No Orientation Tonight

Orientation tonight has been canceled due to two sick children in the house.

Sorry!

2010 Famers Market WIC Vouchers this week!

If you are in Washington County and getting WIC, you qualify for the 2010 Farmer's Market Vouchers

Show up at the WIC office at the following:

Sunday, June 5th, Beaverton Resource Center (1,00 vouchers) 8am - 1pm
Tuesday June 8th, Hillsboro WIC Office (800 vouchers available) 2pm -6pm
Wednesday, June 9th Hillsboro WIC office (800 voucher available) 8am -12pm

If you need more information, please call Washington County WIC at (503) 846-3555

Regence Radio Podcast: VBAC

Listen to our president, Anne Lenzi talking about VBAC and informed choice on the Regence Radio Podcast

Official Address!

Ayla Birth now has an official mailing address!

Ayla Birth, Inc.
P.O. Box 6063
Aloha, OR 97007

Great Article - Doulas Supporting Teens

For several years, Lane County has had a group of dedicated doulas who help teens pregnancy and birth. Midwifery today recently published an article about Doulas Supporting Teens out of Lane County.

Here is a small snippet:

"The program is currently meeting or exceeding these goals. With a cesarean section rate of 12.9%, which is about 60% lower than the national average, low birth weight at 4.8%, compared to the Oregon average of 6.1%(3) and a breastfeeding initiation rate of 99%, DST is affecting health in many beneficial ways for Oregon’s teen parents, as well as saving money for taxpayers and insurance companies (the majority of DST’s clients are on the state-funded Oregon Health Plan)."

If you are, or know someone, who is a teen and pregnant in Lane County Oregon, please contact Doulas Supporting Teens for help

You speak, we listen!

Are you an experienced doula looking to expand the types of birth you attend?

Are you a new doula looking for experience?

Are you interested in serving women who otherwise would no access to a doula?

Ayla Birth could be for you!

We are currently in the "volunteer" phase of Ayla Birth until we obtain the funding we need to pay each doula.

This means that we are unable to pay doulas at this time.

If you are unable to attend births on a volunteer basis, but are interested in becoming an Ayla Birth doula when we are fully funded, please fill out the application and check the box "I am applying for a paid position." Please note, consideration for inclusion as an Ayla Birth doula will be weighted towards who can volunteer, but will not exclude those who unable to do so at this time.

Aylabirth.org is live!

Aylabirth.org is now live!

Please take a moment to check it out and give feedback!

Thank you!

NIH releases findings on VBAC deliveries

The National Institutes of Health has just released the results of their NIH Consensus Development Conference on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights.

This panel was convened to discuss the rising cesarean section rate and parallel drop in Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) delivery from 1997 to 2007. The panel concludes many of the reasons for an Elective Repeat Cesarean Section (ERCS) are not medically motivated, but instead by money, fear, politics and the practice of defensive medicine.

After a review of the pertinent data, the panel indicates a VBAC delivery is “reasonable option for many pregnant women with a prior low transverse uterine incision.” The panel also recommends the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) revise their official policies regarding VBAC and make public their data surrounding both VBAC and ERCS deliveries.

For the complete article, please click on the above link.

We Did It!

Yesterday we received notification in the mail from the IRS, Ayla Birth is officially a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit!

We are going to be beta testing our model of care shortly, so if you know of any clients or doulas who would like to participate, please let us know!

The new year brings...more paperwork

Well, we have received our answer from the IRS...for more paperwork. It was sent off on 1/25/10 and hopefully we will hear back soon. Basically, it can go one of three ways:

1) They ask for even more paperwork.
2) They deny it and we apply again with a narrower focus (most likely eliminating the debt reduction part...which kind of kills me, but I also know that most doula services don't do this)
3) We get approved and can start applying for grants.

If we are denied because of the unorthodox nature of what we are trying to do, then we may have to look into finding a benefactor and becoming a private foundation (similar to the Gates Foundations but with far less money).

I know this seems to be taking a very long time, but it's actually pretty quick by IRS standards and I'm hoping all of this front end work will help Ayla Birth withstand the test of time.

-Anne

First Drop off!

Last week we dropped off half of our items to Yolanda House, a domestic violence shelter in Portland, Oregon. 

Final Tally!

Well, we did it!  In a year with low charitable donations all over the place, we were able to collect:

26 blankets
4 pairs of booties/hats
several items of clothing
a HUGE bin of toys

These items make a huge difference to struggling family, thank you all!

Thank you Twisted!

Thank you to the wonderful patrons of Twisted yarn shop in Portland!

Thank you Sandy Area Fiber Artists

Thank you to everyone who dropped off items at Designer Yarn in Sandy!  Your donations make a BIG difference!

Thank you Hillsview Community Church!

Thank you Deana, Peggy and all the ladies from Hillsview Community Church for your bag of blankets and clothing!

Thank you Girl Scouts!

Thank you Girl Scout Troops...

40054

40873

41873

Thank you The Knitting Bee!

Thank you to The Knitting Bee owners and patrons!  The 8 blankets you made will keep 8 little bodies warm and loved this year.