I was a graphic designer and I loved my job. But I always have the instinct to do something more beneficial for humanity but I didn’t know what it could be. My pregnancy was that turning point. I met with birth educations back then and something clicked in my head. There was a lot to do to change births and support women. After almost 7 years, I still feel so blessed and lucky that I went to a birth education. I had a great birth experience and it changed my whole path. 

Dear First name / friend,

In this newsletter:

📌A discussion about homebirth

📌International Childbirth Initiative webinar highlights

📌Link to my resources page

One of the outcomes of the pandemic: Increase in homebirth rates

According to international reports, homebirth rates increased during pandemic. That's mostly because women are not able to be supported and not able to choose their preferences at the hospitals.

The current agenda is being shaped according to this. The leading magazine ‘Midwifery Today’ has published their recent issue (issue 136) about homebirth. In the recent European Doula Network Conference, that was the main topic from the doulas around Europe. The raise in demand for homebirth was mentioned in International Childbirth Initiative’s webinar as well. In Turkey, there are some rules for a homebirth and they mostly lead women to give birth at the hospitals.

How do you perceive homebirth and what do you think about it? I wonder about your opinion. Just hit reply and write to me. 

I attended the International Childbirth Initiative's webinar this month. The presentation was about ‘12 Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Maternity Care’. There were around 250 global participants to the webinar. All the steps are evidence based and the approach is very humanistic. It is what we, as birth workers are trying to show to the expectant couples and everyone who witness a birth. These steps point out the most important things: respect to mother and baby, right to have non-discriminatory care, right for informed choice, continuous support during labor and birth, natural pain relief methods, avoiding unnecessary interventions, respecting time, childbirth educations, skin to skin contact, mother-baby bonding.  You can reach the details of all steps from the link below.

Last but not least, I prepared a resources page as a gift to welcome to my newsletter subscribers and I want to share it with you first. I will be refreshing that page often so I recommend you to bookmark the page to come back anytime you like. Some resources help well for prenatal and postpartum as well. You don’t need to be pregnant to use the resources😊 You can access my resource library with the password: ‘empoweredbirth'  

Enjoy!