My name is Grace Greene, and I serve women and families in the Jackson, MS area as a childbirth educator and birth doula. I am also the Mississippi ambassador for the non-profit organization Count the Kicks.
I had always been interested in having a natural birth, and when I found out I was pregnant, I started researching the best ways to achieve that. I was dismayed to see the C-sections rates at the Jackson area hospitals, knowing that I wanted to avoid major surgery if at all possible. At that point I knew that I would have to be proactive to have a natural birth and couldn’t just hope that it would happen. After some initial research and through some recommendations, my husband and I decided to take the Bradley Method® classes. There were no classes in the area, so we drove an hour and a half to take them, but it was well worth it for all we learned! I learned how to stay healthy and low-risk during pregnancy so that I could avoid unnecessary interventions and keep myself and baby healthy; I learned what to expect during labor and birth and how to deal with pain without medication; my husband learned what to expect when I was in labor and how to support me through it; and we both gained the confidence that I would be able to birth our daughter naturally!
I also researched doulas and learned how they were integral to positive birth outcomes including lowering the risk of c-section, lowering the use of pain medication, shortening labor, increasing breastfeeding success, and decreasing the risk of postpartum depression. I was quickly convinced and hired a wonderful doula to work with us during labor.
I was faithful to eat well and exercise until the end of my pregnancy and wait for labor to start on its own. Our beautiful daughter was born two days before her due date after a 9.5 hour unmedicated, very intense labor and birth, weighing 8 lbs, 7 oz, and measuring 21 1/4 in. It was the hardest, yet most joyful and wonderful experience of our lives, and we were so thankful for all we had learned from our Bradley classes to help us work as a team and give our daughter the best start to life. We absolutely loved our doula and were so grateful for her help and support. You can hear me tell my birth story on The Birth Hour podcast here. We were so thankful for our classes that we became certified to teach Bradley classes in Jackson, and I decided to become a doula to support women in labor. In 2019, I began teaching classes using Plumtree Baby materials.
Our second daughter was born at home in 2017 with a skilled midwife, weighing 8 lbs, 2 oz and measuring 21.5 inches. I again was very careful about eating well and exercising to stay healthy and low risk. I went into labor 3 days past my due date and had a wonderful home birth with a midwife, doula and family present. Birth was again intense and difficult, but definitely worth it. Here is the slideshow from my second daughter’s birth:
For my third baby, I had an uncomplicated and low risk pregnancy and planned another homebirth with a midwife. However, those plans changed when I noticed he was not moving one morning. I knew this was something to get checked out, so after contacting my midwife I made the decision to go into the hospital to be monitored. Upon admission, we discovered that there were some issu
es that necessitated an immediate induction. The experience of being induced was very different than my previous spontaneous labors, but something I learned a lot from and that has helped me as a childbirth educator and a doula. Through my experience I learned even more the importance of monitoring fetal movement and decided to become an ambassador with the organization Count the Kicks. I strongly believe that their program is something all pregnant women should participate in, and I am happy to share my story and educate more mothers about the importance of monitoring fetal movement in the third trimester of pregnancy. I firmly believe that my son’s safe arrival was thanks to my quick response to his decreased movement. Learn more about Count the Kicks here.
The education and support I received during pregnancy, labor, and birth is something all pregnant women should be able to access. It gave me a solid foundation for motherhood and started us on the right foot with breastfeeding and parenting. I would love to work with you and help connect you to the resources to have a healthy pregnancy and birth!
Yo hablo español para clientes hispanohablantes.