In this episode we talk with Emily Chandler and Taylor Washburn, EBB Childbirth Class graduates about their experiences in the childbirth class; their informed and empowered hospital birth; and how they navigated an extended hospital stay for newborn jaundice.

Emily, is a marine scientist, and Taylor, is a teacher and rowing coach in the Boston area. Together, they love hiking, biking, rowing, and taking advantage of the great outdoors. And they're also very busy taking care of their baby. While pregnant, Emily dove headfirst into learning about pregnancy, birth, and the state of maternity care in the United States. Emily and Taylor took the Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Class with EBB instructor Chanté Perryman.

Emily and Taylor share their experiences in the EBB Childbirth Class and how that informed many of the decisions they made regarding their birth plan, including Taylor being both inspired and empowered to “catch” their baby. They also share how they used the advocacy skills learned in class to better communicate with their providers and each other. After experiencing the birth they desired, complications arose when Emily experienced difficulty breastfeeding and inadequate lactation support. Difficulty was further exasperated when their newborn was diagnosed with jaundice leading to an extended hospital stay.

Content Warnings: extended hospital stay due to newborn jaundice, “yellow baby,” difficulty breastfeeding, syringe feeding, lack of lactation support poor latch, heel pricks and bilirubin testing, treatment for elevated bilirubin, poor outcomes for Black and Brown infants with jaundice

Resources:
Access the CDC article on Jaundcie here

Access the Evidence Based Birth® Signautre 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 or on her Instagram account @babydreamsmc

Learn more about The Nest Collaborative for lacation support here

References:

Here are the scientific references on jaundice for the blog article:
· Dunn, P. M. (2003). Dr Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802) of Lichfield and placental respiration. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed;88:F346– 8.
· Katheria, A. C., Lakshminrusimha, S., Rabe, H., et al. (2017). Placental transfusion: a review. Journal of Perinatology; 37:105-111.
· McDonald, S. J., Middleton, P., Dowswell, T., et al. (2013). Effect of timing of umbilical cord clamping of term infants on maternal and neonatal outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD004074
· Ashish, K. C., Rana, N., Malqvist, M., et al. (2017). Effects of Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping vs. Early Clamping on Anemia in Infants at 8 and 12 months: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr;171(3):264-270.
· Mercer, J. S., Erickson-Owens, D. A., Deoni, S. C. L., et al. (2018). Effects of Delayed Cord Clamping on Four-Month Ferritin Levels, Brain Myselin Content, and Neurodevelopment: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
· Andersson, O., Lindquist, B., Lindgren, M., et al. (2015). Effect of delayed cord clamping on neurodevelopment at 4 years of age: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatr;169:631–8.
· CDC article on Jaundice: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/jaundice/facts.html

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on:

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Ready to get involved?

• 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.