Jill Allatta, LM CPM
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"What do you do?"

11/14/2014

 
Greetings, I hope this finds you curled up with a hot cup of tea! We haven't gotten our first snow yet but I know many of you have. Time for familiar holiday carols, elderberry syrup, insulating the windows and making sure everyone in the family has a warm pair of slippers. Here's what's been on my mind:

"What do you do?"

When someone asks me what I do for a living, it can be a challenge to really describe since a home birth midwife’s work is so multi-faceted. Here are some of the things I find myself saying when people ask me this question:

"I’m a midwife! I work with women who’ve decided to give birth at home, and so I do all their prenatal care, help them deliver their baby, get started nursing, make sure everybody’s good to go!"

"I’m a midwife - I work with families during pregnancy, labor, birth and the baby’s first few weeks to help them get the best start in life."
 
"Midwifery care is a no-brainer - it’s really the gold standard for high quality maternity care. You get far more time with your provider. That’s really the number one thing. Appointments with me are typically an hour long, and I come to your home to do it. Midwives approach it from a wellness perspective - though I can do all the same testing and screening as an OB’s office, it’s from a different perspective. Rather than expecting something to go wrong, we know that most healthy women will have a healthy pregnancy. We get to do in-depth nutritional counselling, we talk about all kinds of pregnancy discomforts and what you can do to support your body feeling well and strong, preparation for labor and natural birth, preparation for a strong start in breastfeeding. The best thing about midwifery care is that it is holistic, your midwife wants to get to know you and your needs as a whole person, and as a member of your family. And then help you get whatever YOU need to enter motherhood feeling capable, strong, just feeling like you have what it takes to be a fantastic mom."
 
"I absolutely love working with families during that time - I just can’t imagine anything more wonderful than to help people have the most genuine, most connected experience during childbirth. For me it’s about high quality healthcare, and it’s also about women’s rights. Culturally there is so much woman-hating wrapped up in women’s healthcare, and especially maternity care, we have high rates of c-sections, moms coming out of the experience feeling ripped off and drugged up, not well prepared for breastfeeding, so a lot of moms are now looking to home birth and midwifery care as a way to get more respectful healthcare. And, it’s safer for the mother and baby to minimize procedures and medications during birth. For example, having fewer (or zero) cervical checks during labor will minimize mom and baby’s risk of infection. Atlantic Monthly did an article called ‘The Most Scientific Birth Is Often The Least Technological Birth’ all about the benefits for mom and baby from simple, low-tech care during birth, and that’s what I do."

Thanks for taking the time to read this! If you haven't heard enough yet about midwives, take a look at these I Am A Midwife videos: midwives talking about what's at the heart of their work.


with love,
Jill.


"MicroBirth" - this weekend!

9/17/2014

 
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Dear friends and colleagues,

Every fall there comes a day with a crispness about it that inspires me to make chicken soup. That just happened this week and, after a summer full of change and upheaval, I was very grateful for this familiar signpost. My family and I spent our summer on a working vacation in Santa Fe, NM - long evenings enjoying the desert air, walking in the arroyo, and visiting old friends and loved ones. I had the opportunity to interview Katie Singer, author and sexuality educator. Her book The Garden of Fertility remains my very favorite resource to recommend to clients interested in fertility charting, and I was delighted to get the chance to meet her in person. Next blog post - you can look forward to a transcript of this interview!   

In the last six weeks my family and I have traveled across country, said hello and goodbye to family and loved ones, started a new school year, and moved apartments - wow! My mind has often returned to this reflection on change:

“For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.”
― Cynthia Occelli

I have needed this reminder that change is GOOD when it helps us take a step (or flying leap!) towards our goal. Ynanna Djehuty, midwife, author and activist, was the one who shared this quote with me via Facebook, and I am delighted to say that she’s soon moving back to the NYC/NJ area after completing her midwifery training at Maternidad La Luz in El Paso, TX where I also studied. Right now she is speaking with World Pulse LIVE tour to share her vision for improving US maternal health outcomes. 

I invite you to join me this Saturday for a free screening of the film “MicroBirth” - Taking a look at childbirth in a whole new way - through the lens of a microscope. Join us and be a part of this exciting film release! Follow this link to our event page to get the details and RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/microbirth-film-screening-bergen-county-tickets-13017199795



"Could the way we are born determine our future health and even impact the future of humanity? These are questions explored in a new feature-length documentary “Microbirth” premiering in hundreds of grass-roots public screenings around the world on Saturday 20th September 2014. "



Thank you for taking the time to read this, to celebrate with me the coming of autumn, and to help me celebrate the launch of my business.

with gratitude,

Jill Allatta LM CPM




I'm open for business!

7/21/2014

 
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Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I’m writing today to let you know that I’m launching my own business as a New Jersey home birth midwife! Throughout my time working as a midwife, mothers and babies have taught me so much about how to be a patient and supportive witness to the birth process. I’ve had the chance to work with amazing midwives who will continue to be my mentors and support system. Now, as I finally begin to have my own clients, I will be able to offer home-based midwifery care throughout the whole of pregnancy, birth and postpartum. My work will be focused in northern NJ: Bergen, Hudson, Union, Essex, Passaic and Morris counties. Thank you for your friendship and support as I begin this venture - and please save the date to celebrate my business launch on Saturday September 20th, with a free screening of the upcoming film MicroBirth! Location to be determined - details to come in August. For more info about MicroBirth and to see the trailer, click the photo at left.

I am open for business and ready to see clients with due dates as early as September. I am also looking for collaborative relationships with other care providers for pregnant moms, so please refer anyone you think would be interested in my services. Working for myself means I’m suddenly an entrepreneur as well - please reply to this email if you have any advice you think would be useful for a newly self-employed person! I also invite you to subscribe to my blog as a way to stay connected with me and the world of midwifery. 

This is a huge change for me - for the past two years I’ve been working as an assistant midwife with a NYC home birth practice. They really let me do the ‘fun part’ - showing up for the birth with none of the work beforehand! Home birthing families and midwives do months of preparation to establish the trust and safety necessary for a home birth, including the healthcare and testing used in deciding whether home birth is really the healthiest choice for that particular mom and baby. Now that I’m opening my own practice, it will be my job to guide families through that process and help them welcome their baby.

As I move into the dual role of midwife and entrepreneur, I am learning so much about myself and being a small business owner at the same time - everything from creating marketing materials, to collating research for my clients’ informed decision making, to stocking my own supplies and equipment. Most importantly, I get to more fully use my skills in supporting women through natural childbirth at home. Midwifery care is primary care during pregnancy, which means that my clients can get all their pregnancy healthcare with me. I do in­-home prenatal appointments, including drawing blood for laboratory tests and referring for ultrasounds if needed, and I also incorporate herbal and homeopathic remedies to ease the discomforts that sometimes arise in pregnancy. Home birth means having skilled support right there as you labor and give birth to your baby. I continue following up with postpartum appointments to ensure mom and baby are transitioning smoothly into their new life together.

To me, one of the most exciting things about home birth is how accommodating it is to the individuality of mothers and babies. In some hospitals, for example, there are time limits for how long you’re allowed to be in each stage of labor. At home, midwives monitor mom and baby’s health non-invasively and constantly assess progress according to their individual wellbeing. I recently had the chance to work with a mom who kept moving throughout her entire labor, trying to find a comfortable position during the intense contractions and back labor she was experiencing. I was there as an assistant midwife, and followed the mother around to monitor her baby periodically as she worked through her labor. Finally, nearly panicking with the intensity of her fast labor and transition, she began to push and immediately brought her baby down. As the baby’s head came out, we could see that the bag of waters hadn’t broken and the baby was being born still enclosed in this beautiful globe of water, glowing softly in the dim light of the room. Her midwife unwrapped her from her membranes and her umbilical cord and handed her to her mother. Seeing these delighted parents greet their baby, I felt an immense gratitude to be there as a part of their healthcare team. For that individual baby, home was the perfect place for birth to unfold in this unique and gentle way.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and, if you like, email me at midwife@jillallatta.com with your thoughts on midwifery or being a new business owner. Looking forward to hearing from you, and click here if you'd like to subscribe to my blog!

    Jill Allatta, midwife

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