Kim Wheaton, Birth Doula

Here is an easy and practical way to help pregnant women and their families during this crazy time!

Many women who were planning on having their babies in the hospital are now wanting to switch to home birth, to protect themselves and their babies from the Coronavirus. Sadly, there are only 11 legally recognized home birth practices in Illinois -- located in just 9 of 102 Illinois counties. Signing this petition would help to free up dozens of professional midwives to serve these women safely and legally. Furthermore, "when Certified Professional Midwives attend home births, hospitals can utilize their resources and staff for more seriously ill patients, while simultaneously protecting healthy mothers and babies from the risk of infection." Win-win!

(And if you are unsure about the safety of home birth, know that "research has shown that when states fully integrate midwives into their systems, families experience better outcomes, including more spontaneous vaginal deliveries, higher rates of breastfeeding, fewer preterm births, fewer underweight newborns and fewer surgical cesarean section deliveries.) Feel free to read my home birth story here! https://www.kimwheatondoula.com/blog/2012/09/augustines-birth-922012.html

🔥Act now: Protect Moms & Babies during COVID-19 Let’s get to 177 signatures by the end of today - can you add yours?

Wonderful, needed article.

Why Don't People Talk About Their Good Birth Stories? - Mothering After you give birth, you tell your own birth story. What you say and how you say it matters more than you know. Why doesn't anyone tell the inspiring ones?

So... The Today Show found my pumpkins! Happy Pumpkin Fest everyone!

13 Halloween pumpkins that sum up new motherhood perfectly Whether it's baby-wearing, breastfeeding or epidural-getting, we're not mom-judging these creative carvings!

After 10 years of doula work, I finally have a birthday buddy 😍 🎉

Editing pics from a most beautiful and peaceful homebirth yesterday - in a historic Sycamore home on the most gorgeous day of the summer with perfect natural lighting and such a sweet family. So many good photos!!! Such an awesome birth!! So happy for them and privileged to have been able to help 💛

If you haven't heard, my friend, Jen, has just released an album with songs chronicling her journey of finding hope in the midst of postpartum depression and anxiety. Her album release concert is this Saturday and I have the privilege of opening for her with a few songs I've written on motherhood. You'll also hear my talented husband accompany Jen with his amazing fingerstyle work on guitar.

If you are a mom or know a mom, you should be there. Jen's songs offer such hope, compassion and healing for anyone suffering from any range of postpartum mood disorder 💛

Wanted to share this text from a client who had her baby last week - she captures beautifully the power and spirit of doula work. The short version is that I offer labor support, but it's more about embodying the steady, constant, compassionate presence of God to the vulnerable and sometime hurting hearts of women I get to serve. Saying yes to sitting with them through hard, messy heart stuff, entering into it with empathy and understanding and grace. Cheering them on toward growth and understanding their identity as beloved.

This is doula work, and I'm so privileged to be called to it.

As my daughter grows and her body starts to change, I've been reflecting more on my experience of my changing body when I was her age. There was a lot of shame, a lot of fear, even disbelief that this could be my new reality. It felt like I was living a nightmare. I couldn't ask questions, or ask if this was normal.

Now that I'm a mama, I'm working to cultivate a relationship of openness with my daughter. We converse freely about the coming changes, what to expect and how it's all normal, and about how innately powerful and beautiful our bodies are.

And it's so fun. We went swimming with a friend last weekend, and she showered and changed in the locker room with no embarrassment or sense of awkwardness. So far, she's super comfortable in her skin, and knows that her body is good.

I'm so grateful for my husband who is an ally in this - working together with him to create a family culture of respect for women's bodies.

Also grateful for and her book, "Mothers, Daughters & Body Image," which has been so helpful, enlightening, and a powerful tool as we navigate these waters! If you haven't read it, move it to the top of your book pile asap!

Beautiful day for a birth!

New on the blog! This is a topic that has really resonated with me recently, and I have loved learning about it. I believe that so many young moms are struggling with postnatal depletion completely unaware. I hope this little post sheds some light on the topic and helps inspire the first step toward healing!

Book Review: The Postnatal Depletion Cure After I had my second baby, I entered into a different, and I want to say darker phase of life than I had ever experienced. I wouldn’t say I was depressed, yet I distinctly remember, when my baby was around a year old, my older daughter looking up at me and saying out of the blue, “Mommy, you ha...

I strongly believe that community is essential to our health and well-being as mothers, yet many of the moms I work with are so very isolated. This is an excellent article - I want every mama to read it!

Here are a few tangible steps you can take whenever you're ready: 1. Get really clear on one thing.The fact that you're struggling is not a reflection of your inadequacies, but the unnatural cultural circumstances you're living within.2. Own + honor your needs.Most mothers are walking around with several deeply unmet needs of their own while focusing almost exclus...