Thanks for stopping by our new blog! We thought we’d start it off with a fun interview about us to help you all get to know us a little bit better. Enjoy reading about the fun little quirks that make…
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We are so excited to announce the opening of our new Origins location at 3100 Swiss Ave in Dallas! Many of you have heard the big news but still have questions about which midwives will be serving our Origins families in Dallas. So with no further adieu we would like to introduce the Origins Birth and Wellness Dallas staff midwives: The amazing midwife and co-owner Amy Tate, CPM, LM, CLC and our wonderful staff midwife Christine Moreau, CNM. Meet The Midwives: Amy Tate, CPM, LM, CLC Amy’s experience with midwifery started when she was very young. While she doesn’t remember her own home birth, she does remember her brothers home births, as well as so many since. Her mother brought her up in the birthing world, having taught childbirth education classes for a midwife in Austin in the early 70’s and was also a leader for the La Leche League during that time as well. For as long as…
We are so excited to announce that Justine LeGrand, CPM, LM is officially joining our Origins Birth and Wellness team in Keller. Albeit she is due to have a baby in July, 2018, she will be coming on as a part-time staff midwife when she comes back from maternity leave. While Justine is off being a new mommy we have the honor of Roxanne Anderson, CPM, LM filling in for her. Justine was born and raised in the DFW metroplex, but obtained her bachelor’s degree in Sociology with minors in Biology and Chemistry from the University of San Diego in California in 2011. She had the intention of applying to medical school when she was approached about an midwifery internship at an area birth center. She attended a few births and immediately knew that God had lead her on this path. She had the privileged of training under three experienced Midwives…
Ever wish there was more than one Origins Birth Center? Maybe North Fort Worth is a far drive for you? Have any of you Eastside Origins fans ever dreamt of having an Origins experience, but can’t imagine fighting Dallas traffic? Well stay tuned to hear our exciting news…. …
Plan B: an Origins Midwife’s Story Where do I begin? As a midwife who has worked for years to help women achieve the birth they have always dreamed of and as a mother who has had the perfect home water-birth experience myself, I never dreamed that my son would be born via cesarean delivery. As many of you know, because I (Kaitlyn Wages, CM, LM) am no longer able to carry my own children, we chose the most ideal surrogate (Amanda), who also had a history of beautiful easy water-births with her own children. The two of us spent hours envisioning and planning for the climactic moment she would deliver my son into my waiting arms. It was going to be another beautiful water-birth for the both of us, and my son Shepherd. Neither of us would have ever imagined that Plan B would become our birth story. Amanda went into labor on July…
Here at Origins Birth and Wellness Collective the midwives understand that having a new baby, while being the most magical time in your life, can simultaneously be some of the most overwhelming times! Don’t worry though…HELP IS OUT THERE… Often times when people think of a doula, they envision someone offering pregnancy and labor support during childbirth. But did you know there is such thing as a Postpartum Doula!? Not a lot of people know about this gem and amazing resource available. Bringing home a new baby can be such an exciting and life changing experience for parents and other family members. It can also be a very vulnerable time in which parents need extra help and support transitioning to life with a newborn. There are new responsibilities, lifestyle changes, emotional adjustments, hormone changes, and so much more than brand-new (or even the most experienced!) parents anticipated. Did we mention the lack of sleep? Remember the…
Prenatal Perineal Massage: the Origins’ Way WHY in the world would I want to do that? Let’s be honest, perineal massage probably doesn’t sound like a good idea. It’s hard to motivate yourself to be committed to do it regularly. Research has shown that performing prenatal perineal massage can reduce your risk of having vaginal trauma at birth as well as several other benefits. I think of it this way….if someone forced me down into the splits it wouldn’t be pretty! I haven’t stretched those muscles that far in years. My hamstrings would snap in half because I’m not limber enough to stretch that far. However, if I were given the opportunity to stretch everyday for several weeks before hand, my muscles might be strained, but they wouldn’t tear. Your vagina is made up of several muscle groups. When giving birth they will be stretched farther than they have ever been stretched before. It only…
Dear sweet Joseph, Your birth story began 9 days after your due date. Even though you were late, I was not feeling anxious or rushed about your arrival. A couple times I thought “today is the day” only to be mistaken. I started my leave on your due date, July 17th, and was sooo much happier. I slept a lot, but more importantly spent a lot of time hanging out with your daddy. He was nervous about me going too far so I pretty much just laid around the house. It was nice being off work together for those nine days (he took time off waiting for you also). Every night we would go for a walk. Or as much of a walk as I was up for, and only as far as your dad would let me go, so not more than a mile. The day before you were born I had my weekly…
Lord help me, I’m about to write something on circumcision. It is such a hot topic. I’m actually afraid of offending someone, so I’ll proceed with caution… (If you’re already upset then please stop reading now!) Okay, so I’ll start by saying I have three sons. The first two I chose to circumcise, and my last son I decided not to circumcise. Here is how I came to my final decision NOT to circumcise: When I found out I was having a boy with my last child his dad and I were faced with the difficult decision of whether or not we would circumcise. At that point I had been a birth professional for a few years and I had come to some new beliefs about circumcision based on research I had encountered. But to be honest with you, even though I knew in my mind circumcision wasn’t necessary, I still had a difficult time letting…
Over the years we have supported hundreds and hundreds of mommies with breastfeeding. Collectively the Origins Midwives have nursed their own children for a total of 16 years. Crazy, right!? I guess you could say, we know a thing or two about breastfeeding. Sometimes breastfeeding is the most natural thing you have ever done. The baby does the breast crawl up to the mother’s breast, finds the nipples as they bobble their head around, and latches right on. OR it’s the most un-natural thing you have ever done! This tiny little baby has no idea what to do with this massive boob that is being shoved in its face. Tired mommy feels awkward and little baby is frustrated. In these times it’s important to remember that there will always be a learning curve for your new baby. (S)he has never nursed before, so they just need a little time and…
The Case for Vitamin K As with most topics in the field of obstetrics, the Vitamin K injection is very controversial amongst midwives, doctors, nurses, childbirth educators, and doulas. Many of you might be wondering what Vitamin K is and what function it has in our bodies. Simply put, Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin necessary for blood clotting. Our bodies can’t make Vitamin K, nor are they very good at storing it. As you can imagine, it is very important that all of our blood-clotting factors are functioning well, or small injuries or internal bleeding can become a big problem. A Vitamin K deficiency makes it very difficult, or even impossible for our blood to clot and to stop active bleeding. There are three types of Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB): Early VKDB happens in the first 24 hours of life. Early VKDB is usually seen in babies born to mothers who…