Mother's Day brings us to think of the women in our lives. As a doula there is a special honor of remembering the moments my clients became mothers themselves.

The archives are open! 

Some of you may have heard our battle cries at the end of 2016 when we learned that the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists announced that they would be pursuing a bill that could impact Florida Licensed Midwives. For those of us on The Council and most midwives state wide we completely agreed that bill itself was not necessarily a problem- the issue is that the state attorneys felt the only way to accomplish this was to open our law.

The Community Roots Collective began as the dream of a local midwife who wanted to support her clients beyond the 6 week postpartum visit. Over the past 2 years, we have felt our community embrace us. We have made new friends and have seen return visits from old ones. We have grown through the support of a handful of businesses who honor the lives of women and families. We have found the love and support of community women and men who are all passionate about supporting families through the often tumultuous journey of parenthood. We believe and hope we are making a difference and have created a welcoming space that is inviting to all. We want to do more, to reach more, to grow more, to support YOU more.

That is why we decided to incorporate as a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization.

"Then I found Brandi, who happened to live only 15 minutes away, and I knew she was someone who would be able to bring the energy and knowledge I wanted in my pregnancy and birth! She came over several times during my pregnancy to spend time with me and my daughter so that my daughter would be comfortable with her (and my daughter absolutely loves her), and made sure she got to know my husband and mother in law as well since they would also be at the birth."

"Without Brandi I don't think I could have had the birthing experience I wanted. She was amazing! During my pregnancy she was available to answer all my questions and also provided words of encouragement when I had any doubts on my ability to do a natural birth."

"Placenta encapsulation is the process of preparing the mother’s placenta after the birth of her baby(ies) and dehydrating it to then be ground and placed into capsules for the mother to ingest as she sees fit. The ingestion of the placenta is known as “placentophagy.”

"She supported me through each contraction with soothing encouragement and holding my hands. She was great support and a team member for my husband. She gave him tools and techniques to use that allowed him to be an amazing birthing partner."

"After meeting with Brandi, I was confident that she could provide much more support than our previous experience, and she was able to answer all of my questions with ease, demonstrating to me she had plenty of birth experience. We met several times in advance to go over my birth preferences and for her to get to know me and my husband. I was impressed by her honesty, openness, and calmness."

"I couldn't have made it through natural childbirth without Brandi by my side. Brandi was the calm, positive, supportive, and at times creative force behind my successful birth.."

Unfortunately, the United States Military threw a huge wrench in our plans when they sent my husband to Afghanistan in late October.  So now I was off to deal with all that pregnancy entails while parenting a 2 and 5 year old - solo.  I’m not sure how I got through those first couple of months as I had very bad morning sickness which caused me to lose about 10 pounds.  The stress of pregnancy and raising 2 kids during an unexpected deployment was a lot on me.  I constantly worried about how the stress would be affecting my unborn child. 

I'm so glad I had Brandi as my doula. I had a successful HBAC (Home Birth After Cesarean) at 41+6. She was such great support to my whole family. It's been 5 weeks and my 3.5 year old still talks about her. It was such a great familiar experience. If you're lucky enough to have her, you will love her!

"I remember sitting at home watching Law and Order and feeling contractions. Nothing crazy intense, just light cramping. I had been whining to my husband, Jared, because I had spent the better part of 2 weeks in prodromal labor....."

Florida Midwife Charlie Rae Young of Barefoot Birth

An amazing thing about having a home birth is that birth is allowed to happen in its own time. This baby decided to come after watching the "Why Not Home" screening. The power of suggestion!

The fourth trimester is all about learning about that new baby and how they fit into your (new) life. It can be a doozy. Perhaps these ideas will help.

"Charlie doesn't treat her clients like one size fits all - she cares for each family based on their individual needs and considers each family's unique circumstances."

"After a fairly traumatic birth with my 3rd baby, I knew as soon as I found out that i was pregnant with my fourth that I wanted to use Charlie as my midwife. "

Hello families!  This blog was originally going to be a “VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) options in Hernando County”, as I have been noticing a lot of women in the local breastfeeding facebook group asking about VBAC-friendly providers.  The more I started digging into Hernando’s cesarean rates vs successful VBAC, the deeper into the rabbit hole I fell.  The numbers are alarming and unpromising, to say the least.

Beginning Monday, January 9, 2017 we will have weekly Yin Yoga at the Roots! Blair Williams, longtime yoga teacher in the area, will be bringing her magic to her weekly class Mondays at 7pm.