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In This Issue
Our Charis Family
Nancy
Prevatt
Charis Cuisine
Autumn Harvest soup
Charis Around the World
Tidbits From Ebony
Childbirth in Kenya
Stories from India
Life in the Caribbean
To enjoy past newsletters, visit the archives:
Newsletter Archives
Mark Your
Calendars
Charis
“Teaching Birth” Workshop
Saturday, February 25, 2012
9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
at
Birthways Family Birth Center
in Sarasota,
Florida
For childbirth educators, doulas, midwives, or anyone
who would like to improve their ability to communicate
with and educate expectant families.
At our workshops, learning is interactive, hands-on,
fun, and interesting. All Charis workshops are
taught from a Christian perspective, giving God the
glory for His marvelous creation and how He so
wonderfully created women to bear children.
You will spend the day making new friends and becoming
more skilled in preparing effective introductions,
asking powerful questions, creating a learner-friendly
environment, capturing the attention of learners,
helping clients embrace their responsibility of making
informed decisions, and so much more.
In addition to the valuable skills acquired at the
workshop, you will also take home with you an assortment
of visual aids and other valuable teaching tools to
enhance your future students’ learning experience.
A delicious lunch will be provided for all the workshop
attendees to enjoy as you get to know each other better
during a midday break.
The cost is $200 for Charis members and $230 for
non-members (includes one-year Charis membership).
To register, complete the
Registration Form
and mail it, along with payment, to:
Charis Childbirth
P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290
Childbirth
Preparation Classes
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Presented by: Birth InSight
Christi Jones (CCE, CD) and Aimee Roberts (CCE, CD)
Seven Week Series
January 5th – February 16th
February 22nd - April 4th
May 2nd - June 13th
(cost $250 per couple)
Weekend Series
December 9th-10th
February 24th-25th
May 11th-12th
(cost: $250 per couple)
VBAC workshop
November 2nd and December 12th
(cost $25.00 per person)
Eat Right Now Workshop
December 14th, 7:00-9:00pm
(cost $25.00 per mom)
Live Right Now Workshop
November 30th, 7:00-9:00pm
(cost 25.00 per person)
L.E.A.N. Essentials Workshop
December 7, 7:00-9:00pm
(cost 25.00/person)
For more information and to register visit our website:
http://www.birthinsightva.com
or call
757-270-0437
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Attention Aspiring
Midwives!
You will love the flexible, thorough,
distance academics course offered through Charis Childbirth!
Check
it out!
Want to serve childbearing families as a Certified Doula or
Childbirth Educator?
Become trained and certified through Charis Childbirth!
Take a look
at our unique certification process!
If you seek a school that offers the convenience of
self-paced distance learning, personal mentors for each student, a
commitment to the highest excellence in education, a family-like
network of students and birth professionals, and education from a
Christian perspective, Charis may be just the right fit for you!
For more information
Visit the Charis Web site
for course description and outline.
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Our
Director's Heart
Drawing
by Joel Schuchmann
PROM
One of
the most frustrating things to me these days is PROM! Not the dance,
but the spontaneous rupturing of the membranes before labor ever
begins. We have had WAY too many moms, whose heart’s desire was to
deliver at home or at the birth center, end up with hospital
transport and the domino effect of interventions that follows simply
because their water broke and they didn’t move into progressing
labor.
This isn’t a problem only for women choosing out-of-hospital
delivery. When a woman planning a hospital birth calls reporting
that her water has broken, she is instructed by her OB or midwife to
come to the hospital, even if she is not experiencing uterine
contractions. That scenario increases her chance of surgical
delivery many-fold.
So, my big question is: What can be done to strengthen the
membranes? What can we do to decrease women’s chances of rupturing
prior to active labor?
Here are a few of my thoughts and ideas:
STRENGTHEN THE SAC – a weak sac may also be the cause of rupture. Remembering that “we are what we eat”, diet can go a long way to
keeping ALL our parts strong and healthy, including the amnion and chorion. The simple answer would be to eat nutrient-dense foods that
strengthen connective tissues. But how do we figure out what
nutrients will bring the most benefit? I believe Vitamin C with bioflavonoids would be extremely important. They can be found
abundantly in citrus fruit (the white, bitter part is super high in bioflavonoids). For those who would rather take a supplement,
relatively inexpensive, good quality Vit C with bioflavonoids can be
found in health food stores. Increasing trace minerals in the diet
is also a good idea. Unfortunately, much of the farmland today is
depleted of those important minerals. That is why I love to have
people add alfalfa to their pregnancy infusion (tea). The roots of
alfalfa go extremely deep and pick up minerals other plants can’t
reach. Nettles and Oatstraw are other great herbs to include in a
pregnancy infusion. For more information about these herbs, check
out this feature in a past newsletter: "Herbs
Beneficial During Pregnancy".
PREVENT
INFECTION – infection is sometimes the cause of rupture. Things such
as UTI’s, STD’s, GBS, periodontal disease (gum disease), etc.
predispose a woman to PROM. Prevention begins when our girls are
little, so when we model the following, they will learn how to live
well: Avoid antibiotics so that our bodies remain colonized with the
proper micro-flora, eat pro-biotic/fermented foods, limit sugar and
simple carbohydrate consumption, eat a variety of fruits and
vegetables as close to the way they grow as possible, grow a garden,
etc. Wipe front-to-back. Replace personal lubricants every few
months (the bottles can harbor bacteria). Live and value a lifestyle
that does not lead to STD’s or other infections. Brush teeth after
each meal and floss once a day.
TEST FOR AND TREAT INFECTION – sometimes infections do not have
symptoms. I think it is a good idea to screen for infections during
pregnancy and treat them promptly. Testing for a UTI at the
beginning of pregnancy, at 28 weeks, and again at 36 weeks can help
us catch those asymptomatic infections and nip them in the bud
before they have a chance to affect the membranes. Screening for STD’s is also a great idea. Not only are things such as gonorrhea
and chlamydia dangerous for the baby during delivery, vaginal
infections can also lead to chorioamnionitis and subsequent PROM if
not treated. I also think it would be wonderful if women would have
their teeth cleaned twice by a dental hygienist during pregnancy to
correct any periodontal disease that may be present.
What are some of YOUR ideas for prevention of early rupture of
membranes? I’m still in the process of processing all of this
and value the input of other brilliant people! Send your thoughts and
ideas to
newsletter@charischildbirth.org.
Toward strong, healthy membranes,
Kristin Schuchmann
Executive Director, Charis Childbirth
Contact Us
Charis Childbirth
P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290
www.charischildbirth.org
Kristin Schuchmann ~
Executive Director
Cell (941)441-6410
http://happyhealthyliving.wordpress.com/
Susan Oshel ~ Director of Midwifery Studies
Update
Charis Membership
We at Charis are extremely grateful for our wonderful members. This
past year, your dues have made it financially possible for us to
creatively correspond with people in areas of the world where
internet is spotty at best. Having all forms of communication
available for us is essential if we are going to successfully train
birth professionals in the far reaches of the earth. As our
community of members grows, there will be more funds available for
even more world-impacting outreach. Thank you!
Several people have contacted us recently asking about when their
membership dues should be paid. Membership is due every December 31
for the coming calendar year. So, if you became a member on or
before December 31, 2009, your dues should be mailed by the middle
of December, 2010, to be sure it is received in time. If you became
a member sometime in 2010, then your membership is not due until
December 31, 2011.
You can send your
membership form and $30 dues to:
Charis Childbirth
P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290
Our address
Charis Childbirth, Inc.
P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290
It's
been over a year since Charis headquarters moved to
Florida. If you use our old Virginia Beach address, your mail will
not reach us as the post office is no longer forwarding mail.
Be sure to mail your yearly membership fees to the Florida address!
Look us up
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