral bodywork and how it can benefit you. Pat has been a well respected teacher and healer in the Seattle area for over 25 years, is one of my personal idols, and has sage advice and tips for how you can tune in to your own self-healing. She is great at piquing curiosity in healing and is an inspiring mind to talk to! Her website here: www.patorourkelmp.com is a great place to read more about not just her cranio work but the other awesome stuff she is teaching your body like structural integration and visceral manipulation. Listen to the show HERE!

Carrie Lafferty: Feldenkrais movement

This show highlights a healing modality that helps to re-educate your movement patterns and facilitates deep healing and self-awareness. Carrie is an expert in the field with 26 years of experience in Physical Therapy, Feldenkrais and Qi Gong and brings a lot of presence and great energy into her sessions. She can be found at www.movementfromwithin.net. Carrie also has some great healing projects going on that you can join in on this fall like awareness walks around Greenlake and a guided audio walking tape that sounds like an excellent self-care tool for your toolbox! Listen HERE!

Lauren Esmailka: Manual Physical Therapy

I love this show because it was my first and Lauren is a great friend, I was nervous and the show was GREAT (and kinda funny)! Lauren is an awesome manual therapist whom I refer people to all the time for greater ease of movement, cues on how to get back into their active bodies with the right strength, mobility and self-care. She gives us some great, practical tips useful for any athlete in this show and you can contact her at MTI Physical Therapy in Bellevue. Listen to this show HERE!

If you have someone great you’d love to hear more from and have on our show, send me a shout. This show is for you.

Check out the RISE UP RADIO SHOW homepage and watch for new episodes.

For Somali women, health program eases the pain of war, exile

Posted on August 10, 2011April 15, 2016 by Katy

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES: Harborview nurse Bria Chakofsky-Lewy, in turquoise, practices yoga with a group of Somali women. The program, called Daryel or “wellness” in Somali, is designed to improve health and well-being. It also offers massage, health education and opportunities for socializing.

By Andrew Doughman

Special to the Seattle Times

Somali women who fled their war-ravaged homeland are finding compassionate, “culturally competent” health care at Daryel, an exercise, massage-therapy and social support group in Seattle.

The Harborview Medical Center nurse faced a conundrum.

Several doctors had told Bria Chakofsky-Lewy that a group of Somali women patients had aches and pains they could not treat successfully. Chakofsky-Lewy, who supervises a program for immigrants and refugees, reasoned the trouble could be a combination of physical trauma and emotional pain from fleeing war and relocating thousands of miles from their homeland.

One solution could have been a regimen of pills.

Chakofsky-Lewy had another idea: massage therapy.

So, on a Sunday morning in 2009, about a dozen Somali women in loose-fitting Islamic garb arrived at a South Seattle community center. They drank tea. And volunteer massage-therapy students kneaded the knots out of their backs.

read entire Seattle Times article here

I am so happy to be a part of this amazing and inspiring program. If you are interested in helping in any way with ideas, funding, time or massage, please let me know!

Plantar Faciitis: You pesky rascal!

Posted on July 6, 2011April 15, 2016 by Katy

You wake up in the morning, step down on your foot and the heel pain has you hobbling first thing. As the day goes on, the pain diminishes here and there. No pain after the first few steps of your run but in the afternoon your foot is fatigued and achy and the pain returns right when you stand up or after standing for a bit. You sleep and repeat. Plantar Fasciitis is the sneaky- ninja injury that can come and go, seems to be resolved then hits you again full force when you least expect it. How frustrating!

A doc or physical therapist can diagnose your foot pain and let you know where to go from here. Plantar Fasciitis refers to repeat inflammation on the sole of your foot in the dense tissue that runs from the toes to the heel. It can be associated with a heel spur as a result of the injury that can be particularly painful to put pressure on. This injury can linger because as the fascia is healing and scar tissue is forming, especially in overnight rest as your foot is in relaxed flexion, the healing fascia can re-tear as soon as you step down on your foot with pressure. This can lead to built up adhesions and tension in the area over time that can be difficult to rest and heal.

Some things that might help speed your healing:

Icing the sole of the foot with a frozen water bottle in the evenings to keep inflammation down.
Stretching in the morning BEFORE getting out of bed, especially the calves. Try a seated forward bend while pulling a strap around the sole of your foot towards you.
Trying heat in the morning to limber up the fascia before you start your day.
Rolling a tennis or golf ball under your foot, as much as you can handle pain-wise, during the day to keep the tissue flexible.
Massage can help to keep the plantar fascia loose, especially as it connects up the back of the heel into the Achilles tendon and up into the calf. Muscular and fascial tension in this area can be a cause for the repeat nature of this injury.
Seeing a physical therapist can help to discover the origin of the issue, whether it’s how your foot is rolling as you walk, if you need orthotics or if a combination of strengthening here (gastrocnemius & soleus) and loosening there (calf fascia, hip flexors) is at issue. A night foot brace to keep your foot in extension might be a recommended help.

image thanks to: www.bodywork.com

BE HAPPY: The most awesome bus driver EVER (Chile, South America)

Posted on May 18, 2011April 15, 2016 by Katy

It was 2005, and my hubby, some friends and I had traveled through some dusty desert to reach the town of San Pedro de Atacama. It was HOT at around 100 degrees and my Alaskan temperament was starting to wear my energy and attitude down a little bit. I needed a boost so we get in cue for the only bus that heads north to the swimming hole on the way. The bus roared up the dirt street towards us, stops and turns off its engine. A dude dressed in a Spiderman costume unloads and walks towards the building to get the list of next passengers. Spiderman is the bus driver! What….?!!!

Spiderman loads us all up and launches into his spiel that’s all about superhero bus riding. He cranks up the music that’s kept on repeat: Sol y Lluvia a revolutionary era band from the 70’s that, at least on this bus, inspires your inner Chilean patriot. Loud and awesome. The next few trips prove to be just as brilliant, traveling with Zorro and Superman who are just as funny and in character as the day before and has the same music blaring out the open windows along the way. This guy was so happy doing his job! His enthusiasm for what he does was infectious and you couldn’t help but be tickled by his effort and originality. Something you’d never expect.

A few days later, we found out about a salt lake way into the desert that you had to get dropped along that bus route and walk for about a mile to find it. It happened to be Valentine’s Day when we got on the bus and it was filled with helium red heart balloons. Check out the outfit on the right. He took the heart off to see but he’d pop it back on for the routine stuff at stops. The music was Chilean love ballads. He stopped in the middle of nowhere, turned off the bus and got out for pictures with us, taking his time to explain the directions to us. Everyone looked on patiently amused, no rush! We headed into the trail-less desert with smiles.

What a gift this experience with the happiest bus driver ever was. I got onto that bus every time excited to see what the ride would be like and I felt so inspired about this simple thing, the value of surprises and the huge gift you give others when you pour enthusiasm and care into what you do every day. It’s a ripple effect, contagious and wonderful!

Springtime renewal

Posted on April 8, 2011April 15, 2016 by Katy

Its springtime and a lot of people are getting the urges for springtime cleanses. The ritual of starting anew in the spring is an age-old tradition and there’s no better way than listening to the seasons to synch up with natural cycles of life. What does a springtime cleanse mean to you? For some it can be dietary focused with the intention of flushing out toxins from deep within the tissues and allowing the body to release and renew. For others it might be de-cluttering the home (my favorite!) where you can really be mindful of what you actually use and need in your life vs. what is simply taking up space. What physical things in your space fuel you with inspiration and pleasure vs. what things are distracting and cause you stress? Let those things go to make room in your life for growth and renewal. This is similar to how massage goers can view regular massage on a cellular level. Flush out the unneeded energy and waste stored deep in your tissues and let new healing circulation flow through.

My new springtime renewal ritual focuses on my self-care and is a chance for me to reinvigorate my “feel my best” routine. It starts with being mindful of the things that are most important to me to feeling my most healthy and energetic self every day. I choose a few things that I know are awesome things to do for myself and I allow those things back into my life with ease and enthusiasm. A few of the things I’m choosing this season are: drinking more water, stretching for five minutes before bed or in the morning, eating until I feel almost satisfied (not full), and enjoying a little more sleep.

Ahhhhh! If that’s how you feel after reading your own ideas, then you’re on the right track. The key is to allow yourself to be perfectly imperfect. Make some room for that sunshine!

A few moments to sunshine

Posted on February 8, 2011April 15, 2016 by Katy

In these days of mellow winter energy, a great way to rev up in the morning is to take a moment to fill your energy tank to FULL before you head out. Here is my favorite mediation that I do as often as I can, in the morning or on a break in the day. It helps me to find my center, feel content in an imperfect world and create a little internal solar power.

Sit in a comfortable position in a quiet place with your eyes closed. Breathe thorough your nose and begin to notice your breath coming in and out of each nostril, filling your tummy and your chest and relaxing you with each exhale. Allow your breath to deepen and lengthen and notice any tight spots in your body. Release your tension as your breath comes in and out effortlessly. Imagine that there is infinite space around you that can fuel you with all of the energy, light, and love that you need.

On your inhale now, imagine that you are drawing light into your body. It’s a pure, positive light that fills every corner of your body. You can see the light pouring into you like liquid. On your exhale, imagine breathing out any darkness and release that from your body. This can be any negative thoughts, fears or anything that feels dark to you, anything that no longer serves you. Just let that go out to the ethers.

3 breaths: breathe in light, breathe out darkness.

Now on your inhale, draw peace into your body. Fill your body up with calm serenity and let it expand within you. All is well. On your exhale, breathe out restlessness. There’s nothing out of place, no where else you need to be. Help your body to just let that go.

3 breaths: breathe in peace, breathe out restlessness.

Now inhale bliss. Let yourself fill with joy, happiness until you could burst with it. Feel that grow and settle into your entire being. You might find a smile. On your exhale, breathe out sorrow. Any lingering sadness or melancholy, let it go with your out-breath.

3 breaths: breathe in bliss, breathe out sorrow.

Allow yourself to sit for a few minutes, letting your body feel full of light, peace and bliss. Complete this meditation with three breaths:

Breathe in light, breathe out light.

Breathe in peace, breathe out peace.

Breathe in bliss, breathe out bliss.

And continue by having a beautiful, powerful day!