Japan Birth Resource Network

Redefining Birth: Practical Tips for a Joyful, Intimate Experience ⬇️

Birth CAN be beautiful. Birth CAN make your relationship with your partner stronger. Birth CAN bring you closer to your family. Birth CAN empower you. Indeed, birth CAN be fun, joyful, special, magical!

What steps are you taking in preparing for your birth experience?

EBB 319 - Exploring Love and Intimacy in Birth with Debra Pascali-Bonaro, Founder of Or****ic Birth - Evidence Based Birth® EBB 319 – Exploring Love and Intimacy in Birth with Debra Pascali-Bonaro, Founder of Or****ic Birth by Rebecca Dekker | Jul 17, 2024 | Podcast Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to our podcast and leave a review! iTunes | Spotify | YouTube Dr. Rebecca Dekker’s joined by Debra Pascali-Bonaro, hos...

How are you all keeping cool this weekend with your little ones?
Comment with your favorite ways to pass the summer days!!

Some love for the placenta!! 🥰😍🤩

The delivery of your placenta triggers a key event in breastfeeding. Your placenta makes lots of progesterone during pregnancy and this hormone suppresses the action of prolactin, a key milk making hormone. Once the placenta is delivered, your progesterone level drops, allowing prolactin to go to work! Basically this is what triggers your milk to “come in”…. i.e. to transition from colostrum to mature milk!

If the separation is incomplete (leaving fragments of the placenta intact in the uterus), progesterone levels remain too high and prolactin remains suppressed.

Note: If you are concerned that you may have retained placental fragments, see your health care provider immediately!

When a mother experiences a hemorrhage during or after a birth (which can be caused by placenta accreta, placenta previa, placental abruption, aggressive removal of the placenta, and retained placenta, among other factors) her blood pressure can drop so low that it fails to circulate to her pituitary gland. This can cause some or all of the cells in her pituitary to stop functioning normally. If the blood loss is severe enough, it can cause Sheehan’s Syndrome, a permanent damaging of the function of the pituitary gland.

Your pituitary gland secretes necessary milk making hormones, and when hormone production is affected, milk production can be as well. For this reason, some experts recommend monitoring women who have suffered postpartum hemorrhage for milk production problems. Blood loss can also create anemia, which is another risk factor for low milk production.

Did you know your placenta had such a big role to play in breastmilk production?

To book a consult: click ✨Book Now✨ in my bio.

Bureaucratic Barriers Limit Critical Birth Support at Military Treatment Facilities for Tricare Prime Beneficiaries — Military Birth Resource Network Even more concerning, the Demonstration expansion to overseas locations is supposed to occur on January 1, 2025. Most overseas care is received from the local MTF by both servicemembers and dependents, not the local community. Most military families will not be able to utilize this benefit given the

🍼 The next Baby Bootcamp is Monday, July 15 from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Camp Foster.

This class, recommended for expecting parents to take in their third trimester, will give them a chance to sit down with the New Parent Support Program’s team of counselors and nurses as well as get hands-on practical training on day-to-day life with a newborn. Parents-to-be will learn the basics of newborn care, infant safety and development, self-care for parents and community resources that are readily available.

Registration is required. Please call 098-970-0396 or email [email protected] to sign up.

Very interesting listen! Did you know that water birth is an option for home birthing families through Yui Clinic! We hope that water birth options are one day expanded here and everywhere!

Find more information for water birth in Okinawa here:

Birthing Off Base

https://www.yuiclinic.com/en/

https://evidencebasedbirth.com/ebb-318-advocating-for-waterbirth-in-hospitals-with-dr-liz-nutter-dnp-cnm-and-retired-lieutenant-colonel/

EBB 318 - Advocating for Waterbirth in Hospitals with Dr. Liz Nutter, DNP, CNM, and Retired Lieutenant Colonel - Evidence Based Birth® EBB 318 – Advocating for Waterbirth in Hospitals with Dr. Liz Nutter, DNP, CNM, and Retired Lieutenant Colonel by Rebecca Dekker | Jul 10, 2024 | Podcast Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to our podcast and leave a review! iTunes | Spotify | YouTube Dr. Liz Nutter, a retired Lieutenant Colonel wi...

Doulas improve birthing people’s satisfaction with their birth and provide an important source of physical, emotional, informational, and advocacy support for both the birthing person and their birth partner(s) (Bohren et al. 2019b; Johansson 2015; Mallick, Thoma, & Shenassa 2022). Doulas are not medical professionals, but their value in making childbirth safer and more supported has been recognized by leading professional medical organizations and by nurses and other medical staff who report having positive attitudes towards doulas (Ballen & Fulcher 2006; Neel et al. 2019).

Evidence on: Doulas A birth doula is a companion who supports a birthing person during labor and birth. What is the evidence for using a doula?

🥹 Wow!

Aida Sall Diop and U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Alioune Diop welcomed their newborn daughter, Mariam Aliyah, who was born October 31, 2023, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at just 22 weeks and five days gestation, weighing 460 grams (1.01 pounds). She spent five months in Walter Reed’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) before being discharged.

Learn more about the incredible care that baby Mariam received at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center here:

https://walterreed.tricare.mil/News-Gallery/Articles/Article/3823248/baby-born-at-22-weeks-survives-thrives-thanks-to-walter-reed-team-and-parents

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A great offering from MCCS ☀️

Preparing for a new baby is a time filled with both excitement and uncertainty. Join the New Parent Support Program's Baby Boot Camp. Recommended for expecting parents to take in their third trimester and taught by the program’s expert team of counselors and nurses, Baby Boot Camp provides helpful information both through discussion and actual practice in order to prepare for the arrival of their baby through the first few months after delivery.

👩🏻‍🍼For upcoming classes, visit our website at https://www.okinawa.usmc-mccs.org/marine-family-support/child-and-youth/new-parent-support/.

How did you / will you prioritize rest after giving birth to your baby?

REST IS BEST!

Contemporary American society, with its unrealistic expectation of rapid return to pre-pregnancy functioning, is uniquely lacking in a culture of postpartum care.

What is your best tip for resting after delivery?

Curious what the food is like at an off base birthing center here in Okinawa?! 😍😋

Throw back to 2014 when JBRN was just starting to expand and host Birth and Baby Fairs on base. Where did the time go?

What kind of space do you want to come home to with your newborn baby?

Imagine for a second you were going to create a beautiful birth sanctuary in your home… what would you include?

Even if actually having a homebirth has never been on your radar, setting up a sanctuary is still something you might want to consider. Why? Because even if you give birth in the hospital, chances are you’re going to be coming home and you want the space to be able to nurture you and your new baby. Your postpartum space matters to your health and healing ❤️‍🩹

TIPS FOR SETTING UP YOUR POSTPARTUM SANCTUARY

🕯️ Lighting: Use soft, calm lighting with candles, tea lights, dimmer switches, or fairy lights. You can also try battery candles, string lights, or hanging twinkle lights.

🎶 : Create a playlist with music that helps you feel calm and relaxed, such as spa, instrumental covers, worship, or wedding playlists.

🌿 : Use essential oils to enhance your physical and emotional health.

🖼️: Hang up positive affirmations, pictures, or scripture verses. You can also add flowers, pictures of nature, or colored lamps.

🛏️: Cozy elements like blankets, slippers, robe

🚰: Keep water bottles, electrolyte drinks, and high protein snacks close by.

🌀Again, if this sounds a lot like a BIRTH SPACE prep list that’s because it should be very similar! Think comfort, ease, relaxation, privacy…🌀

Did you know that some of our members are Lactation Counselors?!

If you are looking for a great peer support group that offers in person as well as virtual meetings, check out Okinawa Global Military Lactation Community (Mom2Mom)

Last week on Military Birth Talk we heard from Audrey, who highlighted how helpful her doula was to her during her pregnancy, while her husband was deployed. We love a good doula shout out! What are some of the ways your doula supported you, outside of supporting your birth?

Community lactation support group tomorrow! Children and partners welcome! Come chat with parents in the same season of life as well as lactation counselors!

We are so sad to see Dr. Vanstraten leave Okinawa and are exceedingly grateful for how she has positively impacted the community here! Thank you Sprout Pelvic Health for your professionalism, incredible knowledge and your belief in your patients! We will miss you here but know that you will absolutely "crush it" at your next duty station! 🥰

For those needing Pelvic Floor Physical therapy, please see the information below about Dr. Maggie Wilhelm-Lee! We are so glad that you are here! 🩷

PSA: Pelvic Floor Peeps of Okinawa!! The long awaited approval for Dr. Maggie Wilhelm-Lee, PT, DPT to practice pelvic floor physical therapy in Okinawa has finally come!! Please checkout her website and contact her by email with any questions or concerns regarding anything pelvic floor! See flyer attached for details!! 🥳🥳🥳💖

See Dr. Maggie’s website here:
https://www.beleevepelvicpt.net/

You've got this 🥰🩷

You will both:
-Scream and cry
-Flail arms wildly in frustration
-Laugh from deep in your belly
-Feel a love you can't even describe
-Learn new things every day
..This is your journey, feel the feels, and always be your biggest cheerleader.

June already?!
Who is expecting a
☀️June Baby?🌈

GREAT information here! Cervical change means more than just dilation!

We have been patiently waiting to announce our partnership with the Military Spouse Employment Partnership as a Spouse Ambassador. MBRNPC is honored to be joining the ranks alongside the list of other outstanding programs that support military spouses and families.

We look forward to educating our community, connecting and creating pathways for Military Spouses to begin their journey as a birth professional and provide services to their military community.

https://msepjobs.militaryonesource.mil/msep/our-partners/15819

Awesome!

Summer is upon us! We hope you can enjoy it to the fullest!

🌞Go have the most fun, carefree summer ever!

Virtual Breastfeeding Support Group TONIGHT at 7:30 over at Okinawa Global Military Lactation Community (Mom2Mom) 🗣

MBNRPC is proudly celebrating an achievement in becoming an officially recognized Military Spouse Owned Enterprise. The U.S. Military Spouse Chamber of Commerce created the first and only of its kind certification, in an unprecedented commitment to land military spouses a seat at the B2B table for the first time in history.
The United States has long been defended by members of the armed forces and in a silent role, military spouses support those service members. Cost of living in the U.S. often warrants dual household incomes to cope with high living expenses. Military families give up a lot in the name of freedom, from constant relocations, and time away from family, to the difficult reality that finding a career that fits this lifestyle continues to be a challenge. Secure employment for spouses continues to be an enduring sacrifice with military spouse unemployment being four times the national average, pre-pandemic.
Military spouse employment is a hot topic within the military space with hundreds of organizations working to provide solutions, improve policy, and increase opportunities for traditional employment. Traditional employment is only half of the picture. As the challenge to obtain traditional employment lingers more military spouse are turning to entrepreneurship with 48% of spouses having been self-employed or operating their own business.
As we continue building and providing resources for our communities around the world, we believe this recognition aligns with our goals of growing the birth professional community at duty stations globally.

Did you know that NMCRS now offers Virtual Breastfeeding Basics Classes?

Visiting Nurse Molly Curtis, BSN, RN, IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) provides monthly classes to anyone planning to breastfeed, currently nursing, or simply seeking information. The 90-minute class is tailored to provide support and offer a comprehensive session with valuable insights and tips.

Learn more or sign up by clicking here: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=7t-TT7hIok2CwDI9E8VNpSyylR_TlPVOkMhmfjMb9F1UMjVESEQ2SzJPQko0QUMzNkVGMzE5UUtCVSQlQCN0PWcu&origin=lprLink.