Birth Matters OK

10/13/2026

Doulas and midwives! Have you tried tums for long labors? This looks promising

A randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine studied 200 women experiencing labor dystocia, meaning labor had become unusually slow or stalled. Researchers measured amniotic-fluid lactate (AFL), a marker associated with uterine muscle metabolism and difficult labor, and randomly assigned the women to receive oral sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or no bicarbonate.

Women receiving bicarbonate waited one hour before oxytocin was started, while the control group received oxytocin immediately.

After one hour, bicarbonate significantly lowered amniotic-fluid lactate levels (p < 0.001). More importantly, women who received bicarbonate had a significantly higher rate of spontaneous vaginal delivery (p = 0.007), with no detected worsening of fetal outcomes. The researchers proposed that lowering lactate might improve uterine muscle performance during stalled labor.

PMID: 28587493

10/12/2026

For a country that ranks last (of all developed nations) for maternal mortality and morbidity, we can’t afford this!

🏥 Since the Medicaid law was announced in July 2025, 52 maternity wards have closed per Protect Our Care, and Medicaid covers about 40% of U.S. births.

10/08/2026

🚨 Medicaid cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill could put doula care, which supports mothers during and after childbirth, out of reach.

Doula care is especially important for Black mothers, and Black maternal health deserves investment, not cuts. Learn how you can contact your representative and help stand against the reduction of this coverage 🔗: https://bit.ly/4hAsvCr

10/05/2026

🚨🚨 BREAKING: Research catches up with physiology....

Don't want to push for a long time in labor? Just don't push for a while and use gravity. Then you might end up pushing less than 15 minutes!

Is purple pushing FINALLY on its way out? While many facilities and providers have stepped away from strong and forceful purple pushing, variations of it still exist. This often leaves parents pushing for 1, 2, or even 3 hours - especially in first births and with epidurals.

Despite awareness of the fetal ejection reflex and birth being a normal physiological process, modern obstetrics left many believing we MUST push as soon as we reach full dilation.

Yet this often leaves moms pushing for hours.

Research from Besançon University Hospital, France looked at over 10,000 term singleton births.

Their research concluded: Under a delayed pushing policy of up to 3 hours, active pushing remained less than 15 minutes, supporting high rates of spontaneous vaginal birth and potentially reducing the need for instrumental delivery.

While there are occasional situations where directed pushing might be indicated (baby showing signs if distress, signs of cord compression, etc.), research is showing what midwives, many l&d nurses, and doulas have observed: birth needs patience.

👇🏽 Did you labor down or push as soon as you were fully dilated?

Study below.

09/29/2026

Doulas improve birth outcomes. Come train with me. Www.Birthmattersok.Com

A 2025 study published in AJOG adds powerful, up-to-date data showing associations between doula care and improved maternal and newborn outcomes.

Key Maternal Outcomes:

More vaginal births after cesarean (VBAC): For every 100 patients who received doula care, there were 15 to 34 additional VBACs compared with those without doula care.

Higher postpartum follow-up attendance: 5 to 6 more per 100 received postpartum office visits.

Key Neonatal / Infant Outcomes

Increased exclusive breastfeeding rates: Babies whose families had doula support were more likely to breastfeed exclusively.

Fewer preterm births (and early preterm births): Doula-supported births showed a reduction in preterm birth rates.

In short, the study links doula care with improvements in birth outcomes — across birth mode (more VBACs), infant health (less prematurity), and early infant care (breastfeeding, postpartum follow-up).

Read more: https://internationaldoulainstitute.com/2025/11/evidence-for-doulas-new-ajog-study-finds-doulas-improve-outcomes/

09/29/2026

Yes, this is real. Consumer Reports tested 48 packaged baby foods from 11 brands for heavy metals and plastic chemicals. Ge**er Rice Cereal averaged 63 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic, over the level Consumer Reports' scientists consider safe for a baby to eat every day. It was one of only two products flagged for arsenic, and by far the highest.

Consumer Reports' advice: limit Ge**er Rice Cereal to half a serving a day (a serving is a quarter cup).

Inorganic arsenic is the more harmful form of arsenic. The World Health Organization's cancer agency lists it as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning proven to cause cancer in humans. To***co smoking and asbestos are in the same group. Rice soaks up arsenic from soil and water more than almost any other crop, which is why the pediatricians Consumer Reports spoke to say to skip or limit rice based cereals and choose oat, quinoa or wheat instead.

The FDA's limit for arsenic in infant rice cereal is 100 parts per billion, so Ge**er is under it. But that limit is not mandatory, and Consumer Reports has said for years that it is too high.

Ge**er told Consumer Reports: "All Ge**er products are safe as well as nutritious, including our rice cereal and rice-based snacks. These products meet all applicable FDA limits for heavy metals, as well as our own strict standards."

The good news from the same test: 96% of the baby foods were below Consumer Reports' level of concern for heavy metals, the best results they have ever seen.

Source: Consumer Reports, "We Tested 48 Baby Foods for Heavy Metals and Microplastics," published September 17, 2026. Full results at consumerreports.org.

09/27/2026

This could be promising

A breakthrough new wearable medical monitor could soon save thousands of new mothers' lives by predicting severe postpartum hemorrhaging hours before complications become fatal, and medical experts are calling the device a game-changer. https://tinyurl.com/4dnx7xtm

09/22/2026

This must change. It is horrific, these deaths did not need to happen!

09/21/2026