First Spring Doula Services

06/06/2020

White privilege lives in the birth and motherhood too.

I’m losing followers for my posts this week. I usually lose a couple for all posts on the increased risk maternal mortality for WOC I’ve made in the past as well.

I 👏🏼 don’t 👏🏼 care 👏🏼. See yourself out.

Birth is political. Racism has become a political issue for some when it should be an issue of simple morality.

Melanated women, I stand with you. I will never have your experiences, but I know they are real and valid.

If you have resources from black content creators you would like to share here please post in the comments below.
I’ll be sharing more in the days to come.

If you don’t like hearing the truth of our sisters with darker skin color, this isn’t the page for you.

-Charla

03/06/2020

02/06/2020

🤟🏿🤟🏾BLM🤟🏿🤟🏾

28/05/2020

Update from our friends at Acclaim Nurse Midwives: formerly UNT Midwives!!

We are THRILLED to announce that as of Monday, June 1st, Harris Methodist in downtown Ft Worth will be welcoming doulas back to the bedside of our laboring moms!! 🎉 Once mom has been admitted, and her Covid test comes back negative, her doula will be able to join her. We are so excited to see these smiling faces again and complete our birth teams ❤️ Thank you THR for understanding the importance of this role. https://www.lifediagramsphotography.com

*posted with permission

29/04/2020

Do not put masks on kids under two!!!

Babies under 2 should not wear a mask.

Yes they are available for sale.

No they are not safe (suffocation)

No they are not effective (won’t leave them on and encourage touching their face)

14/03/2020

This is why I LOVE this hospital!

12/03/2020

COVID-19 update

09/03/2020

I spent the afternoon sharing Lucy’s birth in my Instagram and Facebook stories. If you get a chance, and are interested, go have a watch. I’ll save it in a highlight as well.

05/03/2020

My favorite midwife groups in Dallas and Fort Worth are now in Arlington, too!

💙 DMA is in a relationship with Arlington Midwife Associates. Get social with us and like us Arlington Midwife Associates 🙌🏻

04/03/2020

Don’t get any ideas, Lucy. 🤪🤣

02/03/2020

I love this so much! What did you learn about yourself after your baby was born? My answers in the comments.

LOVED this from Fourth Trimester Collective.

14/02/2020

This is so beautiful! Feeding babies is hard, no matter how you choose to do it. Do your best, seek help as often as you can, and find joy in whichever way you are able to feed your baby!

We share this every Valentine’s Day because this mom’s note to her daughter still makes us teary eyed. Mom weaned due to not having enough time to pump at work. Her breastfeeding goal was 6 months. She made it to 5 months. Her breastfeeding journey may have come to an end earlier than she’d planned but she gave it her all and nothing can take that away. ❤️

10/02/2020

This has been a good reminder for me as I’m nursing for the first time in 5 years.

Helpful tips for recognizing when your is full versus when they are taking a break because of something else like gas 👍🏼 Also - I have to laugh at the first part “hands by mouth helping to latch on” We all know how “helpful” that is 😂🤪“ Posted • Think about - when you've had a good meal then you relax, same with a baby. Clenched fist = hungry, relaxed = full.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I give all my clients a little check list on how to read their baby's body language - little things can make a huge difference to your confidence. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If you want to find out how I can help you then please send me a message⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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07/02/2020

🙌🏾

Women with a history of miscarriage, who have early bleeding in their pregnancy, could benefit from progesterone

30/01/2020

I’m happy to see Barbie creating more diverse dolls!

Barbie dolls are known for getting makeovers. But, this time, the toys are evolving to better reflect the children who play with them.

15/01/2020

Word.

08/01/2020

All 3 of my kids’ names made the list. Elijah - #10, Nora - #54, and Lucy - #57. Did your kids make the list?

Emma, Sophia, Olivia, Noah, Liam and Jacob all top the chart as the top baby names of 2010-2018, according to the Social Security Administration. During those years, there were a total of 18,133,841 male births and 17,316,359 female births. Below, you'll find the names listed in order of popularity....

07/01/2020

A very good point, indeed!

An observation I made the other day: my 13 year old son eats constantly, unceasingly. I cannot physically fill him up. If he is awake chances are he's eating. He's a healthy height and weight. He also, sometimes struggles to regulate his emotions as he goes through a period of rapid development, and struggles to adapt to new pressures and responsibilities that come with adolescence.

Society sees all this as perfectly normal. A time of rapid growth and development obviously needs a lot of fuel. He's expected to eat like a horse. It's seen as normal that he might struggle emotionally at times and need some extra support as his world rapidly changes.

No-one suggests maybe I'm not giving him enough food, or that he should be able to go 4 hours without food or drink, or that when he's struggling with something I should just leave him on his own to figure it out himself.

But when he was a 13 week old baby it was a different story. His need to breastfeed frequently was taken as a clear sign that I didn't have enough milk. He shouldn't need feeding so often. He should go 4 hours between feeds. When he needed to be held all the time because he needed the comfort, security and reassurance of bring close to a primary care giver well that was a sure sign something was wrong. He should be more independent, and if he isn't then it must be colic or reflux or wind making him cry so often.

It's absolute madness that society pathologizes normal infant behaviour. Infancy seems to be the only time when humans are expected to feed according to a strict, unrealistic schedule, and to not need any emotional support or physical closeness, and ironically it's the time when humans are least able to do that. No one expects grown ass adults not to need a quick snack between meals, or a cup of tea, or a hug. But babies, pah, they can see to themselves.

05/01/2020

Our sweet Lucy was born at 3:44 am on NYE! We couldn’t be more in love. Check out my Instagram () for more on her labor and delivery.

03/01/2020

This is such great news!!!

🎉Cheers to the new year and another chance for us to serve families. 🎉

Happy New Year everyone! In 2020 both the FWBC and DMA team will unite to launch a new hospital based midwifery practice. Arlington Midwife Associates will open in the early Spring of 2020. This means both the FWBC and DMA midwives will attend births at Arlington Memorial Hospital. This expansion allows for more families to benefit from care with one of our amazing midwives and we are thrilled to be the first ever midwife group practicing in hospital midwifery in Arlington. We are currently accepting clients to be seen at either our Fort Worth or Dallas location. Dallas Midwife Associates

25/12/2019

Every year, we stop to celebrate a birth. The birth of Jesus. And we do it in the most unusual ways - with ugly sweater parties, excessive consumption, frenzied shopping trips, and a long list of impossible expectations.

But when I think about the birth of Jesus, I’m reminded of all the hundreds of births I’ve documented.

I imagine Mary first noticing contractions. A dull cramping that came every 15 minutes or so. And then as the day or night progressed, they grew closer, stronger, until she could no longer pretend this wasn’t happening.

Was she alone? Did Joseph support her? Had she seen birth before? Did she know what to expect? Were they prepared with supplies? Was she worried about bleeding too much? Had she lost a mother, or a friend to childbirth? Did she feel alone?

So many questions, and yet we do know this. Mary did it. Mary birthed her baby into the world. And while I can’t confirm it, I’m confident that just like all births…there was fear, there was longing, there was doubt, there was despair…and then there was joy.

And so when I think of the nativity scene, there is so much about it that I want to change.

Instead of a clothed Mary and Joseph marveling at an angelic babe in makeshift manger…I see an unclothed Mary, with a squirmy baby pressed up against her breasts. I see vernix on her cheek and blood dripping down her leg. I see the ecstasy of birth - the joy that bursts forth after pain and fear and deep, deep longing. And I see Joseph taking it all in - amazed and perhaps startled by what he had just witnessed.

But still at the center of it all, is a naked woman, covered in blood and bodily fluids.

You see, we’ve sanitized the Christmas story to the point that it’s lost it’s power. Overtaken by capitalism and patriarchy, we’ve lost sight of the heart of this story.

The female body (with all it’s cycles and breasts and hormones and blood) grew, sustained, and birthed the divine. Oh holy night.

18/12/2019

Truth. Still better than being pregnant during a Texas summer.

13/11/2019

Feeling very blessed by these people today! They showed up with precious gifts, biblical affirmations, and lots of love. If you ever feel like the birth world is competitive, just know, there’s actually a lot more support floating around than you realize. @ Brewed

06/11/2019

Earlier this week, Fort Worth lost a precious soul in Terry Garcia from Inner Light Chiropractic-DFW. If you have any photos of your babies being adjusted by Terry, they are asking you to send those in for her memorial service.

If you have pictures of Dr. Terry adjusting you or your kiddos, we would love for you to email them to us to include in her memorial slideshow. Our email is [email protected]

05/11/2019

Those post-delivery cramps are no joke! Did you know that after each subsequent delivery, uterine cramping often gets more intense? Your body knows what to do to protect you from hemorrhaging. {Although sometimes it may need a little help.}
This repeat family labored so beautifully in October. It truly was an honor and a joy to be invited back into their birth story! And Dad! Supported Mom like a champ the whole labor and delivery! Dads rock! This family is so filled with love and affection. Welcome Baby J! You were prayed for long before you arrived. 💜

05/11/2019

Midwives attending Spinning Babies conferences makes my heart happy! We need more providers like this!

21/10/2019

Tornadoes can’t stop babies from being born, parents from being amazing, and midwives from catching and supporting them both.

11/10/2019

But for real

It never ends.

(via Snarky Mommy)