Podcasts about membranes

Premature Rupture of Membranes is a very common cause of induction which leads down the cascade of interventions. While it's not uncommon it can be frustrating when it happens 3 births in a row! Today my guest came on the show to share her story of the MAJOR difference in management of PROM from the hospital and then at home with a midwife.    Felicia is a mom of 3 and former corporate engineer turned stay at home mom who has spent the last 15 years walking down a path to a more natural lifestyle.  She shares her lifestyle and holistic living tips on instagram at @Justalittlescrunchy.  After two births that ended with a cascade of interventions, including inductions and epidurals, and a horrible hospital stay at the height or early Covid in April 2020, she was determined to experience an undisturbed birth at home.     Connect with Felicia: IG: @Justalittlescrunchy Checlist download: https://justalittlescrunchy.com/free-low-toxic-kitchen-checklist/  Email: felicia@justalittescrunchy.com   Connect with Aly: IG- @peacefulhomebirth FB Group- www.facebook.com/groups/peacefulhomebirth

For the 33rd installment of the Fanzine Podcast, we welcome Chris Coleman, former editor of at least two important ‘zines from the 1980s post-punk UK Midlands: Stringent Measures and What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen. The first of these zines straddled a vibrant local indie scene that included the likes of Eyeless In Gaza, In Embrace, Attrition, and the Glass Records label (about which Chris put together a special edition) along with Chris's evident excitement for early U2. What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen, while maintaining the fanzine format, declared itself musically with a first issue featuring interviews with The Waterboys, The Alarm - and Johnny Thunders, to whom it later dedicated a special issue (as it did Marc Bolan). WANWTTS also put out physical vinyl – EP's and albums alike - that included the likes of The Jazz Butcher, Jasmine Minks, The Membranes, Mike Scott and Nikki Sudden, and which therefore continued to place the zine at the heart of the mid-80s indie music scene. To this day, Chris continues to release records of lost archived recordings on his Seventeen label.Chris spent a Friday night indoors chatting with podcast host Tony Fletcher about his fanzine experiences back in the day. Other fanzines mentioned in this episode include Bucketful Of Brains, Alternative Sounds and Adventures In Reality, and the conversation also diverges into the likes of R.E.M. and The Smiths. We get to hear how Chris's parents once collated and stapled and distributed zines for him while he was on holiday, and we find out which of the aforementioned musicians once commented to him, “You have great veins.” (Hint: it should be obvious.)Visit https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/what-a-nice-way-to-turn-seventeen for images of some vintage What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen, to find similar posts and pages dedicated to earlier Fanzine Podcasts, and for Tony's twice-weekly writings.Thanks to Noel Fletcher for the theme music, and Greg Morton at Omnibus Press for the logo template.The Best of Jamming!: Selections and Stories from the Fanzine That Grew Up 1977-86 is available from here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I don't think anyone pushes like a VBAC mom pushes.”In this episode, we chat about premature rupture of membranes (PROM) with Noel, a stay-at-home mom from Texas, as she shares her personal experiences and successful VBAC story. We dive deep into the importance of finding a supportive provider and the realities of induction. Noel was never able to fully dilate during her first birth. She and Meagan talk about the impact of meaningful milestones (like reaching 10 centimeters!) during a VBAC labor. Also, it's never too early to hire your doula!Premature Rupture of MembranesPreterm and Term Prelabor Rupture of MembranesNeeded WebsiteHow to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsFull Transcript under Episode Details Meagan: Hello, Women of Strength. It is March which means it is my second C-section baby's birth month. I love March so much because it's also when the sun starts feeling a little bit warmer, and you start hearing some birds chirp. We're kind of getting to that spring season, depending on where you are. Let's be honest, I'm in Utah, so it's still probably snowing every day in March. But I love March so much. And we're kicking it off with a really great episode. We have our friend, Noel. Hello, Noel.Noel: Hi.Meagan: I am so excited for her to be on today. She is actually in Texas, and tell us where again in Texas.Noel: The Woodlands, Texas. It's right near Houston.Meagan: Okay, perfect. And this is where you had your baby?Noel: No, so I actually had my baby in Dallas. That's where we were living at the time.Meagan: You were in Dallas. It says it right here on your little form. Okay, so she was in Dallas, you guys. So Dallas peeps or really just Texas peeps or really anybody. We know people travel for support and things like that. This is definitely a story to listen to. And then we are going to be talking a little bit about PROM. If you haven't ever heard about PROM, PROM is P-R-O-M and that means premature rupture of membranes, which means your water breaks, but labor doesn't really start, so it breaks prematurely to labor beginning.There's also PPROM, premature rupture of membranes, which means your baby is preterm. So we're going to dive into that in just a minute. But I wanted to tell you a little bit more about Noel. She is a stay-at-home mom with two boys. One is 3.5 and one is 5, so it's been a little bit since she had her baby. She actually submitted a while ago. We found this and I was like, I really want to talk about this because one, we talk about PROM, two, we talk about finding a supportive provider, and three, we talk about induction. I think it's important to note that if VBAC is more ideal without induction stereotypically, but it is still very, very possible with induction. I think there are so many people who are told that it's not possible out there or don't think it's possible or think that the risk is just astronomically increased when it comes to induction, and that's not true. So Noel has been doing lots of great things. In fact, she just told me a fun thing. She just started a company. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?Noel: Yeah. So we just started a travel agency. It's called Noel Mason Travel, and I'm specializing in Disney. I love Disney, Disney cruises, Universal, all-inclusives, and then eventually just catch-all travel.So yeah. I'm excited. Meagan: Love it. Fun fact about me that you might not know, and it's even more about my husband, we're a big Disney family. In fact, we just went to Disney World for the second time this year. We just got back literally two days ago.Noel: Oh my gosh. We're about to go.Meagan: We love Disney World so much. And my husband is a die-hard Disney fan.Noel: It's so fun.Meagan: It's exciting.I was just told recently by a friend that we definitely need to try a cruise, so maybe we need to connect. But yes, if you guys are looking to take your family to Disney World, definitely reach out to Noel. Of course, you can ask VBAC questions. Noel: Yeah.Meagan: Okay, so I'm going to go back. In addition to starting a travel agency, she loves cooking and is very passionate about pregnancy. She actually started an Instagram documenting her VBAC journey. In addition to fun and travel, I wanted to see if you could tell us more about your Instagram page where people can go and follow that page from when you were doing that.Noel: Yeah, so it's called Docnoelmason. I'm obviously not a doctor, it was just kind of a joke. But I created that Instagram at a time when I was grieving my first birth. After therapy, I realized how important it was for me to just talk. It didn't matter if anyone was listening. I just wanted to talk and educate. I created this Instagram basically just to educate my friends, none of them who were pregnant yet, on how to avoid a C-section, C-section recovery, if you have one. It was just a video diary. There's so much content of me just sitting on the couch to my camera, ugly views, just talking about what was currently going on.Meagan: I love that. I think that's going to be something that people will connect with because that's where we're all at. We just want to sit there and hear where someone else who's going through the exact same thing is. I just feel like we connect so much and that's why I love our community on Facebook, and I love this podcast, and of course, we love our Instagram pages and things and hearing everybody connect. We've been told that people have made actual friendships through this community. It's so awesome. So thank you for sharing that. We will have all of the links for the Instagram page and her new travel agency in the show notes if you are interested in checking that out. We do have a topic of the week instead of a review of the week. If you're just joining us, we have, for so many years, done a review every single week where people comment and leave reviews, and we share them. We're still loving those, and we're still sharing those. So if you haven't yet, leave us a review on the podcast. It really does help us so much in so many ways and truly helps other Women of Strength just like you find the podcast. You can check that out at Google. You can Google "The VBAC Link" or on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're listening to your podcast, leave a review. It'd be greatly appreciated. But today, we do have a topic of PROM. So like I mentioned, Noelle had PROM. I had PROM. She's gonna tell you more about her story of PROM. And I've shared my story a million times about PROM, but they say 10% of pregnancies will have PROM, premature rupture of membranes. I was 3 for 3. It just happened for me. That can be sometimes hard because water breaks, and what do we do? I mean, Noel, what were you told to do if your water broke? Did anyone say anything?Noel: With the first pregnancy, I was told to go straight to the hospital. Don't delay. Get there immediately. With the second pregnancy and a better team, I was told, "Just keep doing what you're supposed to do." Walk if you want to, but just act like nothing's happened.Meagan: Go carry on with normal life.Noel: Carry on. Yeah.Meagan: Yes. That is definitely something that we would suggest. Now, there are certain things that we want to watch out for. If our water breaks and it's green, nasty, meconium-stained, it might be a reason to go in to your provider or call your provider and have a discussion with them. There's prolapsed cord. That can happen, and that is a very serious situation where we need to get on our head and get our butt in the air and get to the hospital. If there is a cord coming out after your water breaks, it is an emergency situation and is not something to just hang out and carry on with normal life. But when water breaks, what I was instructed to do with my third pregnancy, also like you with a better team, a more educated self and I had doulas and midwives and everybody. It was your water breaks, you do a little check-in. What does the color look like? Okay, is it clear? How are you feeling? Do you feel like you have a fever? Do you feel flu-like symptoms? Maybe take your actual temperature and see if you have a temperature. Okay. We don't have a temperature. We're not contracting. All is well. Put a pad on. It's probably going to keep coming. Just to let you know, you will keep leaking and then keep going. Keep going. Now, it is important to know that it can take hours. I'm serious. Hours and hours for labor to start. And Noel's going to share her story in a second. But for me, it really took 18 hours until I was really going with my second. And then with my first, I actually started contracting soon-ish. So it might not be technically PROM, but I started cramping and contracting, but it really took until 12 hours for me to even be 3 centimeters dilated which was very normal as a first-time mom. Know that if your water breaks, it is not like, run to the hospital. We're having a baby right this second. You're gonna have a baby in the car. It's not always like that when your water breaks and contractions aren't starting. So just to let you know, about 95% of all births will occur within 28 hours of PROM when it happens at term at 37 weeks. Now, PPROM is, like I said, preterm premature rupture of membranes. That is something that you will probably want to go in for if your baby is preterm. That happens at about 3% of pregnancies. I just think it's important to note that it happens. Noel and I are proof of that. If it happens, it doesn't mean run. You don't have to run to the hospital. You don't have to think you're having a baby right this moment, but it's something I suggest checking in with your provider about beforehand saying, "If my water breaks, what would you suggest?" They might suggest go straight to the hospital. We know it's not necessarily what you need to do, but at least you know your provider's suggestions. Okay. All right, we are going to take a quick break for the intro, and then we're going to get into Noel's story. All right, Ms. Noel. I have taken so much of your time already, so thank you so much for talking PROM with me. Yeah, let's turn the time over to you.Noel: Okay. So with my first birth, I was the first of my friends to get pregnant and I just had this very fairytale view of pregnancy and birth. I really just knew what happened in movies. So like you said, the water breaks, it's water everywhere, and you run to the hospital. I just had no idea what to expect. I had listened to some birth stories enough to know that getting a doula would be important, but at the time, I thought that is way too expensive and something that I, in my first pregnancy, don't need which is so silly looking back now, especially with my C-section bill being what it was "too expensive". It would have saved me a lot of money. But yeah, I did no techniques like Spinning Babies, no chiro, no PT. I just felt very unprepared. And looking back now, I think my doctor really preferred it that way. I think she didn't ever push me in that direction. I also had SPD and it basically felt like a knife was jamming up anytime I would walk. And again, my doctor never pushed me in any direction. She just said, "Rest when you can." That was awful. I was also told I had an anterior placenta which is a weird thing to remember, but I remember being a little bit scared by that. I guess that's why I logged it. They told me there was no risk to having one. It didn't really matter. But now looking it up, of course I know that can really affect the position of your baby. So flash forward to my growth scan. No surprise, I was told that he was sunny-side up. Of course, I asked, "Is there anything I need to do? Does that matter?" And the doctor said, "No, totally fine. Doesn't matter." You'll have a healthy Baby. So I said, "Okay." They found my fluid was low on that scan as well. Of course, I didn't ask what the level was. I just said, "Okay." They said, "We want to induce you in the next few days." So again, I was so excited to have this baby out. With my first one, I was like, let's get it on the books.Meagan: That's very common.Noel: Yeah. Yeah. So many of my friends I see doing the same thing. Again, you just don't know any better. You're ready to not be pregnant. We scheduled it for July 3rd, which again, I think was a huge mistake a day before a holiday. But again, I wasn't really thinking. I was put on Pitocin. I was already a little bit dilated, put on Pitocin and I was dilating about a centimeter every hour. Pretty uneventful. I would have to move positions. The baby's heart was acting up a little bit, but nothing really to worry about. I got to 9 centimeters. They brought out the table, all the fun vacuum forceps, and I was ready to go. That was probably 4:00. Well, every hour they kept coming in and checking me, and I was still a 9. So a couple hours into that, my doctor came in and said, "We're going to have an emergency C-section." That was that. No questions, just this is what's happening.Meagan: Can I ask why they called an emergency? Was baby struggling or did they just use the emergency to justify as being a Cesarean?Noel: Yeah, I think at the time of day, "Let's get this baby out of you before it's midnight. We want to go home." But no, aby was fine. Like I said, the heart was acting up a little bit, but no one was concerned. She just said, "This is too long to be dilated like this and not have any movement." Again, a first-time mom, I was just like, okay. I remember crying. My mom's crying. I'm crying. We're both just a little nervous about what's about to happen. The doctor came in and sees us crying and goes, "Don't worry, I'm going to have you back in that bikini by the end of summer." It still just has stuck with me what a routine moment this was for her and not a big deal to her. She just thought I would be worried about my body. It was just so ridiculous. The birth was fine. You know, we talked about the Bachelorette. It just was not what I thought would happen as they were operating.Meagan: During your birth?Noel: During my surgery, both the JOBs are talking about the Bachelorette, and I'm chiming in, and I'm just thinking, this is not what I had planned. This is not the moment I envisioned. It was really weird. So that next morning I'm recovering and my mom comes in and is like, "Hey, I don't know if you know, but one of my friends had a VBAC after her C-section with her second baby. She had a VBAC." And I asked her what a VBAC was and we talked about it. Right then I decided, this is what I'm going to do. I'm not doing this again. I am not doing this again. I'm going to have a VBAC. Flash forward about a year, I decided we would get pregnant again or would start trying, and we got pregnant right away. Thank God. In this time, I happened to find this article on Google listing hospitals to avoid for C-sections in the United States. Yep. You know, the article. Mine was number eight. Number eight. I could only laugh at that point, like, okay, all right. This time I'm going to be doing my research.Meagan: Yeah.Noel: So when it came to choosing my provider, I really felt like that was the biggest thing that could set me up for success. I knew I wanted to have the baby in a hospital again. I wasn't sure if it was going to be with a midwife or OB. I joined a Facebook page. It wasn't ICAN, and it was a group our of Dallas. It was a C-section Awareness Group, the Dallas page. There was a supportive OB who was mentioned there.  I had an appointment with him and he was fine. Nothing to write home about. This was also during COVID, so all of those rules were in place and work mattered. I also started searching for a doula at 8 weeks because I just figured, if I'm going to have one, let's have one. I'm going to have them the whole time. One of those doulas suggested moving practices to a group called Dallas Midwife Associates, and now they're Midwife and Co. They are known for supporting VBACs, and the hospital that they deliver in Baylor is also known for just being a very VBAC-supportive hospital. So I switched to that group, and the coolest thing about them is you see a different midwife every appointment you go to. They just cycle you. So by the time you're ready to have your baby, you know everyone on the team. They all know you. You're not worried about your provider being on vacation. There's no pressure for induction or anything. They were so amazing and awesome cheerleaders. The OB who they are in practice with who would do a C-section if I needed one or became high-risk and had to go see him, he was also supportive. So that was awesome. I could not recommend them highly enough. But yeah, just preparing this time, I think, being so clear with myself about why I wanted this VBAC. For me, it was the biggest thing at the time was the recovery. My kids were going to be 21 months apart, and I did not see how I was going to be able to have a baby and another baby if I can't lift up the first one. He was still in a crib. I didn't see how that was going to work. And so the recovery was super important to me. The experience was important to me. I wanted to do everything in my power this time to know that if I had a C-section, it was a true emergency, and that I could look back on that birth and say, "Well, this is what was supposed to happen. This is why C-sections exist," and not, "Oh, gosh, I could have done XYZ differently this time." I also had the SPD again and was not about to let that fly. With a toddler, you're constantly moving, so I couldn't be in pain all the time. I went to go see a chiropractor. I went to physical therapy. They both recommended Spinning Babies as well as my doula. So I did Spinning Babies. I was kind of crazy about it. The whole don't recline more than 90 degrees, the flashlight trick thing, that was everything to me. So 30 weeks on, you would not catch me reclining. I sat with the best posture or just laid flat on the couch because I was not about to have a sunny-side-up baby.Meagan: I can totally relate to that. I didn't sit on a couch. I didn't even sit on a couch because I was like, I'll sink too much and it will turn my pelvis in. I remember driving all back up and pelvis tucked forward.Noel: On the tip of your chair.Meagan: On the tip of my chair not wanting to have a posterior baby at, all. And then I got one.Noel: It just shows you-- yeah, exactly. You're not really in control of it. I asked about my placenta this time. Again, that's nothing you can prevent, but I knew I had lower chances if it wasn't anterior. That was good for me to know that if it was, I would need to work even harder. I don't know how I could sit up any straighter, but do my best. And then I also had what's called an overactive uterus. I guess I just had constant Braxton Hicks. Google would tell you to go into the hospital, you are in labor. So many Braxton Hicks. My belly was just constantly hard. So because of that, I didn't do any of the tea. That would make it worse. Anytime I tried, I would have more Braxton Hicks.Meagan: Because it's a uterine toner. So that's what it is. It is made to help a uterus that is contracting be more efficient. If your uterus is hyperactive already contracting, it's going to try and make it contract.Noel: Yeah, it would go nuts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I did do the dates. I'm a big believer in the dates. Plus they taste awesome. So there was really no harm in that. Okay, so flash forward. It's 38 weeks. I was off and on higher blood pressure. But on that day, I had a reading of 137/95. They began to get a little worried and just said, "Okay, you should monitor this at, home that whole week, and then at 39 weeks, we can figure out if this is still a problem." They did mention an induction if the blood pressure continued to rise or stay the same. I came in at 39 weeks. I was planning on not getting my membranes swept. I wasn't into the risk of that, but with the induction looming, I guess I should say. They did test my blood pressure that day, and it was 137/100. The protein in the urine was negative, but they were still a little worried because it wasn't really going down. I went out to the parking lot. I called my doula, and we decided that I would get swept at that point. The induction was just going to be a few days away, so we figured the risk was probably worth it at that point and went ahead to get checked for how dilated I was. I really wanted to start with the Foley bulb instead of Pitocin if it was possible, but they ended up finding I was 4 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced. Meagan: Okay, that's great.Noel: It looked like I was ready to go. I got swept that same day. Again, I said this was COVID, and the shots had been out for like a month. I found a place for my husband to go get a COVID vaccine because I was crazy pregnant, hormonal, and I kept hearing all these horrible stories about husbands not being able to be in the birth because of them having COVID or something. He's a Baylor sports fan, and Baylor been awful for forever but happened to make it to the national championship that day and that night. He was like, "I don't want to feel sick for this game. I'm not going to get it." Of course, me being almost 40 weeks pregnant could have cared less how he felt and if he was going to feel sick, so the poor guy gets his shot. I'm having contractions at that point, thinking that it worked. So I'm walking around the living room like we're about to have this baby, and he starts shaking and drops his water. Glass shatters all over the ground. He came down with a 104 fever in the middle of this game he has been waiting for his whole entire life. I'm contracting. It was so stressful. So I called my neighbor and was like, "Hey, I think I'm having this baby tonight. I might need you to drive me to the hospital. I don't know if Luke's going to be able to be there." I mean, he was in bed, not okay. Awful, huh? It was so awful. I was just praying, "Lord, I know I've been asking for this baby to come, but please, please, please, can you stop all of this?" I woke up, and completely, everything had stopped. So thankfully, his fever went away throughout that next day. My doula recommended I go to get acupuncture. I thought acupuncture was the same thing as acupressure. I was expecting to go in for a massage.Meagan: Yeah, very different. Very different.Noel: Very different. Very different. I was a little freaked out by all the needles. The next morning I woke up and thought, "Oh, crap, that didn't work. What was the point?" That morning was the 8th. I had an appointment later that day to talk about the induction. I dropped off my son at school. I always heard on this podcast, labor will start when you put your kid to bed or they go to school. I always thought that was so funny. I didn't think it would be me. I dropped off my son at school. I go to my chiropractor's office, and I text my doula and I'm like, "I think my thighs are wet. I feel like maybe my water broke." But, you know, there's so much nasty stuff going on down there at the end of pregnancy. I kind of talked myself out of it. I went to the bathroom and was like, no, I'm just not in control my bladder anymore. I don't know what's going on. On the whole drive home, I just felt more and more liquid. And then getting out of my car, my neighbor and I were getting out at the same time, and I start walking and could just feel more and more wetness. I just stopped and waited for him to go inside. And finally it hit me like, okay, this is my water. Yeah. So I called my midwives and my doula and everyone said, "Just continue doing what you're doing. Everything looked normal. The liquid was clear. I really did not want to be induced. They knew that. My doula knew that." So that whole day, I did everything I could. I did curb-walking. My doula gave me a circuit to work on. I did the Spinning Babies, and nothing happened. My blood pressure was still high, so they wanted to see me that afternoon to do a stress test to make sure the baby was okay and check on blood pressure again. So I went in, did the stress test, baby was fine. But they said, "We'd like you to go to the hospital tonight around 9:00 if nothing has started." Nothing started, so I was upset. But again, I trusted my team and that was the difference here. They were still great with me having a VBAC with Pitocin. There was never a moment where they considered not letting that happen. So I got to the hospital, asked if I could labor until 3:00 AM and just see if it started. Didn't start. They got me on that Pitocin. And at this point, I was still hoping to do things as natural as I could while being in the hospital. I was really hoping to avoid an epidural. I again was not happy about the risks of an epidural, but those Pitocin contractions really were coming on strong. I remember going and trying to labor on the toilet and sitting on the toilet and feeling and hearing what felt like a bowling ball, like a dunk, and I think it was probably the baby settling into a better position. At the time, I hated it. I hated that feeling. I literally looked around and was like, "Did you guys hear that?" It felt internally so loud. At that moment, the contractions started coming on even stronger than before. At this point, it had been 24 hours without sleep. I was not taking the contractions well. I said, "Let's do a check. If I am an 8 or higher, I'm having this baby with that epidural. If not, we'll see what happens." I was still a 4. And so again, I don't think I would recommend it if you would like to go without an epidural. Don't get checked. Just don't get checked. I knew that. I knew that, but it was a different moment when I was actually in labor. So the upside is I was finally able to rest whenever I got that epidural. A couple hours later, I was a full 10 and ready to go. They had me labor down for a little bit, but I will never forget that moment as a VBAC mom when they told me I was out a 10 having never gotten to the 10. Oh, I get chills just thinking about it. It was so special. I labored down for an hour. They turned down the epidural. I could not feel my legs. And so again, Baylor is a teaching hospital. So I had a nurse in training, I guess I had my midwife and then they had a midwife in training at the time, and then husband and my doula all in my room just surrounded. My husband hates it when I say this, but it was the feminine energy. It was just so amazing. Everyone was so hyped and excited for me. I don't think anyone pushes like a VBAC mom pushes. I felt like I was in a throw up. I had this ugly rag on me, but I could have cared less. I was just so excited to get to push. The baby came out with my first. My first baby was 7 pounds-12 ounces, 21 inches long, a normal-sized baby. This baby came out and was 10-pounds, 4-ounces, and 24 inches long. I grew a mega-baby compared to this first one. It was just so great. I didn't do the growth scan with this baby because I was so afraid that if they told me that the baby was big that I might be tempted to get a C-section or scared out of having a VBAC. I knew our bodies were made to do this. No matter how big this baby is, my body can do it. So yeah, that was that.Meagan: Oh my gosh, that is amazing. I am so grateful that you had that team and that energy because that energy is so important, and I do believe that it helps us VBAC moms, and really any mom get through that end stretch that sometimes can be intimidating or it can be longer, and then I love hearing that you got to not only have your VBAC, but then it was like, "Not only did I VBAC, I VBAC'd with a baby that was almost three pounds heavier, bigger than my other baby." So many Women of Strength listen to this podcast. I'm sure you've seen it in your forums. People don't believe that they can do it because our providers and our system tell us we can't because we go through these growth ultrasounds and they create some fear. I love that. I love it so stinking much. That's so amazing. Congratulations.Noel: Thank you. Thank you. It was amazing.Meagan: Are there any other tips that you would suggest in you finding a provider or dealing with PROM and not getting frustrated? I think it said one of the best tips that you would give to someone was making sure your provider and the providers they work with are not just VBAC-friendly, but they're really supportive. Do you have any tips to that?Noel: Yeah. That is, again, what I always tell my friends because if your team doesn't trust that you can do this, that's going to really set you up for failure. I just know so many people who are like, "Oh yeah, I asked my doctor if I could have a VBAC after my C-section and they said, "Sure, we'll just see how this will go, and my heart drops." I'm like, this is not going to go well.Meagan: Actually, that's a red flag.Noel: It's a huge red flag. It's a huge red flag. Yeah. I know me who can be a warrior. It was really important to me that everyone who would be around me was supportive because if I had one person come in there and try to poke my bubble, it could start getting in my head and that I don't need that. So, yeah.Meagan: Yeah. Not even just your providers, but your team and your atmosphere around you. I mean, sometimes in that end of pregnancy when we're being told, "Oh, you why haven't had a baby yet?" or "Your baby's gonna get too big," especially if they were ever given a diagnosis of CPD where their pelvis is too small or anything like that, the things that people say can really get into our mind, so we have to protect that bubble and not let anyone try and poke it and pop it because you deserve to feel safe, love, supported, heard in that bubble.Noel: I think listening to the podcast. I listened to this podcast every single day while I would walk with my firstborn. That helped give me the security. I knew, okay, this other mom had this story that's similar to mine. I can do this. If she could do this, I could do this. So it didn't matter whenever I had people come in who had no idea what a VBAC was try to talk me out of it. You have no idea what you're talking about. I have equipped myself with so many other women's stories. Meagan: You're like, "I actually do."Noel: Yeah, right. I'm Dr. Noel Mason. I know it.Meagan: So yeah, I love that. I am Doc Noel. Another thing that I pulled out from your story was you reaching 10 centimeters and having that feeling and not even maybe realizing how badly you needed to get to that point or hear those words. They're just milestone markers. I was in that too. I needed to get past 3 centimeters because I was told that my body couldn't. Once I was past 3 centimeters, it was like, okay. Okay. Even though I knew in my mind I could dilate past three centimeters, I knew I could. There was still this weird hang up, so once I heard that number past 3 centimeters, I can't explain to you this utter relief and aha moment of like, okay. It gave me this surge of power and strength to hear these words. I think it's really important while we're preparing for our VBAC to process our past births and realize what might be triggering and what might be milestone markers that help encourage you and communicate that with your team. Let them know, "You guys, I have never made it past 9 centimeters. I hung out there forever. I was told I needed an emergency C-section. The number 10 is going to be a big deal for me. I need you guys to help me with that," or whatever it may be. Or, "I really don't want this to happen. Can you help me avoid this?" I think communicating with our team comes with preparing for a VBAC, but also processing things mentally and understanding those big moments that you need is okay to be like, "Yeah. That actually was a big deal for me. This is a big deal for me." My water breaking was a trigger for me. But then to hear that my body could get past 3 centimeters on its own was a huge deal. So I just love that you were like, "I felt that," because I could just really remember back when I felt that moment, of like, yes, yes, I can.Noel: I can do this.Meagan: I can do this. And Women of Strength, as you're listening, I want you to know you can do this. Noel and I are two of thousands and thousands and thousands and hundreds on this podcast who have come before you who have done it. It is possible, but you do have to set yourself up in all the right ways. We know even then, sometimes you can do everything right and still not have the outcome that you want, but our goal here at The VBAC Link is to help you have a better experience. So getting that information, building your team, finding that supportive provider, all of that, and then also knowing your options if a Cesarean is needed, I just think it's so important to know that you deserve it. You can do it. You are worth it. You are worth it. And like Noel mentioned in the beginning, I didn't hire a doula because of costs. I just thought it could be by myself, and then she had this massive Cesarean bill. Sometimes these doulas or education courses or whatever, going to PTs and chiropractors may seem like it's too much financially or you can't do it, but in the end, it really pays off. I'll tell you, there's not a single day in my life that I look back and be like, I can't believe that I went to this two chiropractors and paid this much for that, paid for my doulas, paid for an out-of-hospital birth. I never even questioned that. That money was well spent. Even if I didn't have a VBAC and had to transfer and have a Cesarean, it still would have been well spent because I had a better experience. I felt empowered. I'm also going to plug Be Her Village. I'm sure you guys have heard me talking about it before. I love that company. If you are in that situation where you don't feel like you can financially do it, go register for Be Her Village. You guys, it's a registry for doulas and postpartum and PT and chiropractor and all these things. It's a place where you can go because I'm sure Noel will say it's worth it.Noel: Definitely. Yes, definitely.Meagan: Yeah. And hire a doula early on. I think having a doula early on in your pregnancy who can literally walk through this journey with you is so powerful. It might not be something where you talk to her every day. It might not be like that, but having that person in your corner, I love that you were able to go outside and call and be like, "This is a situation. Let's walk through it," and have that sounding ear and extra opinion and in the end supporting you in whatever you decided, and you decided together that you wanted to do that.I think it's so, so powerful. So as a reminder also, we have a whole registry of VBAC doulas. You can go to thevbaclink.com/findadoula. They are literally trained in VBAC and know the options and want to help you navigate that. Any other tips that you have?Noel: No, but thinking of the doula thing, again, at eight weeks, that is so important. I know a lot of people are like, "I don't even know if this baby is viable yet." I don't even think I had had my first--Meagan: Ultrasound?Noel: Yeah, yeah. I had no idea. But if it weren't for interviewing those doulas, I probably would have stuck with that original provider that I had in mind and gone the whole pregnancy with them. Because if they would have told me to switch at 20-something weeks and my provider was fine and supportive, there would have been no reason to switch. I'm so glad I talked to them when I did.Meagan: Yes. Oh, that is such a powerful thing to remind people of because doulas know the area. Doulas work with these providers all the time. It's outside of our scope to be like, "This provider is garbage. Don't go," or tell you what to do exactly. But at the same time, and maybe it's not really outside of our scope to say that. Maybe it's not really. It's maybe just not appropriate to be like, "This is garbage." But at the same time, we can be like, "Hey, this is what I've seen. I would encourage you to check these people out also. Hey, here are some questions to ask for your provider."Noel: Yes.Meagan: I love that. The doulas know the providers in the area, and they can help guide you through what really is that supportive provider.Noel: Yeah. And supportive hospital or birth center, whatever. They know. They've been there. They have been to more than we have. Yeah. Yeah.Meagan: Yeah. There is a hospital here in Utah that anytime someone wants to VBAC, at first, for a long time, I was like, "Okay, you know, just do whatever feels best," until I saw too much and now I was like, "Listen, I'm gonna be straight with you, and you don't even have to hire me if you don't like my honesty. But if you want a VBAC, you're going to the wrong place."Noel: That's powerful.Meagan: I have said that. You're going to the wrong place. Trust these people. They know. They've seen it. They're there. They're really there.Noel: Yeah. Yeah.Meagan: Yes. Okay, well thank you so much again for your time today and your stories and congratulations on your cute, chunky baby.Noel: Thank you. ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Jörg Vogel, VP of Open Innovation at Aquaporin A/S, who leads the company's innovation efforts through collaborative research and development in advancing their groundbreaking Aquaporin Inside® technology. With over 17 years of expertise in biomimetic membranes and leadership experience, Dr. Vogel drives innovation across internal and external research initiatives, including the Aquaporin Space Alliance, and brings a unique interdisciplinary approach to solving complex technological challenges.   00:00 Introduction to Life Science Success Podcast 00:42 Sponsor Message: Bio on the Bayou 2025 02:17 Guest Introduction: Jörg Vogel from Aquaporin A/S 02:46 Jörg Vogel's Journey and Background 06:09 Aquaporin's Technology and Applications 10:29 Sustainability and Challenges in Water Filtration 18:52 Collaborations and Open Innovation 23:35 Exciting Projects and Future Prospects 28:19 Personal Insights and Reflections 36:07 Conclusion and Farewell

Welcome to The Doula's Guide To... Podcast, season 3 episode 6. This is the fourth episode in a series all about common birth myths, today I wanted to chat to you all about the myth that your waters will break at the start of labour, we also cover the myth that if they do, you'll have to be induced to start your contractions. *Please note this podcast is not medical advice Links mentioned in this episode: In Defence of the Amniotic Sac: click here Pre-labour Rupture of Membranes: impatience and risk: click here Click here to find out more about my digital hypnobirthing courses: ⁠thedungareedoula.co.uk/onlinecourse⁠ Use code 'PODCAST' for 20% off my digital courses! Love the podcast? support me by leaving a tip via buy me a ko-fi: ⁠ko-fi.com/thedungareedoula⁠ Book a Power Hour: ⁠calendly.com/thedungareedoula/power-hour?month=2024-02⁠ If you enjoyed the episode please give it a like, review and click follow so you never miss out! New episodes are out every Friday at 7am so stick around. Connect with me: ⁠thedungareedoula.co.uk⁠ ⁠instagram.com/thedungareedoula⁠

In today's episode, we're revisiting an inspiring birth story featuring Emily Chandler and Taylor Washburn, graduates of the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class. They share their journey of navigating an informed and empowered hospital birth experience, along with the challenges they faced during an extended hospital stay for their newborn's jaundice diagnosis.   Emily, a marine scientist, and Taylor, a teacher and rowing coach in the Boston area, enjoy an active lifestyle filled with hiking, biking, and rowing. While preparing for parenthood, Emily immersed herself in learning about pregnancy, birth, and the state of maternity care in the U.S. This journey led them to take the EBB Childbirth Class with instructor Chanté Perryman, where they gained valuable knowledge and advocacy skills.   Emily and Taylor share how the EBB Childbirth Class empowered them to make informed decisions about their birth plan—including Taylor's memorable experience of “catching” their baby. They also highlight the importance of the advocacy skills they learned, which helped them effectively communicate with healthcare providers and navigate unexpected challenges, such as breastfeeding difficulties and securing the right support during their baby's jaundice treatment.   Be sure to listen all the way to the end of the episode for an exciting update from our guests!   Content Note: This episode covers topics such as extended hospital stays, breastfeeding challenges, jaundice testing and treatment, and the racial disparities affecting Black and Brown infants with jaundice. (00:03:15) Doula Guidance During Pregnancy (00:09:24) Minimal Intervention Birth Plan Worries (00:17:45) Unexpected Labor Challenges (00:24:45) Efficient and Caring Nurse's Impact (00:34:34) Newborn's Breastfeeding and Jaundice Journey (00:40:03) Newborn Care and Feeding Challenges (00:43:17) Optimal Umbilical Cord Clamping Timing (00:47:27) Risk Factors for Infant Jaundice (00:52:18) Jaundice Warning Signs and Emergency Help (00:55:57) Home Birth Journey and EBB Impact Resoures: Get the Evidence Based Birth® Pocket Guide to Newborn Procedures here You can learn more about jaundice here at the Mayo Clinic site, or here at the Cleveland Clinic website. Access the Evidence Based Birth Signature Articles on: The Evidence on Premature Rupture of Membranes here The Evidence on Group B Strep here The Evidence on Pitocin in the Third Stage here Listen to EBB 145- Fatherhood and Advocacy in Birth with JacMichael Perryman here Listen to EBB 244 – Evidence on AROM, AVD and Internal Monitoring here Learn more about Chanté Perryman's EBB Childbirth Class and services here Learn more about the Nest Collaborative here For more information about Evidence Based Birth and a crash course on evidence based care, visit www.ebbirth.com. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube! Ready to learn more? Grab an EBB Podcast Listening Guide or read Dr. Dekker's book, “Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered!” If you want to get involved at EBB, join our Professional membership (scholarship options available) and get on the wait list for our EBB Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the EBB Childbirth Class.

Send us a textAnnouncement: Between now and year-end, we will be releasing a 50/50 mixture of new episodes interspersed with old-favorites, due to the sudden loss of Cynthia's husband in November. We have a new episode coming next week, and will be back to our usual production schedule by New Year's. If you'd like to donate a gift to the GoFundMe that was set up for Cynthia and her family, you may do so here. Thank you to everyone for your beautiful messages, gifts and prayers.Please keep an eye out for new content and an expanded Down to Birth platform on Patreon, including a new Community feature where listeners can post questions for us and each other. To join and gain instant access to our entire library of video content, go to our Patreon and sign up.Onto the show:For this December Q&A, we kick it off, with a follow-up conversation based on one listener's response to  episode #188 on RhoGAM. Next, we jump into our questions discussing the actual risks of going past 24 hours or ruptured membranes without contractions and how you can mitigate those risks. We break down why meconium becomes more concerning after 42 weeks gestation and what those actual risks are. One mother who has the flu in the third trimester wonders if this is harmful to her baby and what she should do about it; another mom is curious if it is more helpful or hurtful to use assistance to birth her placenta and questions if a hep-lock or IV port is really necessary in labor. Furthermore, is vitamin D supplementation truly necessary for breastfed babies? Also, we discuss how to accurately calculate your due date based on your specific menstrual cycle, not the average cycle. We discuss delayed cord clamping and where to clamp the cord, two-vessel cords and the implications for induction and the safety of home-birth with midwives who have restricted access to emergency medications. Additionally, we have a great quickies segment on pregnancy headaches, aging placentas, newborn rashes, breast changes in pregnancy, cold-plunging postpartum, water birth and infections and whether or not sleep training babies is really needed.Remember you can hang with us twice a month during our interactive and educational livestream for our Patreon community members!Thanks for joining us, and remember you can call our phone line with your questions 24/7 at 802-GET-DOWN. (That's 802-438-3696) Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.comInstagram @downtobirthshowCall us at 802-GET-DOWN Work with Cynthia: 203-952-7299 HypnoBirthingCT.com Work with Trisha: 734-649-6294 Please remember we don't provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

In this episode, Dr. Jamie Lo welcomes Dr. Sarah Osmundson to discuss SMFM Consult #71, focusing on the management of previable and periviable preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM). Together, they delve into key considerations for patient counseling, the challenges of defining viability across different institutions and regions, and the maternal and neonatal outcomes linked to various management strategies. Dr. Osmundson highlights the critical role of informed consent, the need to align care with patient values, and opportunities to address gaps in research through collaborative efforts. This episode unpacks the complexities of managing PPROM and provides valuable insights for maternal-fetal medicine providers navigating these nuanced and sensitive conversations. Click here for the full episode transcript.  Additional Resources -         SMFM Consult Series #71 -         SMFM Clinical Webinar Series: Management of Previable and Periviable Preterm Prelabor Rupture of Membranes -         Maternal morbidity after preterm premature rupture of membranes at

The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei (2021) VS The Taiga Syndrome by Cristina Rivera Garza (2018)

In this special episode Iain and Al look at the best ski jackets for 2025. It's the third in our series of looking at the best snowsports equipment available for winter 2025.  In our first two episodes, we looked at the best skis and the ski boots. In later episodes, we'll look at the best helmets, goggles, gloves and socks, plus there will be a special episode focusing on ski touring equipment. This Special Episode of The Ski Podcast has been made possible by Ellis Brigham. Ellis Brigham are the winter sports specialists, with 16 shops around the UK where you can find all the kit you need for this winter. Alternatively, simply go to their website at ellis-brigham.com and you can buy online now. SHOW NOTES Waterproofing (3:00) Taping (7:30) Breathability (8:30) MVTR (9:30) Gore-Tex (10:15) 3-layer (shell) v. 2-layer jackets (11:00) Membranes and Insulation eg PrimaLoft, Thinsulate (13:00) What is a ‘powder skirt'? (15:15) What is ‘Recco'? (16:45) What is DWR? (19:40) Gore-tex EPe (20:00) Mono-material garments (20:30) Find out more about the danger of PFCs (21:00) Iain visited the Arc'teryx repair shop in Covent Garden (22:00) Listen to Iain's interview with Arc'teryx in Episode 218 Al recommends NikWax for cleaning your technical clothing Find out more about Patagonia's donations to fight climate change (35:30) Listen to Iain's interview with Picture Organic Clothing (37:45)   THE BEST SKI JACKETS OF 2025 (25:00)  Descente Women's Welded Down Jacket, £789 (25:45)   The North Face Men's Summit Verbier GORE-TEX Jacket, £630 (28:00)   Henri Duvillard Women's Alicia Ski Jacket, £539 (30:15)   Patagonia Storm Shift Jacket, £449 (32:45, available for men & women)   Picture Women's Haakon Jacket, £350 (36:30) ELLIS BRIGHAM'S CHOICE (38:00) Harry Cavill is Ellis Brigham's skiwear buyer. Her choice for the Best Ski Jacket of the year is the Goldberg Women's Porter Jacket, £530 Ellis Brigham are the winter sports specialists, with 16 shops around the UK where you can find all the kit you need for this winter at ellis-brigham.com where you can buy online now. FEEDBACK (42:30) I enjoy all feedback about the show, I like to know what you think, especially about our features so please contact on social @theskipodcast or by email theskipodcast@gmail.com  Chalets Direct:“Very good overview of the design and material technology of the latest skis and how they perform on the mountain. Fun to listen too.” n-da-bunka2650: “Custom bootfitters sometimes focus on what they have in stock rather than a boot the client may have been interested in.”  chrisbristol: “Thanks Iain, enjoying the podcast” If you like the podcast, there are two things you can do to help:   1) Review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 2) Subscribe, so you never miss an episode 3) Share with your friends You can follow Iain @skipedia and the podcast @theskipodcast

In this special component episode of the Passive House Podcast, Matthew Cutler-Welsh interviews Hugh Whiriskey of Partel. Hugh shares insights into Partel's approach to energy-efficient building, including updates on their popular ExoPerm 250 membrane and the company's move towards more sustainable, durable building solutions. They also dive into the importance of environmental product declarations (EPDs), the evolving construction landscape in Ireland, and Partel's expanding influence across North America. Partel - https://www.partel.co.uk/Building Performance Interactive https://www.partel.co.uk/media_library_category/building-performance-interactive-passive-house-accel...Partel Component Spotlightshttps://passivehouseaccelerator.com/articles/passive-house-component-spotlight-partelhttps://passivehouseaccelerator.com/articles/partel-component-spotlight-or-weather-tightness-and-pro...Partel on the Passive House Podcasthttps://passivehouseaccelerator.com/podcast/special-passive-house-component-episode-hugh-whiriskey-o...Thank you for listening to the Passive House Podcast! To learn more about Passive House and to stay abreast of our latest programming, visit passivehouseaccelerator.com. And please join us at one of our Passive House Accelerator LIVE! zoom gatherings on Wednesdays.

In this special component spotlight episode of the Passive House Podcast, host Zack Semke caught up with Adam White, CEO and co-founder of Intelligent Membranes. Adam shares exciting updates on the company's innovative Passive Purple products, their recent rebranding Net Zero Heroes, and global expansion. Discover how Intelligent Membranes is revolutionizing zero-carbon building with their eco-friendly, liquid-applied membranes. This episode is packed with insights for Passive House enthusiasts and professionals alike!https://www.intelligentmembranes.com/Net Zero Hero trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYyioe1ixEAIntelligent Membrane Component Spotlight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsSxWSCVzAIThank you for listening to the Passive House Podcast! To learn more about Passive House and to stay abreast of our latest programming, visit passivehouseaccelerator.com. And please join us at one of our Passive House Accelerator LIVE! zoom gatherings on Wednesdays.

Green Chemistry takes center stage as Rhys and Divya dive into the world of sustainable chemical manufacturing and the importance of the 12 principles from the US EPA. Discover the challenges and potential of market adoption and the exciting developments in green alternatives like Hydrex and bio-based polyacrylamide flocculants. Shift focus to Ultrafiltration (UF) membranes as we explore emerging innovations in ceramic and graphene oxide membranes, and the implications of upcoming EU PFAS restrictions. Don't miss the buzz about the WEFTEC conference in New Orleans, where Bluetech Research is proudly hosting a range of events, including Jamming for Water, the Breakfast Briefing and the Innovators Forum. Reports & Resources:Download the reports on Green Chemistry and UF Membranes from the BlueTech PlatformWEFTEC 2024: Registration --Presented by BlueTech Research®, Actionable Water Technology Market Intelligence. Watch the trailer of Our Blue World: A Water Odyssey. Get involved, and learn more on the website: braveblue.world

Taiwanese writer Chi Ta-wei (紀大偉)'s 1996 novel “The Membranes” has seen global success in recent years, with translations in French, English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Spanish, Danish, and forthcoming editions in Portuguese, Greek, and Vietnamese. “The Membranes” is a dystopian fiction set in the 22nd century. Climate change has devastated Earth, and humans now live at the bottom of the sea. The protagonist is a dermatologist named Momo who can read her clients' memories through their skins. Chi Ta-wei is an important voice in Taiwanese queer literature.  We talk about the year 1994 - the era of Pulp Fiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Nirvana. In Taipei, a bookstore called FemBooks (女書店) was opened. Artists and students wanting international cinema flocked to the Golden Horse Film Festival.  One of Ta-wei's contemporaries is the late author Qiu Miaojin (邱妙津). Ta-wei talks about why he and Qiu shared a fondness for Europe. We also talk about the Australian writer and translator Ari Heinrich who worked on English translations for both Chi Ta-wei and Qiu Miaojin. Chi Ta-Wei also talks about his appreciation for translators, and advice for writers, editors, and publishers who are working on bringing Taiwanese books to the world.  For French listeners, here's our Interview with theater director Cédric Delorme-Bouchard on the stage adaptation that premiered in Montreal 2024: https://ghostisland.media/en/shows/france-taiwan/membrane-cedric-delorme-bouchard More on Chi Ta-wei: www.taweichi.com/ Links to the novel “The Membranes”: (In English) “The Membranes” translated by Ari Heinrich (University of Columbia Press, 2021) - https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-membranes/9780231195713 (En français) “Membrane” traduit par Gwennaël Gaffric (L'Asiathèque. 2020) https://www.asiatheque.com/fr/livre/membrane 《膜》繁體中文版 (聯經出版, 1996) https://www.linkingbooks.com.tw/LNB/book/Book.aspx?ID=184182&vs=pc Tag and follow Ghost Island Media on social media: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter Support us by donating on Patreon - http://patreon.com/taiwan  EPISODE CREDIT Host / Emily Y. Wu @emilyywuEditing / Zack Chiang, Wayne TsaiResearcher / Skylar NguyenA Ghost Island Media production / @ghostislandmeSupport the show: https://patreon.com/TaiwanSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's episode, we sit down with Libby, a first-time mum who chose a homebirth for her baby's arrival. Libby shares her unique journey of surrounding herself with a supportive birth team, including her mother, a clinical midwife, and how this choice played a crucial role in her birthing experience. We dive into the discussions about her mother's concerns and the careful planning that went into the birth. As Libby neared the 42-week mark, her midwifery team informed her that a homebirth might no longer be possible, and she would need to consider birthing within the medical system. However, fate had a different plan—on the day of her scheduled induction, her waters broke. She decided to wait for labour to start and birthed her baby in the comfort of her home. Links:Evidence Based Birth - Premature Rupture of Membranes.Pre-labour Rupture of Membranes: impatience and risk - Midwife Thinking.Support the show@homebirthstoriesaustralia Support the show by buying us a coffee! Please be advised that this podcast may contain explicit language. Listener discretion is advised.The information, statistics, and research presented in this podcast are for informational purposes only and are not intended to constitute or replace medical or midwifery advice. All information discussed can be found online and is provided in the links in the show notes. It is always recommended to conduct your own research and make informed decisions. We advise you to discuss any topics or concerns with your healthcare provider. While we strive to incorporate the most up-to-date research in our episodes, we do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of the information discussed on the show.

Links: Get the Genate Test by SNP Therapeutics, learn more at genate.com and use code BIRTHHOUR15 for 15% off your order. Know Your Options Online Childbirth Course (code 100OFF for $100 off) Beyond the First Latch Course (also comes free with KYO course) Support The Birth Hour via Patreon! Liz's first birth story here. 

In this week's episode we'll discuss HA-1-targeted T-cell receptor T-cell therapy for recurrent leukemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Next, we'll learn about how 4D intravital imaging in mice reveals the key role of platelets as a source of procoagulant membranes in hemostasis. Finally, we'll hear about modifications to a common induction and maintenance treatment for treatment-naïve mantle-cell lymphoma.Featured ArticlesHA-1–targeted T-cell receptor T-cell therapy for recurrent leukemia after hematopoietic stem celltransplantation4D intravital imaging studies identify platelets as the predominant cellular procoagulant surface in a mousehemostasis modelRandomized study of induction with bendamustine-rituximab ± bortezomib and maintenance withrituximab ± lenalidomide for MCL

The Unexpected Journey: Understanding and Navigating PPROM Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs come in the form of these little letters: PPROM. For those unfamiliar, PPROM stands for Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes, a medical term that sounds as serious as it is. In plain English, it means that the water breaks too early—before 37 weeks of pregnancy and often long before anyone is ready. What Is PPROM? Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes, or PPROM, is a condition that affects roughly 3% of pregnancies, yet it accounts for nearly one-third of all preterm births. It occurs when the amniotic sac, which surrounds and protects the baby in the womb, breaks open before 37 weeks of pregnancy and before the onset of labor. This rupture can lead to significant complications, making it a critical condition to recognize and manage promptly. What Causes PPROM? The exact cause of PPROM is often unclear, but several factors can increase the risk. Infections of the reproductive tract, such as bacterial vaginosis, are a common cause. Other risk factors include a history of PPROM in a previous pregnancy, cervical insufficiency, multiple pregnancies (such as twins or triplets), and lifestyle factors like smoking. In some cases, the condition may occur without any identifiable risk factors, which makes it all the more important for expectant mothers to be vigilant about their health and prenatal care. Signs and Symptoms Recognizing the signs of PPROM is crucial for early intervention. The most common symptom is a sudden gush or a steady leak of fluid from the vagina, indicating that the amniotic sac has ruptured. Other symptoms may include increased vaginal discharge, a sensation of wetness in the underwear that doesn't dry, or a trickling of fluid that may come and go. Some women may also experience pelvic pressure or mild cramping. If you notice any of these signs, it's essential to contact your healthcare provider immediately. Diagnosis and Management If PPROM is suspected, your healthcare provider will likely perform a physical examination and order tests to confirm the diagnosis. This may include testing the vaginal fluid for amniotic fluid, ultrasound to assess the amount of amniotic fluid around the baby, and checking for signs of infection. Once diagnosed, the management of PPROM depends on several factors, including the gestational age of the pregnancy, the presence of infection, and the health of the mother and baby. If the pregnancy is near term (after 34 weeks), labor may be induced to reduce the risk of complications. If the pregnancy is earlier, the goal is often to prolong the pregnancy while minimizing risks. This may involve hospitalization, administration of antibiotics to prevent infection, corticosteroids to speed up the baby's lung development, and careful monitoring of both mother and baby. Potential Complications PPROM can lead to several complications, primarily due to preterm birth. Babies born prematurely may face challenges such as respiratory distress syndrome, infections, and developmental delays. Additionally, the longer the membranes remain ruptured, the higher the risk of infection for both the mother and the baby. Chorioamnionitis, an infection of the amniotic sac, is a serious complication that requires immediate medical treatment. Emotional Impact and Support The diagnosis of PPROM can be an emotionally challenging experience for expectant mothers and their families. Anxiety about the health of the baby, uncertainty about the outcome, and the potential for an extended hospital stay can all contribute to significant stress. It's important to seek emotional support, whether through counseling, support groups, or talking with other mothers who have experienced PPROM. Your healthcare team can also provide resources and guidance to help you navigate this difficult time. Outlook  While PPROM is a serious condition, advances in prenatal and neonatal care have significantly improved outcomes for both mothers and babies. Early recognition and appropriate management are key to minimizing risks and ensuring the best possible outcome. If you're pregnant and have concerns about PPROM, don't hesitate to discuss them with your healthcare provider. Being informed and proactive about your health is the best way to safeguard the well-being of both you and your baby.   Your feedback is essential to us! We would love to hear from you. Please consider leaving us a review on your podcast platform or sending us an email at info@maternalresources.org. Your input helps us tailor our content to better serve the needs of our listeners. For additional resources and information, be sure to visit our website at Maternal Resources: https://www.maternalresources.org/. You can also connect with us on our social channels to stay up-to-date with the latest news, episodes, and community engagement: Twitter: https://twitter.com/integrativeob YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/maternalresources Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integrativeobgyn/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeOB Thank you for being part of our community, and until next time, let's continue to support, uplift, and celebrate the incredible journey of working moms and parenthood. Together, we can create a more equitable and nurturing world for all.

Gerald Pollack is a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington. He is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal, WATER; Executive Director of the Institute for Venture Science; and founder of the Annual Conference on the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology of Water. In this conversation, we focus on the shortcomings of staple ideas in biology such as cell membranes, ATP and ion channels. If these 'textbook' ideas are even slightly wrong, what are the implications for the rest of biology? There appear to be plenty of holes in the orthodox views that must be addressed with genuine investigation.Follow Jerry- Pollack Lab- Water Conference- BooksFollow MeWebsiteSubstackConsultationInstagramYoutubeTwitter/XSpotifyAppleLinktree

Welcome to The Doula's Guide To... Podcast, season 2 episode 24. In this episode I'm talking about amniotomy, AKA having your waters broken artificially. Now hear me out on this one, you might think it's not relevant to you because you're not planning on being induced, but this is happening more and more frequently in spontaneous labours as well as induced labours and it could serve you really well to understand why!*Please note this podcast is not medical advice, all opinions are my ownLinks mentioned in this episode:Cochrane review "Amniotomy for shortening spontaneous labour" - click hereRisk Factors for Umbilical Cord Prolapse at the Time of Artificial Rupture of Membranes - click hereIn Defence of the Amniotic Sac - click hereNEW! Join my mailing list here - thedungareedoula.substack.comClick here to find out more about my brand new prerecorded online courses: thedungareedoula.co.uk/onlinecourseUse code 'PODCAST' for 20% off!Love the podcast? support me by leaving a tip via buy me a ko-fi: ko-fi.com/thedungareedoulaBook a Power Hour: calendly.com/thedungareedoula/power-hour?month=2024-02If you enjoyed the episode please give it a like, review and click follow so you never miss out!New episodes are out every Friday at 7am so stick around.Connect with me:thedungareedoula.co.ukinstagram.com/thedungareedoulafacebook.com/thedungareedoulatiktok.com/@thedungareedoula

(July 30, 2024 - Hour One)9:14pm - Aaron Franklin from Franklin BBQ.9:35pm - Bill Oakley - Fast Food Expert ReviewerWatch Live Below:FacebookYouTube LiveTwitterThe BBQ Central Show SponsorsWinners Products  Primo GrillsPitts & Spitts BBQ Pits - Use "charcoalcentral" at checkout for $150 Off Charcoal GrillsBig Poppa Smokers – Use promo code “REMPE” for $10 off your purchase of $50 or more!FireboardCookin PelletsFamous Dave's All Star BBQ SeriesPit Barrel CookerFranklin BBQ PitsThe Butcher Shoppe - Save 10% When You Mention "The BBQ Central Show"JRE Tobacco – Makers of the Aladino (and other) line of premium cigars!

What did you think?In episode 47, we hear Hannah share her story. Hannah is based in Canberra and shares her hospital birth story and then homebirth story. Honestly, after you hear of everything Hannah endured in both her pregnancies, you'll be amazed and inspired by her strength to listen to her body and baby, and her mother's intuition to achieve such an incredible homebirth. Connect with me, Elsie, the host :)www.birthingathome.com.au@birthingathome_apodcastbirthingathome.apodcast@gmail.comLinks to resources: Core Floor Restore Free Antenatal classes https://coreandfloor.com.au/products/antenatal-classesPre-labour Rupture of Membranes: impatience and riskEpisiotomy https://www.melaniethemidwife.com/podcasts/the-great-birth-rebellion/episodes/2148567888Premature Atrial Contractions https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21700-premature-atrial-contractionsSupport the Show.

Listen Now to 72 Future Now Podcast Transcript Recognizing World UFO Day is a fun part of this week’s show, exploring some of the more interesting recent cases recently in the field..Did you know there were 138 UFO sightings in California alone in the last 6 months? And in our explorations of space, the Polaris Dawn Mission is about to take place, exploring space with humans 800 miles above the earth..compared to the 250 mile high International Space Station.  We also look at the latest in Alzheimer treatments and the body language of the presidential candidates. Enjoy!   Mrs. Future celebrating UFO Day

About my Guest:  Justine Stenger received her B.Ed from the University of Alberta. She pursued a Holistic Nutrition/Therapeutic Chef certification from Bauman College. Justine has completed her Functional Medicine training through the Institute for Functional Medicine and is a Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach, certified through the Institute For Functional Medicine. Justine is a trained Bredesen (RECODE) practitioner. She specializes in cell membrane medicine (Lipid replacement therapy) and works primarily with patients with mitochondrial disorders such as neurological conditions, mast cell activation syndrome, and autoimmune diseases educating them on the steps to restore the health cycle,Justine has worked beside Dr. Bruce Hoffman for the past 12 years and has supported hundreds of Dr Hoffman's chronic, complex illness patients nutritionally. Justine Stagner:  Instagram  Website Book Summary: In this video, Dr Cassie Smith interviews Justine Stagner, a holistic nutritionist and functional medicine health coach, about the impact of the environment on our health. Justine explains how cell phones emit non-native electromagnetic frequencies that deplete our electrical charge and negatively impact our cellular functions. Justine and Dr. Cassie Smith discuss the importance of supporting mitochondrial health for overall well-being and fertility. They emphasize the role of phospholipids in restoring damaged cell membranes and improving redox potential.  Time Stamps:  00:00 Introduction to Justine Stanger 03:04 Divine Intervention and Meeting Justine 09:16 Reducing Exposure to Harmful Frequencies 23:01 The Epidemic of Chronic Disease and Light Exposure 33:46 The Impact of Devices on Children 36:43 The Risk of Mitochondrial Damage in Children 36:58 Supporting Mitochondrial Health and Autism 38:50 The Importance of Phospholipids for Health 39:19 Cell Membranes and Organelles 45:23 Lipid Replacement Therapy 47:59 The Significance of Cell Membranes 55:17 Infertility and Cell Health 57:24 Improving Redox Potential and Detoxification 01:00:47 Getting Back to Nature for Health 01:02:55 The Importance of Sunlight and Grounding 01:10:53 Oysters and Other Electron-Rich Foods 01:12:03 The Power of Watching the Sunrise 01:13:05 Transforming Health with Quantum Biology Connect with Modern Endocrine: Check out the website Follow Cassie on Instagram Follow Cassie on Facebook Follow Cassie on YouTube Follow Cassie on TikTok Sign up for Modern Endocrine's newsletter Disclaimer  Wellness Tips Summary  Our cell membranes are comprised of 50-90% phospholipids, depending on the cell type. These membranes act as a semi-permeable barrier, regulating everything that enters and exits the cell. Our organelles also have membranes, and if they don't have a membrane, they are interacting with one. Membranes are essential! When we have healthy membranes, we are set up for optimal cellular health. The mitochondrial membrane is particularly crucial due to the role the inner membrane plays in oxidative phosphorylation—the generation of ATP (energy) and water. The better our mitochondrial functioning, the better our overall health. Phospholipids are the most potent and powerful deposit into your biochemical bank account!  Light Exposure - Exposure to the wrong type of light at the wrong time can wreak havoc on our cellular health. Your cells all have clock genes that are regulated by sunlight. Morning sunlight is the most important signal to give your body to regulate the 1 billion biochemical reactions that are taking place in your cells every single second. Complete darkness after sunset is equally important to support processes like autophagy, melatonin release, the docking of leptin in the hypothalamus, and much more. The harm that LED lights, which emit blue light, have on our health cannot be overstated. Excessive exposure to blue light, especially at night, can disrupt circadian rhythms, impair sleep quality, and contribute to various health issues such as increased stress, decreased immune function, metabolic disturbances, and eventually chronic disease. There has been a 500% increase in breast cancer due to blue light exposure at night (which comes from cell phones).  Tips For Decreasing Blue Light -Change phone screen to red light and filter out blue light Settings -> accessibility -> display and text size -> color filters -> click red/green filter then check mark color tint -> pull the intensity and hue as far to the right as possible   Settings -> display and brightness -> check light and turn brightness down as much as possible -Get red light bulbs for your home - Download Iris on your computer to filter blue light - Purchase blue light glasses for nighttime use   - Purchase red light glasses for daytime use Use code: JUSTINE85659 to save 20% 3. Limit Radio Waves with Phones, Internet, and Headphones -Consider hiring a building biologist to look at EMF's in your home  - Hardwire computers to internet connections instead of using wifi -Keep your cell phone off your body -Limit cell phone use but when using do not hold to your head/ear – put on speakerphone if talking -Get headphones that do not use Bluetooth! -Turn off as many settings on your phone as possible (try only using phone with wifi on – turing off all other settings below will decrease radiofrequency over 100x)  - Settings -> Cellular -> Personal Hotspot -> off  - Settings -> Cellular -> Cellular Data -> off - Settings -> Cellular -> Personal Hotspot -> off - Settings -> Bluetooth -> off - Settings -> Wifi -> off 4. Earth Exposure – ground on the earth with your bare feet as much as possible, especially when using a cell phone (avoid turf as it is full of chemicals) -Plant flowers or garden  5. Food Exposure – choose foods that are rich in electrons like oysters, other sources of wild seafood, coconut, fresh fruits and vegetables (in season) Eat in season – don't eat fruits and vegetables in the winter if they do not grow where you live!  6. Body Bio Supplements – use code ME for 15% off Phospholipid complex – building blocks for your cell membranes - restores and support cell membranes  Balance oil – healthy fats that strengthen cell structures to keep mitochondria working with linoleic and alpha linoleic acid in 4:1 ratio which is ideal for cellular health 

In this special bonus episode, Angela Smith, ex-wife of Happy Mondays founding member and bassist Paul Ryder, talks to Manchester cultural legend, musician from The Membranes and Goldblade, journalist, author and all round lovely human John Robb. Hear about Tony Wilson's original vision for the band, his grand plan for Manchester, when drugs flooded the city in the 1908s and the final days of Factory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a Text Message.Hello everyone! Cynthia and Trisha are back with the May Q&A episode. Today, we kick it off with an enlightening discussion on the worst parenting advice you have ever received--here's to all the things we never need to hear as mothers! Next, we hear one woman's beautiful take on her cesarean scar. Then, we dive into your awesome questions beginning with:What is the likelihood that if I had pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes in my first pregnancy that I will have it again, and what can be done about it?If I have a history of pre-term labor twice, should I take steroids preventatively at 30 weeks by my doctor's recommendation?I am pregnant with my fourth baby, planning a home birth, and I don't want any ultrasounds. Do you think this is ok and will my midwife approve?In the extended version of the episode, available on Apple subscriptions and Patreon,  we discuss the pros and cons of the midwifery lifestyle for one woman trying to decide if she should go the CNM or CPM route; when it is appropriate or necessary to take a urine sample in pregnancy; and why one mother may have been given intramuscular Pitocin instead of intravenous when she already had an IV in place.As always, we close with a round of quickies touching on how to keep breastfeeding while pregnant, getting induced for "mild" pre-eclampsia, what a high LH reading means, preventing mastitis when you have a plugged duct, our recommended prenatal vitamin, and our most embarrassing moments in public!Thank you as always for your wonderful questions! Please call in your question to 802-GET-DOWN or 802-438-3696. To get the extended version of today's episode (and all episodes 100% ad-free) just click the subscribe button on Apple Podcasts or download the Patreon App and join any tier.If you enjoyed this episode, please see our April Q&A episode:#262 | April Q&A: Prenatal Vitamins, Premature Rupture of Membranes, Painless Breech Birth, Precipitous Labor, HypnoBirthing, Prenatal Hypertension**********Down to Birth is sponsored by:Vitality: An athleisure brand made for women, by women, designed with style and comfort for pregnancy and beyond.Davin & Adley-- The perfect nursing and pumping bra combinedSilverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products to nourish yourself before, during, and after pregnancy.Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all of the above sponsors. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.comInstagram @downtobirthshowCall us at 802-GET-DOWN Work with Cynthia: 203-952-7299 HypnoBirthingCT.com Work with Trisha: 734-649-6294 Please remember we don't provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

On May 28th, we're hosting a free webinar, "Through-Wall Flashings and Transition Membranes: Selection & Installation.” This presentation will cover a detailed explanation of the challenges and solutions facing through-wall flashings and transition membranes. To talk about this upcoming webinar, we're joined by Meagan Elfert, Vice President of York Flashings. Register for this free webinar today

Send us a Text Message.I met up with my old friend John Robb over the UK May bank holiday weekend. He was in London talking about his birthday, sorry life and career (!).For those who don't know John, he formed The Membranes in the early 80's and he's an author whose writing about music and the future I admire hugely – and his talk was called “Do You Believe In The Power of Rock N Roll?”.So, do I? Well, in a lot of ways, yes. Music, art, poetry and dance remain the number one threats to the establishment and the elite. But sadly, in my opinion, the music establishment is just as big a threat to music and artists. I'm not talking about the entirely fucked capitalist model – although no, fuck that, actually I am when I heard that UMG are proposing to make a performance related payout to their CEO Lucian Grainge of £119million – capitalism is at the very core of everything that is evil in the world – but I'm also talking more overtly about some of the less talked about things like genres (and yes, I know, I myself talk about genre a lot). Putting a band in a genre has been happening forever and we could talk about it being a lazy way for the industry to market music – which it is – but I think there are much more malignant effects of using genre as a way to compartmentalise playlists and market big label artists. With categorisation comes all sorts of social constructs – and sometimes the subtle ones are the most harmful - that are essentially used as an anti-freedom power tool to keep people in their lanes – I'm thinking ways to dress, subjects to speak about, instruments to play, and the worst of all….who they deem allowable to actually play the music. For example, whatever you think musically of Beyonce's album Cowboy Carter, it seems clear to me that the gatekeeping that, back in the day, excluded black musicians from a ‘genre' that they created ,still exists – and there ain't anything subtle about that, it's rooted in racism. I don't remember Kid Rock for being subjected to any such gatekeeping when he went “country”.Lizzie No has written, sung, played on and produced three world class records, her latest being Halfsies which fucks off those genres and is just a fabulous piece of work.She's also an activist - the subjects above are close to her heart -  and fabulous human.https://www.iwannajumplikedeedee.comI Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee is the music podcast that does music interviews differently. Giles Sibbald talks to musicians, DJ's and producers about how they use an experimental mindset in every part of their lives.- brought to you from the mothership of the experimental mindset™- swirl logo and art by Giles Sibbald - doodle logo and art by Tide Adesanya, Coppie and Paste

In 2015, we still used those table speakers for conference calls. Remember those? Kind of looked like a spaceship. I had just started at Imagine H2O, and the first external call I had on my second day was with someone who was very highly regarded by my colleague Ivy Nguyen, who is now a BIV IC member. Hi, Ivy! That someone was Steve Kloos, partner at True North Venture Partners, previously at GE Water and Osmonics. And Ivy was really right.  Over the following eight years, Steve became a friend, mentor, colleague, and through an annual seminar for IH2O companies that he ran, probably the single biggest influence on how I and the team thought about the science of early stage company creation and entrepreneurship. I was so grateful for his support through the formation of BIV Fund I, and it was a wonderful moment when we saw the possibility of working together. Along with Christine joining, BIV has now entered a new phase, and one that sets us up excellently for the long term. We have a three-person partnership of complementary skills and backgrounds, and it's tremendously exciting to have Steve join us. He's an exceptionally smart, kind person with a hell of a resume and is one of the highest integrity individuals I've had the pleasure of working with.  Subscribe to The Fundamental Molecule here: https://www.burntislandventures.com/the-fundamental-molecule For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205 ----------- Steve Kloos' career in the water field, his expertise in membrane technology, and his significant contributions at Osmonics, GE, and partner at True North Venture Partners is explored. He and Tom discuss the critical roles of mentorship, strategic thinking, and the dynamics of corporate integration and venture capital in fostering innovation. Key themes discussed are the power of water treatment technologies, the importance of understanding value chains, strategies for startup success and sustainability, and the need for continuous learning and adaptability in addressing climate change and advancing water technology. Episode Highlights: 0:00 Start 0:49 Introduction 2:23 Steve's journey with water 4:45 Membranes and their importance 5:49 GE's acquisition of Osmonics 8:04 Steve's progression within GE 9:59 GE's vulnerabilities 12:28 Transitioning from focusing on business internally to externally 16:11 GE Ventures 18:05 True North and startup theory 22:35 Coaching startups 27:20 Risk retirement and registers 30:15 Lessons learned as AquaHydrex CEO 31:56 A unique tool in acquiring funding 34:16 Hydrogen and water's intersection with climate and climate risk 39:27 Current 42:09 What excites him about BIV 46:10 Steve's advice for prospective water entrepreneurs Links: Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/ Current: https://currentwater.org/ “Onion Theory of Risk”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy9cAANwMe Quotes: "The true north of any company lies in understanding its customers and working backwards from there." "Innovation is not just about having a groundbreaking idea; it's about making it sustainable and scalable." "Water is not just a resource; it's a critical player in our collective response to climate change." "Being a learner is more than a mindset; it's the most crucial skill for any entrepreneur."

Send me your feedback!Episode 36 is shared by mum to 4 under 6 years, Shelby. Shelby felt naive going in to her first 2 births, and although she learnt about homebirth (via freebirth first!) after her 2nd baby, she chose to have another birth centre birth. It wasn't until after reflection many months later, that she decided for her 4th baby she would plan a homebirth. An episode that makes you think about why 3 non-homebirths had so many issues, but her 4th baby who was born at home, was so different. Resources: Velamentous Cord Insertion https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24111-velamentous-cord-insertionPreterm Premature Rupture of Membranes https://evidencebasedbirth.com/ebb-281-mini-q-a-on-the-evidence-on-preterm-prom/IVF & Induction https://www.therealbirthcompanyltd.com/2021/04/28/ivf-and-stillbirth/Meconium in waters https://midwifethinking.com/2015/01/14/the-curse-of-meconium-stained-liquor/Learn more about me, my offers as a doula & the podcast here: https://www.birthingathome.com.au/CHAPTERS00:00Shelby's Birth Center Births06:15Discovering Home Birth08:08Overview of First Two Births11:21Dealing with Shoulder Dystocia28:36Bringing Baby Home on Oxygen33:25Considering Induction for Future Pregnancies34:53Making an Informed Decision39:59Dealing with Others' Opinions41:22Finding the Right Midwife43:31Unexpected Early Labor48:43The Excitement of Catching the Baby54:07Creating a Comfortable Birth Space57:41Returning to Normalcy After Birth01:03:13Passing on the Knowledge of Home Birth01:05:24Challenges with Publicly Funded Home Birth01:06:45The Power of Physiological BirthSupport the Show.

References Cancers (Basel). 2023 Nov; 15(21): 5177 Front Oncol. 2021; 11: 750789 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dr-daniel-j-guerra/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dr-daniel-j-guerra/support

Welcome to the April Q&A episode with Cynthia & Trisha. Today, we invite you to guess the two things that Cynthia and Trisha will never talk about on the podcast. Hint: They are not scandalous or controversial. Shoot us a DM with your guesses! Next, hear the most annoying habits from our podcast community regarding their partners. As for our questions this month, here we go:I had a pain-free breech vaginal birth. Why do some women experience pain at birth and others don't?My second baby was born precipitously at home. Should I plan for my third to be the same and when should I call the midwife?Does learning hypnobirthing techniques lead to a more peaceful birth experience?I have white-coat hypertension. Will this risk me out of a birth center birth and do I need to take aspirin in pregnancy?What percentage of women whose water breaks before labor begins will start labor within an hour or two?Are prenatal vitamins really necessary and if so, which ones?In our extended version of today's episode, we answer questions regarding breaking your tailbone in labor, whether you should tell your neighbors if you are planning a home birth, whether it's expected or appropriate to plan on feeding your home-birth midwives, and if it is necessary to be catheterized in labor if you can't void while in labor.In our quickie segment, we discuss the necessity or not of ovulation tracking apps, male versus female sperm, the midwives' brew, and how loud the music is in our cars while driving. Thank you as always for your wonderful questions! Please call in your question to 802-GET-DOWN or 802-438-3696. To get the extended version of today's episode (and all episodes 100% ad-free) just click the subscribe button on Apple podcasts or download the Patreon App and join any tier. **********Down to Birth is sponsored by:Vitality: An athleisure brand made for women, by women, designed with style and comfort for pregnancy and beyond. Davin & Adley-- The perfect nursing and pumping bra combinedSilverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products to nourish yourself before, during, and after pregnancy.Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all of the above sponsors.DrinkLMNT -- Purchase LMNT with this unique link and receive a free 8-day supply. Be sure to use the unique link to buy yours today. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.comInstagram @downtobirthshowCall us at 802-GET-DOWN Work with Cynthia: 203-952-7299 HypnoBirthingCT.com Work with Trisha: 734-649-6294 Please remember we don't provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

In this conversation, Renata Nehme and Hilary Bilkis discuss craniosacral therapy and its benefits. Hilary explains that craniosacral therapy is a gentle hands-on technique that helps balance the bones, membranes, and fluids in the skull, spinal cord, and connective tissue system of the body. The training for craniosacral therapy is usually a series of four-day workshops, and practitioners often have a background in massage therapy or other touch-based professions. The therapy can be beneficial for people of all ages, from babies to adults, and can help with a variety of issues such as breastfeeding difficulties, torticollis, anxiety, unregulated emotions, and chronic pain. The therapy works by quieting and regulating the nervous system, releasing tension in the body, and promoting overall well-being. It is not a massage and is performed with the client fully clothed. The frequency of sessions varies but is typically weekly for a few weeks, followed by less frequent sessions.____________________________________________________________________________________________ABOUT OUR GUEST: Hilary D. Bilkis, LMT, MS  is a Gifted Healer and Intuitive, with 25 years experience. She is the owner of  Awakening Wellness, a light touch, hands on healing practice located in Savannah, GA. She works with you in a way that is gentle, compassionate and supportive.https://awakening4wellness.com/To find a CST Practioner go to: www.IAHP.comor to find many airway practioners go to:www.airwaycircle.com/directory _________________________________________________________________________________ABOUT OUR HOST: Renata Nehme RDH, BSDH, COM® has been a Registered Dental Hygienist since 2010. In 2016, when she was introduced to the world of "Myofunctional Therapy" she immediately knew that was her calling, especially when she learned that it encapsulated many of her passions- breastfeeding, the import of early childhood development, and airway health. In 2021 Renata founded Airway Circle with the intention of creating a collaborative and multidisciplinary group of like-minded health professionals who share the same passion for learning and giving in the dental health and airway space. Myo Moves - Become a Patient: www.myo-moves.com Airway Circle - Become a Member: www.airwaycircle.com

New Segment! The 7 insights to take home and act upon from my podcast guest this week: Craig Beckman.For the ones that don't have a paper and a pen with them during the interview, that's my way to share you my notes.Craig has been active in the water sector for over three decades. And even though he has the humility to highlight how "even veterans need to learn" I would trust him to have a bunch of insights to share!So here's my selection of the 7 things to take home from my conversation, and my hours of preparation and post-production, with the CEO of Aqua Membranes.Innovation Needs Grit and Laser FocusSustainability: The New Business CurrencyTech Innovations: Paving the Future of WaterStrategic Investment: Crafting the Perfect BlendMarket Adoption: Bold Moves Make the DifferenceWater's Economic Impact: Undervalued but VitalVision for Change: More Than Just a Drop in the OceanI could have taken more, but I think seven is a good chunk to go out and apply, so here you have it. If you think I've missed one that's even more important than those seven, come tell me on LinkedIn or by mail (antoine@dww.show). Remember, that episode came to you free of charge, but I would believe not free of value. It takes me quite some time to put all of those together every week, so all I'm asking is for you to help me distribute them! So take this episode, share it with a friend, a colleague, your boss, or your team, and I'll be back with another one next week!Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

AquaMembranes is a company that develops novel water treatment technologies, specifically focusing on enhancing the efficiency of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. Their technology is designed to use less energy and improve the lifespan of membranes, thereby providing both environmental and economic benefits to communities and industries in need.The podcast features a deep dive into how water technology, particularly the innovations by AquaMembranes, plays a pivotal role in both safeguarding environmental sustainability and bolstering economic performance. Craig Beckman discusses the company's approach to improving reverse osmosis membranes which significantly reduces energy consumption and extends membrane life—key factors in reducing operational costs and enhancing water availability. The conversation also covers the broader economic impacts of water management, investment trends in green technologies, and the challenges in scaling and adopting new technologies. Insights into the dynamics between financial goals and sustainability objectives offer a nuanced view of the water tech industry's future.I hope this teaser makes you crave for more! If you dive into this week's full release of the podcast, you'll learn how:

Do you want more Flux, better energy efficiency, or lower maintenance from your Reverse Osmosis membrane? Here's where to start! More #water insights? Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinewalter1/ #️⃣ All the Links Mentioned in this Video #️⃣ Aqua Membranes' YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AquaMembranes  Aqua Membranes' website: https://aquamembranes.com/ Craig's email: craig@aquamembranes.com My "Ultimate" membrane guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUpiL_x7680 John Robinson discusses Impact Investing: https://dww.show/how-to-mitigate-4-shades-of-water-risk-through-impact-investing/ Chris Wyres presents Evove: https://dww.show/how-to-eradicate-dead-zones-cut-energy-needs-by-80-and-double-lithium-selectivity/ The Leading WaterTech Accelerator, Imagine H2O: https://dww.show/how-to-build-the-world-leading-water-innovation-accelerator-imagine-h2o/ Tom Ferguson's take on Venture Capital in #WaterTech https://dww.show/the-secret-formula-for-profit-in-water-tech-venture-capital/ Zwitterions as a new material for Membranes? https://dww.show/zwitterions-super-powers-could-solve-wastewater-membranes-number-one-problem/

References Cell Metab. 2014 Mar 4; 19(3): 380–392. Protein Cell 2018. 9, 196–206. Membranes 2023, 13(9), 764. Debussy , C. (. 1890;1905) Clair de lune. https://youtu.be/6zzWnxuQPWI?si=gcEAKpbgc9xO8esf Morricone. E. 1968. "Once Upon a Time in the West" https://youtu.be/j5eQ9UTmDLo?si=-eUjJ1s9hAd6fpwz Schubert, F. 1825. Ave Maria https://youtu.be/2H5rusicEnc?si=LcYisCODwtGgjjVx --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dr-daniel-j-guerra/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dr-daniel-j-guerra/support

For most birds, keen eyesight is critical for survival. But many birds lead lives that can be very hard on the eyes — like flying at breakneck speed, racing for cover into a dense thicket, or diving under water to capture prey. Imagine how the chips fly as this Pileated Woodpecker chisels a cavity. Fortunately, birds have evolved a structure for protecting their eyes. Beneath the outer eyelids lies an extra eyelid, called the nictitating membrane. It helps keep the eye moist and clean while guarding it from wind, dust, and hazards.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible. 

Angela is joined by Dr Christopher Shade to talk about the importance of phosphatidylcholine in the body and how it plays a crucial role in cell membranes and organelles. They also delve into the significance of maintaining healthy membranes for optimal biochemical power and the consequences of damaged membranes. The conversation then shifts to the topic of toxicity, specifically mercury, and the process of detoxification. KEY TAKEAWAYS Phosphatidylcholine is an important component of cell membranes and membranous organelles, and its deficiency can lead to cell disruption and dysfunction. Membranes play a crucial role in driving biochemical power in the body by separating opposites and maintaining polarity. Mercury toxicity can be a concern, especially from consuming larger fish like tuna and swordfish. Choosing smaller fish with lower mercury levels is recommended. Mercury detox involves using glutathione and glutathione S-transferase to release mercury from proteins in cells, pushing it out of the cell with the help of ATP and magnesium, and eliminating it through bile flow and stool. BEST MOMENTS "Membrane drives all biochemical power in the body by separating opposites." - Interviewee "You can eat those as your sole protein source three times a day and never become toxic." - Interviewee "The way you do mercury detox, and this is really a model for how you do all detox." - Interviewee "We should live really strongly past our 80s. We should pretty easily get up to around 100." VALUABLE RESOURCES Get a free snapshot of your health and personalised report at www.yourtotalhealthcheck.com Join The High Performance Health CommunityFree Fasting Guide - www.angelafosterperformance.com/fastingPodcast Shownotes - www.angelafosterperformance.com/podcasts AG1 Special Offer - https://www.drinkag1.com/angelafoster  Episode link:  https://link.chtbl.com/EP303_Chris_Shade ABOUT THE HOST Angela Foster is an award winning Nutritionist, Health & Performance Coach, Speaker and Host of the High Performance Health podcast. A former Corporate lawyer turned industry leader in biohacking and health optimisation for women, Angela has been featured in various media including Huff Post, Runners world, The Health Optimisation Summit, BrainTap, The Women's Biohacking Conference, Livestrong & Natural Health Magazine. Angela is the creator of BioSyncing®️ a blueprint for ambitious entrepreneurial women to biohack their health so they can 10X how they show up in their business and their family without burning out. Angela's BioSyncing®️ Blueprint is currently closed. Click here to get on the waitlist. The High Performance Health Podcast is a top rated global podcast. Each week, Angela brings you a new insight, biohack or high performance habit to help you unlock optimal health, longevity and higher performance. Hit the follow button to make sure you get notified each time Angela releases a new episode. CONTACT DETAILS Instagram Facebook LinkedIn

*Request from Team EBB: We would love it if you left a review for us on your favorite podcast platform! Let us know one new thing you learned, and/or one thing you would like us to cover next year.  In this episode, Dr. Dekker and EBB Research Fellow Sara Ailshire reflect on groundbreaking research published by Evidence Based Birth in 2023. Dive into evidence-based insights on Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in pregnancy, Premature Rupture of Membranes (PROM), and skin-to-skin care after a Cesarean. Discover alternative approaches, vital statistics, and the intersection of birth with climate change and infection risks. Rebecca and Sara will also reflect on the year's most popular episodes and give you a glimpse into exciting episodes and Signature Articles to come in 2024. Content note: Preterm birth, interventions, climate change, infant mortality, serious infant illness, racism.  Resources: Get on the wait list for the EBBirth Virtual Conference at https://ebbirth.com/waitlist Join the EBB Pro Membership and get access to a doula mentorship PLUS trainings on postpartum hemorrhage, secondary trauma, and pelvic floor education. New (exclusive) handouts on Breech, RH, and vaccines coming soon for Pro Members only! https://ebbirth.com/membership Check out the Podcast Listening Guide at our shop: ebbirth.com/shop EBB Signature Article on Group B Strep: https://ebbirth.com/groupbstrep EBB Signature Article on Premature Rupture of Membranes: https://ebbirth.com/prom EBB Signature Article on Anti-Racism in Health Care and Birth Work: https://ebbirth.com/antiracism EBB Signature Article on Skin-to-Skin after Cesarean: https://ebbirth.com/cesarean The Top 5 most downloaded episodes of 2023: EBB 166 [Replay] The Experience of a Powerful and MIiraculous Birth with Brooklynn and Hoang Pham EBB 264: Top 3 Tips for Exercise in Pregnancy with Mamaste Fit EBB 257: Updated Evidence on Group B Strep Part 2 EBB 256: Top 3 Recommendations for Preventing Pelvic Floor Dysfunction after Birth with Dr. Sarah Duvall EBB 254: Evidence on GBS in Pregnancy

In today's episode, I sit down with Dr. Jerry Robbin to discuss the clinical and business impacts of dehydrated amniotic membranes in practice and his paradigm shifting experience with the PECAA K-DISK. Key Takeaways:For a practice to truly expand in dry eye management, a number of things are important to have:Diagnostics - Inflammatory testing, tear osmolarity, and meibographyTreatment Options - ZEST or BlephX, meibomian gland treatments including thermal pulsation and IPL/LLLT, Amniotic membranesWillingness to Prescribe Medications - Meibo, Tyrvaya and othersDifferent dehydrated amniotic membranes are processed in different proprietary ways which could impact their effectiveness on the eye.While amniotic membranes can certainly be used for complex, severe cases, the earlier they're used the better the outcome the patients will have. Any moderate dry eye patient having difficulty with ocular surface healing would benefit. When managing patients with dry eye, always be on the lookout for patients that would benefit from an amniotic membrane and do not hesitate to educate on the option when appropriate. Dr. Robben is now using K-DISK 80% of the time patients need an amniotic membrane. The bidirectional nature and ease of handling make application easier than other membranes and has seen significant improvement in patients' outcomes. Dr. Robben recommends bringing the patient back for a follow up visit to place the amniotic membrane v. doing it same day in practice for both reimbursement purposes and patient expectations/ deductible considerations. What Jerry is reading:The Lifestyle Investor by Justin Donald** Don't miss out on an extra $5 rebate for all commercial VSP Eye Exams extended through December 31, 2024. Earn up to an additional $15,000 in 2023 and up to $30,000 in 2024. Visit www.pecaaexamrebate.com now!**

In today's episode, I sit down with Dr. Mila Ioussifova and Roger Kennedy to discuss the clinical and business impacts of cryopreserved amniotic membranes in practice, especially with patients with dry eye. Key Takeaways:The easiest way to bring amniotic membranes into your practice are by just doing it. Learn about application tools, patient education, billing and coding from the companies themselves and just go for it.Amniotic membranes aren't just for train wrecks. Persistent ocular surface disease, reduced corneal sensitivity, and moderate dry eye are all great cases for amniotic membrane use.Knowing the patient's deductible status ahead of time aids in the conversation. Dr. Mila presents amniotic membranes as one of hte only treatments that are covered/ billable to insurance and it's the only regenerative approach to corneal tissue and nerves. Knowing the deductible status prevents the patient from being surprised. The wow effect matters.Don't be afraid to publicly market your dry eye and amniotic membrane treatments to patients on your website and patient communication. Have a word of mouth strategy and execute it.Communicate the service and value of your products to other specialists in the area treating patients with conditions that cause dry eye.What Mila and Roger are reading:Think Again by Adam GrantShift Your Brilliance by Simon BaileyBecoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza** Don't miss out on an extra $5 rebate for all commercial VSP Eye Exams extended through December 31, 2024. Earn up to an additional $15,000 in 2023 and up to $30,000 in 2024. Visit www.pecaaexamrebate.com now!**

The crew hears from listeners about protecting buried posts, hydronic HVAC, and building affordable houses. Discussion questions include small low-slope roofs, calculating heating and cooling loads, and encouraging the next generation of trade workers.

Today's episode talks about what happens if your waters break but labour doesn't start straight away. I refer to the NICE Guidelines to make you aware of what they recommend. NICE Guidelines on PROM https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng235/chapter/Recommendations#prelabour-rupture-of-membranes-at-term  To learn more about my doula packages visit https://www.thenurturenest.co.uk/doula-servies To purchase one of my courses, please visit https://www.thenurturenest.co.uk/courses To buy a copy of my book visit https://www.thenurturenest.co.uk/product-page/the-little-book-of-positive-birth-stories OR On Amazon here https://tinyurl.com/2dhp2xf3  If you have benefitted from this podcast and would like to say thanks, you can now buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thenurturenest View my birthy book recommendations here https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/influencer-e2ad919d  Follow me on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/the_nurture_nest/ Follow me on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/thenurturenesthypno Get 10% off your birth pool here https://go.referralcandy.com/share/JKHGBJ3 Get 10% off a BabyCare TENS Machine. USE CODE 10NURTURENEST http://babycaretens.com?afmc=46 To purchase the Birth Time documentary with 20% off follow this link and use code CICADA20 at the checkout https://www.birthtime.world/a/2147503089/WoUN24YQ

John Robb is an English musician and journalist renowned as the bassist and vocalist for the mid-1980s post-punk band The Membranes. He is a prolific writer, contributing to and managing the Louder Than War website, as well as overseeing a monthly music magazine by the same name. John has authored multiple books on music and occasionally appears in the media as a music commentator. In addition to his writing and journalism, he also serves as the frontman for the punk rock band Goldblade. Notably, he has been organizing the Louder Than Words music writing festival in Manchester every November since 2014, and he is a TEDx speaker and a spoken word artist.

On today's episode, Dr. Mark Costes continues the special segment, "Surgical Saturdays," and welcomes two of the most gifted dental surgeons he has ever come across - Dr. Taher Dhoon and Dr. Dan Briskie. Both are the brilliant minds behind the Colorado Surgical Institute. This episode promises an in-depth dive into the world of dental surgery. Dr. Dan Briskie: Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, Dr. Briskie's path to dentistry was influenced by his father, a pediatric dentist. After his academic journey at Detroit Mercy and a residency at Denver Health Hospital, his surgical passion became evident. Today, not only does Dr. Briskie teach surgery and digital dentistry, but he also invigorates dentists' passion for surgical procedures and helps them assimilate these into their practices. He travels nationally, teaching hands-on full arch procedures and digital workflows. More on Dr. Dan Dr. Taher Dhoon: Recognized as the Master of Dental Implants, Dr. Dhoon has experienced the transformative power of dental implants firsthand. Beyond being a Surgical Instructor with the Colorado Surgical Institute, he also contributes as a Blackbelt Coach with the Mark Costes' Dental Success Institute, an author, and the visionary behind The Practice Launchpad. His journey has seen him grow a thriving practice in Northern Colorado and teach dentists nationwide about business growth. Born in Utah and academically enriched in California, Dr. Dhoon has a vast educational background and a heart for community service, as evidenced by his mission trips to the Dominican Republic. More on Dr. Taher Discussion Highlights: The uniqueness and advantage of the Colorado Surgical Institute. Practical details about obtaining a temporary dental license in states like Colorado and Arizona. An insightful discussion about membranes post-surgery, their types, best practices, and avoiding complications. For our listeners seeking to elevate their dental practices, there's no need to journey overseas. The Colorado Surgical Institute offers superior training right here in the U.S., upholding high standards of care. Discover more about how they're revolutionizing the world of dental surgery. For more in-depth knowledge and hands-on training, check out the Colorado Surgical Institute. Your pathway to excellence in dental surgery awaits! EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.coloradosurgicalinstitute.com https://www.truedentalsuccess.com Dental Success Network Subscribe to The Dentalpreneur Podcast

In this episode, I'm joined by Hollis Wakefield, also known as The NICU Doula. Join us as we delve into a crucial topic: how to help NICU families find empowerment and healing during their challenging journeys. Hollis is a former NICU parent turned birth worker, educator, and family advocate, and she shares her own powerful story of navigating a traumatic birth, early delivery, and the emotional roller coaster of having a medically complex baby in the NICU. She sheds light on the critical gaps in support and resources that many NICU families encounter, from the emotional toll to practical challenges, and highlights the importance of empowering NICU families during their transition from the NICU to home and provides insights into her work as an educator for doulas supporting NICU families. Content Warning: The conversation includes discussions about birth trauma, PTSD, and the potential for distressing experiences in the NICU environment.   Follow The NICU Doula on Instagram Learn more about Hollis and her work below: NICU Doula website: nicudoula.com NICU Lovey's website: niculovies.org Learn about Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Awareness Month Click here for information from March of Dimes on preterm labor and premature birth. For the Evidence Based Birth® Signature Article on Premature Rupture of Membranes, click here. Listen to EBB episodes: EBB 281 - Mini Q&A about Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes EBB 266 – Advocating for your Newborn during an Unexpected NICU Stay with EBB Childbirth Class Graduates Priscilla and Nathan Layman EBB 93 – Unexpected Pre-Term Hospital Birth with Melissa Cassity For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) and our Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.      

Content note: We strongly encourage you to listen to EBB Podcast Episode 277 The Evidence on PROM and check out our recently updated Signature Article on PROM here before listening to this episode.    Content Warnings: Discussion of viability, complications with preterm birth, causes of preterm birth, and racism.    On this episode of the EBB Podcast, we bring you a mini episode on the research on Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes. We are excited to share this episode as an extension of the recent Signature Article update on PROM.    In this episode, I will cover the following topics:   What is Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM)? How Common is it?  What Causes Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM)?  When does Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM) occur? Treatment Options for Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM) Risks associated with Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM) Prevention of Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM) and Pre-Term Birth  Racism and Pre-Term Birth  Resources for PPROM   The PPROM Foundation: PPROM Facts Nationwide Children's Hospital: PPROM Facts Cleveland Clinic: Term PROM and PPROM Facts Continuing Education for Medical Practitioners: Premature Rupture of Membranes EBB Signature Article: Anti-Racism in Health Care and Birth Work The March of Dimes: PPROM  Read our Signature Article on GBS here  Read our Abortion Resource Guide here   Guidelines for PPROM American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2020 (addresses both PROM and PPROM, free text not available) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK) 2022 Queensland Health Clinical Guidelines 2018  Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 2022 Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada 2022 (free text not available)   Listen to the following EBB Episodes and read the associated Signature Articles:  EBB 277 - Evidence on PROM  EBB 175 - Evidence on Midwives  EBB 265 - Evidence on Anti-Racism in Health Care and Birth Work  EBB 21 - Evidence on Doulas  EBB 240 - Top 5 Surprising Findings from the EBB Abortion Research Guide with Dr. Dekker & Doctoral Candidate Tyler Jean Dukes    For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on:  TikTok Instagram Pinterest Want to get involved at EBB?  Check out our Professional Membership (including scholarship options) here  Find an EBB Instructor here  Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based BirthChildbirth Class.  

On this episode of the EBB Podcast, I am so excited to bring you brand new, evidence on premature rupture of membranes (PROM) at term!      We are releasing today's episode to celebrate the update of our Signature Article on the Evidence on PROM.     In today's episode, I am going to cover the following topics related to PROM: What are the membranes, and what does it mean to say they've “ruptured”? Membrane rupture can help prepare the body for the process of childbirth—but why? What is it like when your water breaks before labor? What are some risk factors that might increase the chances of your water breaking before labor? What is the “24-hour clock for PROM,” and where did it come from? If you have PROM, how long does it take for labor to start on its own? How are GBS and PROM related? What does the research evidence say on Induction versus Waiting for Labor for term PROM? What are the professional guidelines? What is the Bottom Line? Resources: For a full list of resources and references please visit our blog on the Evidence on PROM here.   To read the full Signature Article on PROM and download our 1-Page Handout, click here.   Watch our special video on PROM on our YouTube Channel   Listen to EBB Episodes: EBB 268 – Debunk the Myths of Premature Rupture of Membranes, GBS, & Waterbirth with EBB Founder, Dr. Dekker  EBB 275 – A PROM, GBS, and Birth Center Transfer Story with EBB Childbirth Class Graduate, Emily Helgerson   For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on:  TikTok Instagram Pinterest Want to get involved at EBB?  Check out our Professional Membership (including scholarship options) here  Find an EBB Instructor here  Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class.

Kelsey would title her VBAC story, “When Everything Goes Wrong”. This episode is a must-listen as she shares her VBAC birth after testing positive for Group B Strep.Kelsey's first provider: Pushed a scheduled C-section due to a possible big babyChose elective C-sections for all of her own birthsKelsey's second provider:Wasn't concerned about Kelsey's blood clotting disorderDidn't push for induction upon borderline amniotic fluid levels Limited cervical checksSuggested a Cook's Catheter at 0 centimeters dilated with ruptured membranesDidn't push for C-section after 24 hours of ruptured membranes with GBSWe are incredibly grateful for all of those VBAC-supportive providers out there! They make ALL the difference. Additional LinksThe VBAC Link Blog: Group B Strep Prevention and Your Options for GBS+ BirthHow to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsThe VBAC Link Facebook CommunityFull Transcript under Episode DetailsMeagan: Hello, hello you guys. Welcome to The VBAC Link. This is Meagan, your host of The VBAC Link. We have a story for you today that has been something that we've been seeing trickling in our inbox a lot. So I went onto our VBAC Link Community on Facebook and said, “Hey, I'm looking for some stories with this specific topic.” That specific topic is GBS, so Group B Strep if you don't know what GBS means. That is something that we've been seeing in our inbox of people being told they cannot have a vaginal birth if they test positive for GBS which we all know, I hope through listening to these episodes that you'd know by now, is false. If you are told that you absolutely cannot have a TOLAC, a trial of labor after Cesarean because you have Group B Strep, that is not true. That is just simply not true. We have our friend Kelsey today from outside of Dallas, Texas is that right? Kelsey: Yes. Yes, yeah that's right. Meagan: Yes and she is going to share her story just proving that. Another fun twist to her story is that she had a rupture of membranes. One of the things providers fear more or worry most about is GBS and rupture of membranes and the longevity of the membranes being ruptured increasing risk of infection. So a lot of providers will say, “If you have GBS, the second your water breaks, TOLAC or not, you need to come in and start antibiotic treatment immediately.” There is definitely some evidence with treating with antibiotics and we're going to talk about some of that in the end and also some ways that you can try and avoid testing positive for GBS, but one of the crazy things or cool things I should say about Kelsey's story is that her rupture of membranes was 24+ hours. So a lot of the times, we have providers also saying after a certain amount of hours and they have a cutoff or a certain number of doses of antibiotics, we're at a high risk for the newborn getting GBS and then we need to have a Cesarean. So I'm excited to hear Kelsey talk about her journey with 24+ hours with a rupture of membranes with GBS. Then another twist to her story is when she did arrive, she was a certain centimeter that a lot of people also think can't be helped. I'm just going to leave that right there and we'll let Kelsey talk about that. Review of the WeekBut of course, we have a Review of the Week so I want to dive into that. This was back in 2021, so a couple of years ago actually from mckenna_123 and her subject is “You're Not Alone, Mama.” It says, “When I had my first baby 7 months ago via C-section due to placenta previa, I was left discouraged and sad with little to no tools to help me process all that had happened. It was hard for me to tell my story to others confidently and joyfully because I felt so isolated by the experience. Enter The VBAC Link.” Ooh, that just gave me chills actually.“I spent my early postpartum months listening to an episode every day while I nursed my newborn. When I came across the placenta previa story on the podcast, I felt so seen and understood. This podcast gave me the opportunity to feel bound to other strong mamas who have healed from similar experiences. All of a sudden, I didn't feel so alone. I'm not pregnant with baby #2 yet, but when that happens, I will be armed with invaluable tools and knowledge for my journey to have a beautiful and redemptive VBAC. Thank you ladies for being the voice for moms who feel alone and unseen.” Whoa. I got chills all while reading that whole thing. She is so right. You are not alone. We are here with you. I know I've said this before and I'm going to say it a million times again but here at The VBAC Link, we truly love. I know we don't know you, but we love you and we don't want you to feel alone. That is why we created The VBAC Link because we felt alone. We were in that spot. Julie and I years and years ago felt alone wanting to have this vaginal birth which seemed so normal. Vaginal birth just seems like it should be normal. That's what happens, right? But then we had these C-sections, unexpected and undesired and we didn't know where we belonged. We didn't know what we could do. We didn't know who was saying whether that was true or not. That is why we are here. That is why The VBAC LInk exists. So thank you, McKenna, so much. Congratulations on your baby that is now probably almost two. Kelsey: And we need an update, McKenna. Meagan: We need an update. Are we having another baby? Where are we at? Are you still with us? Let's hear that update. Definitely email us. If you haven't had the time or a chance to put a review in, we would love that. We love getting them in the email box, on Apple Podcasts, and on Instagram. We love seeing your reviews. I'm not kidding you. When I was reading this review, I would get chills and then they would go down and then I'd get chills again and then they'd go down. They mean so much. So definitely if you haven't, drop us a review. Kelsey's StoryMeagan: Okay, Kelsey. Welcome to the show. Kelsey: Hey, thanks for having me, for having me on the VBAC podcast. I'm so excited to be here. Meagan: Oh my gosh. Well, I am so excited that you are here and sharing, like I said, such a great topic because I don't know. Tell me what you have heard about GBS. Have you heard that you can't have a vaginal birth with GBS? Or have you heard anything like that?Kelsey: Oh absolutely. Not from my doctor per se and I'll give you some more info about that as I share my story, but I believed that everything had to go according to plan despite listening to y'all's episodes, despite hearing other VBAC stories, I just felt like there is no way that I can have this vaginal birth after a Cesarean unless everything goes just as it should. My story is one that should be titled, “When Everything Goes Wrong”. Meagan: Okay, “When Everything Goes Wrong”. Kelsey: Yes, yes. I definitely heard that. One of the things that I kept in mind and I'll mention this too is that when you have ruptured membranes longer than 24 hours– I mean, I Googled this last night just to be sure. You'll see all over the place, “You've got to get baby out. You've got to get baby out. You've got to get baby out,” and that just wasn't the case for me. So yeah, I've got a lot of fun to unpack with you. Meagan: Yeah, and actually, my water was broken for over 24 hours too and so I connect so much to that because I hear it so much with our clients, “Within 24 hours, if you haven't had a baby, we've got to get baby out.” Some people are like, “Oh, within 8-10 hours, if contractions haven't started, we have to induce.” But that's not necessarily the case and we are two people that are living proof of that. Kelsey: Absolutely. Absolutely. Can I start by giving you just a little rundown of baby #1?Meagan: Absolutely. I was going to say, let's unpack where it all began. That's exactly where it began, right? Kelsey: That's exactly where it began. My son was born via scheduled Cesarean in July of 2018 at 40+2. I had never felt a contraction prior to having my son. I was diagnosed with polyhydramnios in the latter weeks of that pregnancy which of course as you know, leads to increased ultrasounds, and the more ultrasounds you have, the more– I don't want to say that things can go wrong, but he did get the big baby label because he was seen so much. Of course, you guys have shared that those can be up to 2 pounds in either direction. I remember somewhere along the 36-38 week mark, my provider because discussing delivery with me and she mentioned that she would hate to see me run out of the clock on a 24-hour labor which should have been red flag #1. Meagan: Uh-huh. Kelsey: She said that I would be so tired from laboring all day only to have a newborn that would not let me get any rest. She mentioned shoulder dystocia and that he would get stuck. She pulled out all of the stops. Then she even said– and you're going to die when I tell you this– she said, “I've seen too many things go wrong with vaginal deliveries during my residency and it's why I chose elective Cesareans for the births of my own children.” Meagan: Oh, dear. Oh, dear. She is in the wrong field. Kelsey: I don't want to demonize her. I trust that she was–Meagan: Probably speaking from her heart. Kelsey: Yes. She was. She was not out to get me. Meagan: No, and this is the thing. A lot of the time, these providers have this bad rap. I'm like, “Oh dear, red flag.” They do take, a lot of the time, from what they have maybe seen. She was mentioning shoulder dystocia. Maybe she's seen really hard shoulder dystocia so she fears that. She fears that but she's labeling every other birth that way to the point where she even scheduled her own Cesarean because she was that scared of vaginal birth. Right?Kelsey: Right. Meagan: If you have a provider that is that scared of vaginal birth for herself, then that is a red flag for sure. Kelsey: Yeah, absolutely. Meagan: But we don't even think about that. Kelsey: Yeah, and I didn't have the knowledge or experience to present a case for vaginal delivery for myself nor did I feel like I had the ability to so I walked in and had a scheduled Cesarean. It was very routine, very rote. My son did weigh 9.5 pounds, but there I was a first-time mom. I felt like this experience that I so desired to have, this vaginal birth, was snatched right out from under me. I had never felt a single contraction. I don't know why that was so important to me, but I just felt like I was missing something. Meagan: It's a signal to our minds and our brains that our baby is coming. Kelsey: Yeah. Meagan: It's a sure sign when we start having contractions and experiencing labor that, “Okay. We are now entering this stage.” I swear because the same thing, I remember the last time I felt a contraction with my second and I was sad. I'm like, “Wait. Where did they go?”Kelsey: Yeah. So that feeling really set the stage for the birth of my daughter. She didn't come until about 4 years later, but I knew that the first weapon in my arsenal would be to find a new provider. I conducted some interviews with two providers here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. You are a part of the Facebook pages like DFW VBAC and you see names pop up over and over again. I chose Dr. Downey who you guys actually, one of your very first episodes was with a gal named Rachel and she used Dr. Downey for her VBAC. I remember there were 13 months between her Cesarean and her first VBAC. Meagan: Wow. Kelsey: So we've got a repeat doctor on here. Meagan: Yeah, that is really good to know. Dr. Downey. Kelsey: Dr. Downey, yeah. He was amazing. He never batted an eye. He briefly mentioned induction by 41 weeks due to health concerns on my end. It was nothing major, but I had a few markers for antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. Meagan: I don't think I've ever heard of that. Kelsey: It's a blood clotting disorder. Meagan: Oh, okay. Kelsey: So I was on Heparin shots. Lovenox shots and then moved to Heparin shots closer to delivery. But he was largely very patient. Very, very patient. He said, “You're going to be getting a call from the hospital to schedule an induction by around 41 weeks.” I kept waiting, waiting, and waiting for the call. I hated the waiting. I wanted to decline the induction, but I also, to be honest with you, wanted to follow my doctor's advice so I felt like I was in a really weird place. Anyway, I never got that phone call. I never got that call to schedule an induction. I never had to make that decision because the hospital was packed and they didn't have room for me and it was not truly medically necessary so I left my 40-week appointment with my next appointment scheduled for 41 weeks and he was like, “Okay. I guess we're just going to wait for you to go into labor.” I said, “Great. I love that.” So fast forward to my due date, I texted my doula that afternoon an update, and at about 9:30 PM that evening, to my surprise, I started cramping sporadically but because I had never felt a contraction as I said, “I just kept thinking, is this it? This can't be it. This is it. It has to be. It can't be. What is going on?”I even got out my contraction timer just to see. My sense of time was so distorted because I was excited but confused. So I got out my contraction timer just to see how long were these cramps. How much time was between them? I didn't expect any regularity, but I did continue to cramp until early morning. I woke my husband up. Talk about excitement. That guy got showered, packed a bag, and was fully dressed in 7 minutes. Meagan: Oh my gosh. That's awesome. Kelsey: I very kindly reminded him that this could take a while. He should probably rest. I was resting as best as I could, eating, and drinking, and at 3:21 AM the next morning, I felt that little pop that everyone talks about that you just don't really know until you experience it. I was glad. Is there such a thing as TMI on this show? Meagan: No. No. Kelsey: I had a pad on by that point because I had some bloody show. I was so glad because I didn't have this massive gush of water. It was just some leaking. When I went to the restroom, I noticed that it was not clear. I think one of the things that I hope people glean from my story is that you have to do what you're comfortable with despite risk and statistics and all of the numbers. I knew that yes, I could stay at home and I could continue to labor but I just felt more comfortable going to the hospital with the fact that my waters were not clear. Meagan: Yeah. Kelsey: I called my doula. I send her pictures, God bless her, and with my own gut feeling, my husband's urging and her advice, we headed to the hospital about 2 hours later and we were admitted by 7:30 AM that next morning. Meagan: Yeah. I just want to talk about despite what evidence may say, “Oh yeah, I'm safe to be here but my heart says that I shouldn't.” That is so important to listen to. We talk about it on the podcast all of the time. What does your heart say? What does your gut say? But it really, really, really is so important. I love that you had a doula to validate you and say, “Yeah. That's totally fine. That's a great idea. You can go on in.” Kelsey: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I think you have to take into account all of your experiences in the past too. What is going on in your life as you're experiencing this labor, as your baby is coming into this world? I kind of felt like I was taking a risk by having a VBAC. I know that I wasn't necessarily, but that was big enough for me so I needed to mitigate the other smaller risks by just going to the hospital and being in a place where I felt comfortable. That might not be the case for others listening and that's okay. Something else I decided fairly early on in my pregnancy was that I did not want to know how far dilated I was. I didn't want to know baby's station. I knew that this was a mental game, so whether I was a centimeter dilated upon admission or 6 centimeters, I just did not want to know. I wanted to do what my body was doing, lean into that. My husband was told how far dilated I was. He relayed that info to my doula until she was present and then obviously, my doctor knew as well. You mentioned at the beginning of the show, I was a certain centimeter dilated when I was admitted and that was 0. Meagan: Not dilated at all. Kelsey: Not dilated at all. Meagan: A lot of the time, with people who are wanting to VBAC, if you walk in with ruptured membranes, nothing is really happening, and you're not dilated at all, Pitocin doesn't help when not much is happening. It helps us dilate but usually, they want it to be something. Do you remember how effaced you were? Kelsey: I don't remember how effaced I was. I don't know if I even was at all. Meagan: Okay, yeah. See? And then right there, a provider sometimes might say, “There are no options here.” Kelsey: Yeah, and let me tell you. Because I was not having any contractions, I didn't know how dilated I was, but I do remember my labor and delivery nurse saying, “Because you're not having contractions, Pitocin is really your only option.” My doctor came in right after that and said, “I don't see why I can't insert a balloon catheter. He was the one who was like, “Wait a minute. I'm the doctor. I'll make that decision.” Meagan: Let's not let the nurse call the shots. That's good that they were willing to give you Pitocin because sometimes, we'll have providers say, “We'll try to give you Pitocin and try and help you efface and open just a little bit to help us get a Foley or a Cook in,” but some providers are like, “No. No contractions, no dilation, no effacement, rarely is Pitocin going to help.” But it can. Kelsey: We didn't do Pitocin yet. We started with a balloon catheter. Meagan: Can you tell people how uncomfortable or comfortable it was and how you could get through it? Because not dilated at all, you're literally putting a catheter through a closed, hard cervix. Kelsey: Absolutely. It was painful. It was painful getting it in, but the real painful part– and I'm sure that your listeners know and you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong– the balloons are inserted. They are pumped with saline to manually being to dilate the cervix. They fall out by themselves somewhere around 4 centimeters. Is that right? Meagan: 3-4 centimeters, yep. Kelsey: Putting it was painful, but the real pain came when my nurses would try to put some tension on the balloon to tug on it to see if it would come out. My husband will say, “That looked like it was the most pain that you were in the whole time.” That was so painful. And of course, I don't have an epidural at this point. It's not coming out, lady. It's not coming out. Give it a minute. So that was pretty painful. Meagan: Yeah. And they pull and push and put pressure on it to try and encourage it and see because sometimes it will just slip out but it also needs to come down and put pressure on the cervix but it's obviously not the funnest. But could you say manageable or worth it or would you say, “I'd never do it again in my life”?Kelsey: No, absolutely. No. I would absolutely do it again because it worked for me and really, only one of the balloons that came out was painful. I got up to use the restroom at about maybe 5:00 PM that night. It was inserted at 9:30 in the morning. I got up to use the restroom one time at 5 and the second one just popped out like that. It was easy peasy. So I would absolutely do it again. It was not that miserable but it was certainly not comfortable. Meagan: Yeah, not pleasant. Kelsey: Yeah. And I love what my doctor said. He came in whenever that second balloon fell out and he said, “You're dilated. We know you're dilated to a certain point at least.” I was very conservative with cervical checks. I was like, “You can check me when I'm admitted but other than that, I really don't want anyone up there,” because I know that increases the risk of infection. So he said, “There's no reason for me to check you. We know that you're at a certain point, but now we've got to work to get your contractions to match your dilation,” which was such an easy way for me to understand what was going on. And you'll have to forgive me because I don't remember when they started the antibiotic drip. I was diagnosed with GBS as we mentioned and I did choose to go the antibiotic route just because– and this takes into another point that we talked about earlier– I had a friend whose daughter did contract GBS during delivery and she was very, very sick, hospitalized the first week after she was born. So I knew statistically the odds were very small for my little one to experience any adverse consequences but that was a risk I just didn't want to take. I wanted to mitigate it. Meagan: And that's great. Kelsey: So I did take antibiotics. I don't know how much, but I did go that route. Meagan: Yeah, most people do. Most people do. Kelsey: Yeah. So we did begin to work to get contractions to match my dilation. I pumped a little bit. I moved around. We began Pitocin and this was honestly my favorite part of labor. I would do the hours from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM when I did get an epidural over and over and over again. I put my headphones in. I got in the zone. I spent a lot of time on the birthing ball and on the toilet. When people say the toilet is a magical place to be when you're in labor, they're not wrong. They're not wrong. Meagan: I loved it too. I loved it. Kelsey: I loved it so much. Meagan: It was this weird way to put counterpressure, open the pelvis, take off the pressure, but also at the same time, get the good pressure. I don't know. I loved it too. Kelsey: Yes, and my doula had set up candles in the bathroom and the lights were turned off. It was a moment when I was unhooked from the machines. She had some essential oils in the toilet. I don't know. I never knew the hospital restroom could be so relaxing, but it was great. Meagan: I love that. Kelsey: It was so great. I did work through contractions for about 5 hours. I was getting so tired by this point. I had been up for 24 hours without a drop of sleep. I didn't have the same fortitude that I maybe would have had 12 hours prior, so I began to no longer work with my contractions. I was just fighting against them. I was yelling, “No” a lot. I was saying things that– I don't know. Laboring brings out a whole other individual within a woman I believe. At about 10:00 PM that night, Pitocin was up to a 5. I was dilated to about 7 centimeters and I decided to get the epidural which is something that I necessarily didn't plan on, but I'm glad that I did. It was a good decision. Meagan: I love that you say that because I think that there's so much shame sometimes about having this goal and desire, but then “giving up” which is not giving up, just to let you know, listeners. The epidural can really come in as such an amazing tool when you're exhausted. Sometimes we're holding so much tension, so getting an epidural actually offers relaxation. There are other pros and cons to epidurals, but the epidural can be such a great tool and you should never feel bad or question your decision to change your mind. Kelsey: Yeah, absolutely. And this is another thing that I learned as I was laboring or really reflecting on the labor and delivery process is that first of all, for the most part, none of your decisions have to be instantaneous and I remember my doula telling me this. She was like, “You can take a minute. You can ask everyone to step out of the room and it just be you and your husband. You can think through the pros, cons, risks, and advantages. For whatever decision you make, for the most part, you have time.” I was always afraid that I would be pressured into, “Okay, you're in here. We've got to make a decision. What do you want to do?” and I wouldn't know what to do. So I was so glad that there was time and that there were options. I feel like my epidural was one of those things. I remember asking everyone to leave the room and it was just me and my husband. We were talking through it, but it allowed me to rest. I got to sleep a little bit. Because of my doula and nurses, they positioned me just so that baby moved several stations. I dilated to 9 centimeters and I was 80% effaced in a matter of hours. Meagan: Wow. That is awesome. Kelsey: Yes, it was great. I still didn't know how far dilated I was until this point. My doula, nurse, and husband decided it would be– I mean, they let me make the ultimate decision, but they thought it would be a good idea to know that I was 9 centimeters because I was 24 hours into this thing and kind of discouraged to be quite honest. Anyway, we were quickly approaching the 24-hour mark since my water broke. That was another thing that I was starting to freak out about. I felt like, “Okay, because my water is broken and it's been 24 hours, this is going to be an automatic C-section,” but that was not the case. I remember– my doctor didn't really come to see me that much, but he just seemed so unbothered by it. Meagan: So what you're saying is that he didn't even treat you any differently? Kelsey: No, no. Meagan: That's amazing. That's amazing.Kelsey: He is so– if you're ever in the DFW area– Meagan: That's what we want. That is what we want. If you in your mind are like, “Oh, I've got this C-section. I've got this and I've got that,” and your provider is just acting like you are any other person coming in and having a baby, yeah. That's awesome. That's what you want. Kelsey: That's how my nurse was too. I remember telling her, “I'm so scared every time you come and take my temperature because I'm afraid that I'm going to have spiked a fever.” Meagan: That you'll say I have an infection, yeah. Kelsey: Yes. I remember she put her hands on my knees and she looked me in the eye and she said, “Even if I come in and you've spiked a fever, a C-section is not the only way to get this baby out. She's right there. She's right there. There are other options. It's going to be okay.” Meagan: Yes. That's awesome. Kelsey: So we just kept on keeping on. I slept. I kept sleeping a little bit. I rested from about 2:00 AM until 6:15 AM when I was complete. We started doing some practice pushes, but on the first practice one, the baby's head started coming out. Meagan: Ah! That first practice push. Kelsey: Yes, so my nurse was like, “Can you hold on a minute? Let me go get the doctor.” I'm pretty sure he came from home. This is probably one of those do as I say not as I do situations. I was so tired of waiting and I was so tired in general. I just started pushing even when contractions weren't necessarily helping me, but that girl came out in 30 minutes. She was born and put in my arms. It was the very best. I never heard a single, “Well, you've got Group B Strep or your waters have been broken this long.” I mean, none of that from my doctor, from nurses, no one. Meagan: Awesome. Kelsey: I feel like they treated me as an individual case because I was. I was not a textbook that they were reading in nursing school or medical school or anything like that. It was, “At this moment, how is your baby doing? How are you doing? What are the signs that we have from data and all of those kinds of things and experiences? I think we're okay to keep going.” So that's what we did. Meagan: I love that. This team sounds really awesome. Kelsey: They were great. Meagan: It would be really cool if we could just replicate them and send them all over the world. Kelsey: I know. They were awesome. Meagan: There are providers just like them for sure, but that just sounds so awesome and so non-pressuring especially when you have all of these little factors that could really impact a provider's view. Kelsey: Yeah. Meagan: Ah, it's so awesome. Well, I am so happy for you. Huge congrats. Huge congrats. Kelsey: Thank you. Thank you. Meagan: I'm so glad that along the way you were one, supported, and two, you were able to follow your heart and feel validated for following your heart, and being able to shift gears based on what you were giving. This is so important to know. Plans can change. Things can change and you didn't go with the same exact provider. A lot of the time, we do so that's another little tidbit I would like to talk about it providers and how important providers are and can really impact. This is even before having a C-section. From the get-go, right? If we have a provider that is really against vaginal birth in the beginning or really prone to induction and pressing and pushing Pitocin really hard and then we stress baby out and then we're not doing well and then we have a C-section, we needed to be supported and not pressed from the beginning. Know that if you are feeling these red flags as a first-time mom if you're listening because I know we have first-time moms listening. Know that if you're feeling weird about a provider, it's okay to change at any point. It's really okay. Find a provider like this that supports you and says, “Okay, this is what we've got. Everything is looking okay. Here we are. Let's keep going,” and really helps you as your guide. Kelsey: I remember there were two things. I guess I just want to rave about him more. Towards the end of my pregnancy, we were doing– oh gosh. What is it? A non-stress test. We were doing that at every appointment because of my blood clotting disorder and just making sure that baby was doing okay. My amniotic fluid level was kind of decreasing. It was getting pretty close to that line where most doctors would say, “Oh, it's getting too close. You've got to come in tomorrow. We're going to induce at 39 weeks.” He just said, “Oh, we'll check it again next week. Just make sure you're drinking a lot of water.”When I came in to be admitted, there was meconium because I had that rupture of membranes and there was meconium. It wasn't clear so I was freaking out and he said, “That's actually pretty normal for full-term. We're not going to be worried about it.” And I didn't know that!Meagan: Yeah. Yeah, it is. The longer-term the baby goes, it's common. I mean, it can happen really anytime, but yeah. Meconium is more common than the world knows. Kelsey: Absolutely. Absolutely. Meagan: There are so many babies that are born with meconium that the nurses and the staff pay attention to a little more after birth but have no complications. Kelsey: Yeah, yep. That's exactly what happened with us. Meagan: Yeah, yeah. That's important to know. Well, I want to talk a little bit about GBS. Let's talk about the actual evidence. The risk of a newborn getting a GBS infection– you kind of mentioned that it's pretty low, but based on your own experience you're like, “Yeah, it wasn't worth the risk to me.” It's the same thing when we're talking about TOLAC. Okay, uterine rupture risk is pretty low, but then we have to evaluate what risk is acceptable to that individual. Kelsey: Absolutely. Meagan: Not treating meaning no use of antibiotics which is usually Penicillin via IV and it's usually done about every 4 hours, especially after a rupture of membranes. The risk of serious infection including so serious death is 1-2%. Kelsey: Yeah. It's small. Meagan: It's very small, but again, it's what risk you are willing to take. Some people are 100% willing and say, “I would really rather not receive antibiotics,” and that is okay too. There's not a ton of evidence with Hibicleans and stuff like that. It's a vaginal wash. Honestly, it's like a douche. Sorry for saying that word everybody, but that's what it is. You put it on up there and it cleanses the canal. So the risk of infection with the treatment of antibiotics is about 0.2%. So, still very low.Kelsey: Also small.  Meagan: Also very small. But still, there you go. And then one thing that– and it's from a small trial and it was quite a few years ago. I think it was 7 years ago maybe in 2016. They did a small trial and they found that women that were GBS positive that took probiotics decreased their chance by 43%. 43% of them became GBS-negative by birth. Kelsey: Okay, interesting. Meagan: So really interesting. Probiotics. I believe in probiotics not even pregnant, just all the time. I think it's really a good thing because there is so much in our food and everything these days but that was kind of an interesting thing. Again, like I said, it was a smaller trial. It was done quite a few years ago, but 43% of them became negative by birth. That's pretty high. Kelsey: Absolutely. Meagan: 43%. So knowing also that if you test positive, you can retest closer to birth because it can go away. It doesn't always though, so don't think that if you get positive and you start probiotics that you are for sure not going to be positive, but know that there are things that you can do or the garlic and things like that. We'll have a blog in the show notes today linked about GBS. We'll have these trials and things linked as well so you can go check them out for yourself and make the best decision for you. Kelsey: Yeah, I think it goes without being said too that there is going to be a risk with antibiotics as well. Where there is risk, there has to be choice. I made my decision but probably hundreds of thousands of women listening to this are going to choose differently. Meagan: Yeah. Yeah, and that's okay. That's one of my favorite things about this show. We all have opinions and we all have things that we would do versus someone else, but there's no shaming in any decisions that anyone makes. I was actually never GBS positive so I never even had to make that choice which I'm grateful for. A lot of people will say, “No. No way. I don't want antibiotics because there's risk with antibiotics.” But then a lot of people will say, “Well, I'd rather have the risk of taking the antibiotics than this risk too.” So you just have to weigh out the pros and cons and decide what's best for you. But yeah. I love your story. I love that you had a long birth, premature rupture of membranes, walking in at no dilation, and a less-ideal cervical state. Kelsey: Yes. Adding that to my resume. Meagan: A less-than-ideal cervical state with my VBAC. And a Cook catheter and that took time and all of the things. Here you are and you had a vaginal birth. Kelsey: I did. I did. I would do it all over again. Meagan: A lot of people ask me that. “Would you do it again?” because I had a really long labor as well and I'm like, “Yeah. Yep. I totally would do it again. 100%. Absolutely.” Well, thank you so much for being with us today and sharing your story. Kelsey: Thank you for having me. It was great. ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands