Rural and Expecting

Books talk about the stresses of pregnancy, body changes, what to expect for your labor, factors to consider for your birth plan, but nobody told you just how much harder all these things are when you are living in rural America! Although we are surrounded in so much beauty, few birth professionals understand the unique challenges we face living in remote communities. Scheduling appointments is harder, as we often need to drive over an hour (one way) to visit a medical provider. Finding a provider is more difficult, as many suburban communities surrounding rural communities struggle to attract and retain medical providers, and often do not contain the spectrum of options available in metropolitan areas (for example attendance by a midwife or the options to birth in a hospital that supports trial of labor after a cesarean). Even in California, a state well known for its large population, bustling cities, and urban sprawl, 7 of 21 rural counties have no access to hospital obstetric care (includes Mariposa County for all of my local readers!). Finding support is more difficult, as birth doulas, prenatal yoga practitioners, childbirth educators, postpartum doulas, and lactation specialists are harder to come by and often require traveling to distant locations to partake in their services. Some expecting parents have concerns that they will not have access in their rural community to professionals that will be open to supporting their religious beliefs, cultural practices, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

I am here to say - I HEAR YOU. As a birth doula serving a rural community, I see the struggles rural families experience and I hope that I can help lessen these burdens in my community. Though this is my first blog post, I hope to post many more that may serve as resources that many of you will find helpful or -in the very least- identify with! Some of my upcoming blog posts will focus on what the statistics say about birth places, surviving the dreaded ride to the hospital, and how to be an advocate for yourself or your family to optimize your prenatal and birth experience. Thank you for visiting my blog and website!