Full Circle Birth Center

We are so excited to officially announce a new addition to our birth center services!

Dolphin-Assisted Birth!

After extensive research (and several very convincing dreams), we’ve partnered with a highly trained pod of emotional support dolphins to join us in the birth pool.

Benefits may include:�✨ Enhanced oxytocin release through joyful clicking sounds�✨Intuitive labor support and gentle circling for optimal fetal positioning�✨Occasional encouraging squeaks during transition�✨ Spiritual guidance (dolphins just know things)

Your birth team now includes:�✨ A licensed midwife�✨ Your chosen support person�🐬And one (1) emotionally attuned dolphin named Sage

Sage specializes in:�✨Holding sacred space�✨Mirroring your breath patterns�✨Doing a little spin when baby crowns
✨Postpartum placenta song ceremony

Evidence-based? Debatable.�Vibes-based? Immaculate.

Rest assured, all dolphins are certified in trauma-informed care and respect your birth preferences and boundaries.

Now booking for summer due dates 🐬

✨Limited spots available; our dolphins have boundaries too.

It’s Maternal Health Awareness Day and we absolutely do get riled up.

We see the racial disparities in maternal healthcare.
We see the dismissive attitudes
We see the babies growing up without their mothers and the mothers going home without their babies

Maternal health has to be about more than just survival. It’s about dignity, autonomy, informed choice, and continuity of care. All of these factors will inevitably lead to higher survival rates.

The United States is one of only 7 countries reporting an increase in maternal deaths since the year 2000. (Commonwealthfund.org) We MUST do better!

When birthing people feel safe, supported, and respected, outcomes improve, emotionally, and physically.

Every person deserves access to compassionate, individualized, evidence-based maternity care, wherever and however they choose to give birth.

Because healthy mothers build healthy communities.

How can you help?

The Mi Community Birth Initiative works to reduce maternal and infant health disparities in Michigan through evidence-base initiatives, including access to education, midwifery-led maternity care, doula training, and midwifery education.

Your donation goes directly towards funding these initiatives! https://givebutter.com/micommunitybirth

Transition is hard work! Sometimes this hard work makes it difficult to breath normally. Hyperventilating can increase feelings of anxiety and fear, while decreasing the amount of oxygen available to you and your baby. Tensing up and making high pitched noises makes it harder to relax your pelvis and make room for baby to navigate the birth canal.

If all you can do throughout a contraction is maintain controlled breathing and a relaxed face, you're doing amazing!!

We can totally speak Gen Z 😉

Long labors happen, it's just the nature of birth. Seeing the sun peek out after a long night of labor support gives us such a boost of renewed energy!

We encounter this scenario ALL the time, and honestly… we love it. 🫶

�It’s so common for partners to be supportive of the out-of-hospital choice, yet still feel a little nervous.

But nearly every single time, those same partners become some of the biggest advocates for midwifery care and home or birth center birth.

Why?

Because midwifery care doesn’t just support the mother, it invites the whole family to be involved an informed. Partners are included in appointments, encouraged to ask questions, learn the “why” behind decisions, and gain real confidence in the process. They get to witness firsthand how personalized, attentive, and empowering the midwifery model of care can be.

We would never 😉

Oh, those sleepy newborns!

Newborns will generally want to nurse every 1-3 hours, They have tiny stomachs, which need filling frequently. But your body also needs frequent nursing to signal the transition from colostrum to mature milk and regulate your milk supply. But what if your baby isn't waking on their own or doesnt seem eager to nurse?

Sometimes newborns, especially ones born at an earlier gestation, are just sleepy. Birth was big work for them, and it takes a lot of effort for some babies to learn the suck-swallow-breathe pattern necessary for nursing.

So what can you do about it?

Skin to skin - Keep your baby skin to skin and near your breasts as much as possible. This will help encourage your baby to nurse, while giving you both a boost of oxytocin, and helping your baby regulate their temperature and heartrate.

Diaper changes - annoying for the baby, but a pretty sure-fire way to wake them up. Change their diaper to wake them up and then let them nurse. They may fall back to sleep at the breast, but this is when you can:

🫴Massage your breast from the back towards the ni**le to encourage the flow of milk.
🫶Tap in your partner to tickle baby's feet, play with their ears, stroke thier cheek, play with their hands, or even wipe their face with a damp cloth.
☝️Break their suction with a finger, remove baby from the breast, burp them, and switch sides

A good way to gauge if your baby is getting enough milk is by their diaper output. You should expect 1 wet & 1 dirty diaper on day 1, 2 on day 2, 3 on day 3, and so on throughout the first week.

If you are concerned that your baby is not nursing frequently enough, talk with your midwife, lactation support, or pediatrician. They can either reassure your that your baby is doing fine, or give you the support and tools you need for a beautiful breastfeeding journey.