Poor Neglected Blog

I've neglected this site for over a year!

I've had clients during the past year, I've been to a home birth as a midwife's assistant in training, I've attended local doula meet-ups, I've been back-up for a couple of other doulas, and have 2 clients this month!

Hopefully I'll get into a groove of posting here at some point!

Book: Marriages & Miscarriages

A couple of months ago I was privileged to “meet” a lovely lady through Twitter. Kathleen Smith is a wife, mom, and recently published author. Her book is what I would like to talk about today. This is not an “official” book review, but I would like to share about what she has written because I think it is important.

Her book is entitled Marriages & Miscarriages: One Woman’s Personal Experience. She describes her book as “…a personal account of the experiences and emotions surrounding her three miscarriages.” (From back cover) Within the pages of the book she further describes her purpose for writing as:

“Pretty simple. Because for the last couple of years I have had all these different thoughts going through my mind about miscarriages and how I felt when I was going through mine and started to wonder how many women have gone through the same feelings and emotions that I have had, and had or have no one to talk with.”

The book is open, honest, emotional, factual, and encouraging for those who have had any experience with miscarriage. Personally, I have not experienced one myself, but the book was very helpful for me to understand some of the complexities of thoughts and emotions that go along with the pain of losing a baby.

I was very impressed with Kathleen’s courage and willingness to express what she went through in order to be a help and encouragement to other women. She talks openly about how her miscarriages affected not only her, but also her relationship with her husband. The Introduction to the book is actually written by her husband and it is obvious that their family’s experiences were not easy, but did draw them closer together in the end.

The book is written in a conversational, informal style, and includes chapters dealing with topics such as emotions and crying, being around pregnant women, answering others’ questions, praying, and wondering “why me?” Kathleen does not desire for her book to be a how-to or self-help book, but a look into how her losses affected her personally.

More than anything, Kathleen’s story helps other women to know that they are not alone in their hurt and struggle. I love the fact that she invites readers to email her to ask questions, request prayer, or just to talk about what they’re going through. Her desire is to have her experiences benefit hurting women.

I would encourage you to look into getting a copy of her book (you can get it in either paperback or kindle version) if you or someone you know has walked through a miscarriage.

(I bought a Kindle copy of the book for myself, and Kathleen sent me a paperback copy to share with any of my doula clients that might benefit from reading her story.)

Great Product Site

Formative Foundations

I just came across this site today, through Raising Homemakers. Formative Foundations is a great site for Mom and Baby products. Formative Foundations has a wide variety of quality offerings. Enjoy Browsing!

Raising Homemakers is even offering a Giveaway of one of their Moby Wraps! The post is HERE. Even if you may not need a wrap for yourself, perhaps you know a mom who could really use one. Enter to possibly bless someone else!

Words

I wanted to direct you over to Nicole's blog entitled Bellies and Babies. She wrote a great post about the power of words. Although some of it is directed towards those in the birth world, what she has to say can really apply to anyone!

Enjoy!

A Good Read

I came across this story on AOL news today and thought I would share it with you. It's a great story of birthing during a really scary situation. You can read it  HERE.  Enjoy!

Dedication

Today we visited a church with some friends because their baby was being dedicated. It was extra special for me because I was there at this baby's birth as her parent's doula. I can't tell you how exciting it was to see this couple dedicate themselves to raising this precious little girl in the ways of the Lord.

I know as a doula I won't normally have contact beyond the postpartum visits, but because this family is good friends of ours, this situation is different. To be a part of the different milestones in their lives is so amazing and humbling and exciting.

Meet the Midwife

I have a client who is due in May. They are planning a home birth with a local midwife. I got to meet that midwife this past week, and I am really looking forward to working with her for this couple. 

It was so encouraging to listen to her philosophy of birth! So different from OBs and hospitals. I am beyond thrilled that I will get to attend a birth at home!

Oh, and I did meet with a potential client a couple of weeks ago, and they just called back this week to tell me that they do indeed want to hire me! So, I have a client due in May, one due in June, and one due in August. This, of course, is all providing that we're still around this area then.