Tri City Birth Collective

10/01/2026

🥹 I have something I’ve been carrying in my mind, and on my heart for a very long time.

It’s finally becoming a book. 📖

📘 BORN OF FORCE 📘
Revealing the Unseen Toll of Synthetic Labor and How to Reclaim the Science of Human Birth

As a DONA-certified birth doula and Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, I’ve had the extraordinary privilege of witnessing birth in many forms.🤰

Through these years of supporting families, I found myself asking questions I just couldn’t ignore any longer.

Questions about labor induction.
Questions about artificial contractions.
Questions about what happens when interventions become so routine that we stop questioning them or maybe never did to begin with?

So I researched.

I questioned.

And I wrote.

📘 BORN OF FORCE is my exploration of what happens when we alter the hormonal landscape of human birth—and what we might discover when we take a closer look at the science.

This book is coming.

Saying that out loud is both terrifying and absolutely incredible. 🥹💚

09/08/2026

💚 We must learn that it isn't a Midiwfe or Doctor that ensures the safety of giving birth to your baby. Much of how your journey unfolds is related to choices made during pregnancy.

💚 Your birth setting, your provider, and your lifestyle practices all influence your birth. In a setting where pathology is held above the true physiology of having a baby, those caring for us are poised to intervene and lack trust in the process.

💚 Do you want a VBAC? Do you want to choose which position you give birth in? Do you want current, evidence based care with minimal interventions? Plan. For. It.

💚 Research your providers strengths, the statistics of your birth setting, and what your own philosophy of birth is. Hire a Doula. ✨️ Your birth is first and foremost, your responsibility.

08/23/2026

🤣🥰😆😂

08/23/2026

💚 Are you having a baby in October 2026? 🤰🤱

💚 Doula care is covered by Michigan Medicaid Healthplans⚕️Services are available for the entire lower peninsula ✋️

💚 Doulas educate, advocate, and support you in many areas of life during pregnancy and postpartum. We even help you pack your birth bag and make a plan! ✅️

💚 Use the link in the comments to get started today! Immediate appointment availability to get to know your potential Doula!

08/20/2026

💚👏💚

08/01/2026

💚 "What happens if we wait?" is a valid and valuable question to ask your care provider when being offered interventions such as induction or cesarean birth. 🤰
💚 Most often women aren't given the option to do nothing by their providers that are trained in pathology and surgical skill (Hell-O/BGYN). More times than not families realize that their "complication" isn't nearly as urgent as presented initially. If there's time to schedule a birth, there very well may be time to safely wait and your intervention optional. (Like every single aspect of your care.)

💚 "No" is a complete sentence, beautiful people, and coercion is NOT conesent. 🫸

07/29/2026

💚 Here are the top 5 pain management techniques I see used during labor at a hospital birth:

🟣 Hip squeezes 👐 practice these with your partner before labor begins.
🟣 Gentle rythmic body jiggling, done by a partner - usually the lower hips and b***y feel the best. 🍑
🟣 Hydrotherapy💧sit on a chair in the shower and let the water flow down your back or front. BIRTH BAG TIP: bring YOUR water shoes to avoid slips and swim clothes for your parter.👙🩳
🟣 Heavy duty labor comb made of wood, or plastic. Squeezing it during contractions helps to override your pain sensations.
🟣 Cool cloths - bring a couple cooling towels (I bring these for my Doula clients!)

💚 Have a lovely labor!
Krystal Barnhart CD(DONA), LCCE

07/23/2026

💚 Doulas DO belong in the O.R.! 💚 Thank you to University of Michigan, Lansing Sparrow hospital for hosting this learning endeavor. Standing in an operating room with a group of fellow Doulas was an incredible feeling.

👏 A Doula for anyone, birthing anywhere, and any way.

*** I have supported many families having cesarean births across the state, and in many hospitals. I'm hoping it will be less of an up-hill battle now.

07/22/2026

💚👏💚

Health care in the United States is increasingly team-based, and doulas—who often provide emotional, physical, and educational support for patients during birth, the postpartum period, and beyond—are valuable members of many care teams.

ACOG’s new clinical guidance encourages ob-gyn collaboration with doulas and gives ob-gyns the tools they need to better understand a doula’s role. It also highlights the importance of stronger partnerships between clinicians and doulas, which can provide vital support across the lifespan—including during and after pregnancy—and can lead to better patient outcomes.

Read the press release: https://bit.ly/4flN1Eq

04/26/2026

📣 Introducing our International Doula Month 2026 theme!🎉

Doulas: Nurturing the World, One Family at a Time.💜

IDM is one week away and this May, we're celebrating the ripple effect of doula care - the quiet, powerful support that begins with one family and grows into something so much bigger. Like a seed, like a ripple, like a lifetime of change.

Throughout the month, we'll explore how doulas nurture families through birth and the postpartum period and how that care strengthens entire communities, and ultimately the world.🌍

✨ Ready to join the celebration online? Our 2026 Social Media Toolkit is here: everything you need to share your story, connect with doulas worldwide, and show the world what this work truly means.

🔗 https://adobe.ly/4t6J6k1