In the United States, every day, sixty-five babies are stillborn. While SIDS is certainly an issue, stillbirth is six and a half times MORE common than SIDS. Even worse, Black women and Asian Pacific Islanders are 2 – 3x more likely to experience a stillbirth than white women
There are many tools that birth workers use to combat this statistic. Count the Kicks (CTK) is an evidence-based stillbirth prevention program. By integrating it into doula care and educating clients, there is no doubt that babies will be saved from preventable stillbirths.
In this session, TaKiesha will share how she integrates CTK into her work as a doula, dispels myths, and challenges the use of antiquated language. Implementing these changes and including the evidence-based stillbirth prevention program has improved the workflow in a large Indiana hospital and is an example of how doulas and CTK work together to save babies.
Doulas can play a transformative role in supporting their neurodivergent clients by forming strong relationships and creating an optimal birth space. By recognizing and respecting the concept of neurodiversity, doulas can ensure that each client’s distinctive needs are met and treated with dignity and value, resulting in a more positive and empowering birth experience. Using simple yet effective tools, a doula can help transform the birthing environment from a place of fear and anxiety to one of calmness and anticipation.
In this session, doula Takiesha Smith will lead us through a discussion about the various types of neurodivergent clients as well as offer tools for doulas to help create and navigate a neurodivergent birth space