This episode features Jen Atkisson @jenatkisson.  Jen tells the story of how healing her own trauma from domestic violence raised her awareness around provider trauma in nursing culture and the clinical birth setting.  We talk about her trauma-informed approach and the techniques she utilizes as a clinical educator, her experience working as an expert witness in birth injury cases, and what she believes it takes for nurses and providers to co-create a new standard of care in birthing spaces.
 
Jen is a certified perinatal nurse and educator, with an MS in Clinical Nurse Leadership from the University of Portland. She has practiced in hospitals, birth centers and public health clinics for the past 15 years, supporting thousands of patients as they move through the birth process. Jen is also an expert witness in birth injury litigation. She believes in the power of trauma-aware practices to bring joy back into our professional lives and allow us to have meaningful patient relationships.  Her personal mission is to help nurses uncenter their fears and reconnect to their professional identity as a patient advocate.

Connect with Jen's work, resources, and classes at jenatkisson.com

T/W Domestic violence, substance abuse

In this episode, Jennifer talks with Mandy Irby (she/her) @thebirthnurse.  We discuss Mandy's journey to becoming a labor & delivery nurse, her decision to leave the bedside, and what it means to be a trauma-informed practitioner.  

Mandy is a board certified labor nurse with 12 years of experience supporting survivors of assault and trauma through pregnancy, birth planning, and at their bedside during childbirth and pregnancy loss. After experiencing her own birth trauma, she quickly learned that the birth care system is NOT centered on human rights, patient choice, and the individual human experience. In 2020, Mandy made education a full-time career. She now teaches and supports parents and nurses how to better center voice, choice, and physiology in birth. It's Mandy’s mission to change birth culture so that it's parent-centered, trauma-informed, and safe – for everyone.

Mandy enjoys teaching L&D units in-person Peanut Ball, Labor Support Skills and Trauma-Informed Care At the Bedside workshops. She also supports local parents with small-group Spinning Babies® Parent Classes when in-person learning is safest. Mandy is also an international educator through her online, on-demand childbirth ed classes and she supports anxious parents-to-be with virtual, one-on-one trauma-informed birth strategy sessions. She’s the co-founder of Fearless Birth, Delivered, founder and owner of The Birth Nurse®, and a proud co-creator of the BRAND NEW Trauma-Informed Birth Nurse Program. As a creative educator, Mandy is also the co-author of an Amazon-best seller VBAC book, Baby Got VBAC, and reaches millions of viewers each month through her very engaged, tongue-in-cheek social media platforms.

Connect with Mandy and her work:
mandyirby.com
traumainformedbirthnurse.com
The Pulse Check Podcast

Episode Topics:

9:23 - Mandy's experience of nursing school and hesitation joining the profession
18:00 - Witnessing birth as a student for the first time
22:50 - Why Mandy stepped away from working at the bedside
42:12 - What do hospitals and car manufacturers have in common?
45:35 - What do we mean by "trauma-informed?"
54:43 - The Trauma Informed Birth Nurse program

Kim Summer is a Southern California Full Spectrum Doula, writer, International Cesarean Awareness Network chapter leader, placenta specialist, and activist. A mother to three, she holds degrees in Behavioral Science and Anthropology. She is currently working on multiple books, and pursuing her IBCLC licensure at UCSD. She can almost always be found drinking coffee and chasing the sun.  Connect with Kim at kimsummer.com and @mamathreebirds

In this episode we talk about Kim's work as a hospital-focused doula and what she thinks every doula needs to be an effective advocate in the hospital.   We touch on Kim's move from California to Wisconsin and back again, grief and connection to "home."  We also cover Kim's time serving in the U.S. Army and how it informs the work she does today.