Placenta Encapsulation is a new and rapidly growing postpartum care profession. Through the extensive efforts of Jodi Selander, founder of Placenta Benefits.info (PBi), and her network of Placenta Encapsulation Specialist throughout the United States placenta encapsulation is becoming a well known and highly sought after postpartum care service. First looked at as an on-the-fringe trend, as placental use is not as common in our country as it is in other countries, placenta encapsulation is now being brought to the forefront of postpartum care as a well established and scientifically researched and sound practice that has enormous benefits to a postpartum mother during postpartum recovery. Placenta Encapsulation Specialists are self-employed and able to set their own clientele load, hours of work, and fees.

Leigh Anne DuChene, is the DFW, Texas area’s only Certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist, and is now the area’s Placenta Encapsulation Specialist Manager, as PBi and Leigh Anne DuChene, of DuChene Natural Health Center, actively seek out interested women for Placenta Encapsulation Specialist Training in the Dallas and Fort Worth Metroplex area and other areas of Texas, as well.

As a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist you are a postpartum wellness resource to your clients. You provide a service, answer questions about postpartum healing, wellness, and care, and you refer them to appropriate resources for postpartum care when necessary. Postpartum care issues can include, but are not limited to, postpartum depression issues, physical recovery, emotional recovery, postpartum nutrition, lactation or breastfeeding, lactation nutrition, and various other postpartum issues. You are not expected to have all the answers, you are instead the postpartum mother’s resource to connect her with those who can answer her questions or assist her in her needs.

The Placenta Training Course through PBi teaches you proper preparation methods according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, educates you on the benefits of placental use, teaches you how to answer questions about placental use, educates you on the OSHA, EPA, and FDA safety protocols, requires that you get your food safety & handlers training for your area, and teaches you through hands-on training how to prepare the placenta for mother safely, properly, and legally.

If you are interested in becoming a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist, or have questions about the training or service, please contact Leigh Anne DuChene at LeighAnne@DuCheneNaturalHealth.com.

For information on the research and benefits of placental use please visit www.placentabenefits.info/articles.asp.

The Homebirth Association of North Dallas (HAND) will be holding their Dallas area monthly meeting on Tuesday November 17th. Certified Professional Midwife, Molly Germash, of Hearts Desire Midwifery, will be leading the meeting on the following topics:

What does an ideal birth team look like and how can we arrange it – for a hospital birth, a birth center birth, or a home birth. If a midwife is involved, who assists her, how, and why? What components of birth produce deep joy and satisfaction when it is all over?

This is a great topic for any birthing woman or couple so please feel free to invite hospital birthing friends or even friends that are still just thinking about having babies.

When: Tuesday, November 17th 11 am-1 pm
Where: 330 Buttonwood Court, Coppell
Children and spouses very welcome!
Bring a potluck dish to share

Contact: Maria for more details or questions (bpokluda@yahoo. com or 214.223.0226)

Join the HAND Yahoo group or visit their website.

From PhD in Parenting

Where is the safest place to give birth? If you are at a low risk of complications, then a midwife assisted home birth is your best bet according to a new Canadian study by Dr. Patrician Janssen from the University of British Columbia.

According to the CBC, the study found that the rate of death per 1,000 births in the first month of life was:

* 0.35 for planned home births
* 0.57 for hospital births with a midwife
* 0.64 for hospital births with a physician

Newborns born at home were less likely to require resuscitation or oxygen therapy after birth and were less likely to have aspirite meconium. Babies born at home were more likely to be admitted to hospital after birth than those born in a hospital. However, this was for fairly easily treatable and common conditions like jaundice and a baby born in the hospital that has jaundice probably wouldn’t have been sent home in the first place if it was jaundiced (therefore there would be no record of the baby being admitted to hospital).

Read more at PhD in Parenting.

By LaToya S. Watkins, North Dallas Gazette

Since Project Single Moms DFW launched its supportive arms to the single parents of Dallas/Fort Worth in January of 2009, a membership count of 74 single parents has been reported to the North Dallas Gazette. The organization, founded by CEO and director Stephanie Clark, was put into place after Clark’s My Daughter’s Keeper Inc. was founded in New Jersey in 2007. The stories of 47 single moms were told in a book titled Life As A Single Mom: It Isn’t Easy, Or Is It? Project Single Moms is a nonprofit, national advocacy and empowerment program, aimed at inspiring single mothers to be the change that they desire to see in their situations.

Project Single Moms offers support to the single parenting community ranging from financial literacy to homeownership information and personal and self-development. The program, which requires a membership that is free before July 30, also offers support such as parents’ night out for the mothers and activities for the single parent families as whole units as well. The group provides a 24-hour support telephone line for parents who need someone to call on anytime for support. There is even publishing information and services for parents who have written their stories down and feel that they are ready to share them with the world.

Project Single Moms has a few events coming up within the next few months that parents could benefit from greatly. The DFW chapter of the organization had its first meet and greet in early June and were quite please with the turnout. The group is planning a back to school event that will take place in August. There will be food, fun, and school supplies! Taylor explained, “We are even trying to get a few barbers and hair stylists to come out and offer services to help parents prepare for school as well.”

The coordinators are even planning as far ahead to an October kids night out — Boo at the Zoo. The group plans to meet up once a month for mixing and mingling, as well as hold a phone conference for all members once monthly to touch base and give parents a chance to reach more than once monthly. “We just want to have fun and support each other while doing so,” Belo stated enthusiastically.

Membership criteria for the organization are loose and lenient. “Two of our single parents are actually single fathers,” Taylor revealed right before Belo inserted, “There are actually now three single fathers in the group.”

For more information on starting a Project Single Moms chapter in your area contact one of the DFW coordinators at contactdfw@projectsinglemoms.com. For more information on national and local chapters or to join chapters of Project Single Moms, please visit www.projectsinglemoms.com.

(via Moonlady News)

Is giving birth outside of a hospital inherently uncomfortable, inconvenient or even dangerous? Learn more about the safety and comfort of birth in a birth center or home, and meet other families who have had already had this experience or are exploring the options, at the mid-July meeting of the Homebirth Association of North Dallas (HAND).

Certified nurse-midwife Amy Giles of Allen Birthing Center will present the latest safety information on out-of-hospital birth and take your questions on the subject.

HAND: Out-of-hospital births, with midwife Amy Giles
7 p.m. Tuesday, July 21
Irving Bible Church (the area next to the tubes)

Spouses, friends and children are welcome at HAND meetings. For more information, contact Maria or visit HAND.

Is the heat of midsummer wearing you down? “I feel for all expectant mommies out there,” says Fort Worth massage therapist Hannah Reasoner. That’s why she’s offering a special July discount for prenatal massage. Get a 60-minute prenatal massage, regularly $60, for only $40 during the month of July.

Prenatal massage is suitable for women from 16+ weeks pregnant to 4 weeks postpartum.

The July discount may not be combined with any other offer, and gift certificates are not available for this special.

Ready to lay down, cool off and chill out? Call Hannah Reasoner, LMT, CD(DONA), 817.386.3355 or 214.783.3668 or visit Bellies in Bloom.

Is childbirth inevitably wracked with pain, or can it be joyful … even orgasmic? Some experts and women think it can—and they made a movie about it. Orgasmic Birth is a fascinating documentary that follows 11 women in their physical, emotional and spiritual journeys of giving birth naturally. (Learn more about orgasmic birth—not the movie itself—in the video above.)

“Don’t let the name scare you off,” encourages Fort Worth doula Hannah Reasoner. Spend an air-conditioned evening this weekend screening Orgasmic Birth, the movie, and meet and greet local expectant mothers and birth professionals.

Orgasmic Birth screening
Saturday, July 11
7-10 p.m.
Mansfield Library
104 S Wisteria St., Mansfield 76063

For more information or to RSVP, contact Hannah Reasoner at 817.386.3355 or 214.783.3668.

This word just in from Fort Worth doula Hannah Reasoner on a new movement to support the future of natural childbirth in Tarrant County: a birth network similar to the one at BirthNetwork.org. The fledgling Birth Network of Tarrant County needs help getting started from local birth professionals. “We are planning a meeting for later this summer for birthing professionals (doctors, midwives, doulas, childbirth educators, chiropractors, lactation consultants … the list goes on),” she explains. ” In addition, we are looking for professionals who are actively practicing the 10 Steps of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative. ”

If you or a birth professional you know would be interested in being part of creating the Birth Network of Tarrant County, e-mail Reasoner with your contact information.

Did you know that chiropractic care can ease normal discomforts of pregnancy and alleviate nursing and sleeping problems for newborns? Learn how this natural, non-invasive health care technique can help you and your baby from local chiropractor Dr. Kristi Corder at the next meeting of the Homebirth Association of North Dallas (HAND).

Chiropractic Care for Pregnancy and Newborns
Homebirth Association of North Dallas
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, May 19
223 W. 8th St., Irving  75060
(972) 254-1935 or HAND
Please bring a snack or dish to share for a pot luck lunch.  Children are always welcome at HAND meetings.

Join other families at the Conscious Parenting for Peace Conference, part of The Global Peace Project’s Conscious Community Expo and Concert held Saturday, April 4 at Unity Church of Dallas. The free conference calls for nationwide and world wide unity and service and will offer a full day of speakers, events, ideas and activities.

A Conscious Parenting track designed especially for families will highlight holistic health, education and family topics.

Conscious Parenting Schedule

10:00 – 10:10 Leigh Anne DuChene with LIVE Didgeridoo music Quinn Eaker – Freeform Dance Meditation
10:10 – 10:15 Welcoming Message
10:15 – 10:45 Leigh Anne DuChene – Holistic Family Heritage & Conscious Parenting
10:45 – 11:30 Katherine Clay – Babywearing for Peaceful Parenting
11:30 – 12:00 Ann Crowell – Midwifery Care for a Peaceful Pregnancy & Birth
12:00 – 12:30 Kristi Rooks – Cloth Diapering for Conscious Living
12:30 – 12:45 Leigh Anne DuChene Peace & Kindness Meditation with LIVE Didgeridoo music Quinn Eaker
12:45 – 1:30 Katherine Clay – Babywearing for Peaceful Parenting
1:30 – 2:15 Quinn Eaker – Unschooling for Peaceful with Children & Education
2:15 – 2:45 Dr. Cindy Haggerton – Chiropractic Care for Peaceful Pregnancy & Children
2:45 – 3:15 Dr. Joy Wiggins – Pathways to Peace for Children
3:15 – 4:15 Bob Hopkins – PAVE
4:15 – 4:45 Donnallyn Dominguez – Midwifery Care for a Peaceful Pregnancy & Birth
4:45 – 5:15 Leigh Anne DuChene – Holistic Family Heritage & Conscious Parenting
5:15 – 5:45  Quinn Eaker – Unschooling for Peaceful with Children & Education
5:45 – 6:00 Quinn Eaker LIVE Didgeridoo music performed
6:00            Closing Message

The Peace Project is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization funded by The Peacilicious Planet run by volunteers, created to enhance local, regional, national and global communities through peace education programs. It creates opportunities for individuals and communities to peacefully impact the world by fostering a culture of peace, balance and harmony that allows all to participate in building a global community that embracing social, economic, religious and environmental peace, awareness, tolerance and sustainability.

Unity Church of Dallas
6525 Forest Lane, Dallas 75230
(972) 233-7106