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CHOICES IN CHILDBIRTH

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ESSENTIAL CONVERSATIONS
FOR PREGNANCY, BIRTH AND BEYOND

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SOURCES OF SUPPORT

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CHANEL: To have like a community
of women come and surround you

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and just support you and like, say,

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"Give me the child,
let me take care of the baby."

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They showed me how to baby wear

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and how to do all these different things
that I didn't have...

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I don't know why I want to cry.

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That I didn't have
my mom to teach me how to do.

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PREGNANCY, BIRTH
AND POSTPARTUM ARE HARD.

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WE ARE NOT MEANT TO DO THIS ALONE.

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ASKING FOR HELP
IS AN AMAZING FORM OF SELF-CARE.

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LAUREN: I remember
before we had the baby,

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you told us all the things
we needed to do,

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like making sure we had food
and things like that prepared.

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VERONICA: Just having someone
come and make food for you

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is such a huge deal in that time.

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It felt really good
and it felt really nourishing, yeah,

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WHEN YOU BUILD A SUPPORT NETWORK,

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THEY WILL BE THERE FOR YOU
WHEN YOU NEED THEM.

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REGINA: Was it last month
when we saw each other, at the party?

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You were started to contract.

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And I remember your friend just came.
She was like a beeline

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and came over to me and she's like,
"Kassie's..." I'm like, "Wait, what?"

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KASSIE: That moment
was a bit scary for me

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because that was my first time
experiencing consistent contractions.

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I couldn't be more grateful
that you were there in that moment

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because it alleviated
so much anxiety for me.

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And I am under a lot of stress,
but you know, sometimes calling you

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and you telling me like, you know,
giving me pointers:

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taking baths, prenatal yoga.

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It's pretty cool that I have
this core support team.

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£SUPPORT PEOPLE
CAN BE THERE TO REMIND YOU

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THAT YOU ARE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK.

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While we were still in the hospital,

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it was hard for me
to really start breastfeeding.

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And when we called Erica and I was like,

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"Erica, I'm totally freaking out
about this."

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And you're like, "Yeah, I understand
why you're freaking out about that."

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And you just reassured me
that it was okay to just try it.

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And if it wasn't working, you told me
to give it permission to fail.

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VERONICA: And I remember Erica was like,
"You're doing it right now."

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Like you would be feeding her
from your breast,

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and you're like,
"I don't know how to do it."

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And she's like, "You're literally...
Right now, you're doing it."

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ERICA: It takes a lot of blind faith.

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So you have to really trust
that it's working.

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And I feel like you
just needed me to reflect that,

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just mirror to you,
like you're doing it, it's working.

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YOUR CARE PROVIDER CAN CONNECT YOU
TO RESOURCES AND SERVICES TO HELP YOU.

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NICOLA: I need you
to take Michelle's course.

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She's your first baby, I don't want you
to go in there thinking,

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"I'm going to bite
on this wooden spoon and have a baby."

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She's going to empower you
with that information.

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So I would try to get that course
if you can, sooner than later. Okay?

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MICHELLE: Here's my card.

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I want to make sure that you
get a little more information

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so that you can kind of understand
where these contractions are,

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what your body's feeling like,
where the pressure is,

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what's happening in your lower back.

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All of those things
will give you an indicator

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as to whether or not
it's time to be here.

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-All right?
-All right.

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IT MIGHT BE HARD TO FIND AT FIRST,

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BUT THERE'S PROBABLY MORE SUPPORT
AVAILABLE TO YOU THAN YOU REALIZE.

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MORE AND MORE, EDUCATION
AND SUPPORT ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE.

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VALENTINA: There's a lot
of resources in this community.

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It's just a matter of finding it.

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Ask your pediatrician
or a friend or a neighbor.

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ANALUZ: One of the things that
I have told the women I worked with is,

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have you tried to look
at your local church?

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Is there someone that can come
and maybe spend half an hour

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while you take a shower
and take care of the baby?

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Have you explored the local library
at different Latino organizations?

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Or do you go to WIC?

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Sometimes there are moms there,
you can meet moms there.

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Suggesting that they think
outside the box,

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because sometimes,
especially as a new mom,

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just thinking of where
you're going to find

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that social connection is so hard.

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CAROLINA: When I had my children here,

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there was a group that was led
by the community college.

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It was called
Live and Learn with your Baby.

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And all of my friends
did it together with their babies.

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And some of us
are still really good friends

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and our children are now 13 years old.

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And it was incredible.

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Each week
they would have a different topic,

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like breastfeeding or nutrition.

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And moms just felt
really comfortable over time

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just pouring out all their questions
and their concerns and their worries.

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And it was just
a really safe place for them to be.

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And then from there,
they can learn about other resources.

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IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE ENOUGH HELP
RIGHT AFTER GIVING BIRTH

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SO YOU AND YOUR BABY CAN BE HEALTHY.

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CAROLINA: As a pediatrician,
the first question I ask is,

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"Who is your partner?
Who is your support system?"

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And sometimes the mothers are
so overwhelmed with the actual problem

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that it's the partner that says,
"Okay, I'm going to call lactation,

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I'm going to call
and get us an appointment."

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The partners they feel so like,
"What do I do?"

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Like there's no space for them.

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But there are so many ways
that they can be involved,

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and even just like taking care of mom.

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JULIA: It was really important
to us to be a team

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in figuring out how to parent her
and take care of her.

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DAVIS: Just trying to be
as helpful and present as I can.

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If I could take on a feeding at night
or if I could change her more often.

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Or Julia's better at cooking,
so she still cooks, but I clean.

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You're a team sport, aren't you?
You're just a little team sport.

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HAVING SUPPORT
HELPS THE WHOLE FAMILY THRIVE.

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VERONICA: So I remember calling you
when we were in the hospital

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and you said a few key things to me
that really calmed me down,

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and that it was okay
to have the feelings I was feeling

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and we were already being good parents
by reaching out to you for support.

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I was so scared
because I didn't want to tell Lauren,

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like, I'm feeling nervous about you

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because I was trying
to be the strong one.

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So being able to talk
to you about that was so important.

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ERICA: I think that this is
like a wisdom we used to know

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when we lived closer to one another,

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it would be like your mom and your aunt.

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And we've gotten kind of distant
from that type of wisdom.

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And I think it's so important
to pull it back.

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It's definitely something
that should be like "birthright wisdom."

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That everyone could have
a thriving time after birth

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if we just all knew
how to care for one another.

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FOR MORE RESOURCES,

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VISIT
EVERYMOTHERCOUNTS.ORG/CHOICESINCHILDBIRTH

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY
EVERY MOTHER COUNTS

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WITH SUPPORT BY
CVS HEALTH