New Affiliate Program

Join Blessed Baby's affiliate program and earn store credit towards the things you love! From cloth diapers to handmade toys, laundry soap to bath soap, you can use your credit for Christmas, birthdays, baby showers, or just everyday needs! Here's how it works:
*You sign up as an affiliate at our site
*You are given a unique affiliate number and website link, and an emailed banner
*You post this link/banner online everywhere you post messages- online communities, emails, blogs, chats, wherever!
*Every customer that clicks from your link to our site and buys something earns you credit!
*Sales and credit will be calcuated monthly
*Sales of $1-$100 will earn 5%
$101-$250 earns 6%
$251-$500 earns 7%
*Credit can be applied online, in the shop, or both- you choose!
Questions? Email me!
Sign up today!

Doggy Doula

Last night I attended a birth as a doula. This wasn't mom's first baby. Oh, no. She has raised more than 20. She birthed 9 babies just last night. She is Emma, our black lab, and experienced mother. I have been so busy with the shop and with Maia that I forgot how amazing it is to witness the birth of little squirming puppies. Watching Emma birth, and supporting her with soothing words and hugs, reminded me of the way we treat birth in America. When a woman gets pregnant, she is sent to the doctor and many times treated as if her pregnancy is an illness. She is not allowed to birth on her own, to trust her own body and instincts. And amazingly, many dog breeders take this same approach with their dog-moms. They take the puppy from mom, cut the cord, clean it up, then place it on her nipple. They then remove that puppy so the next one can be born. When left to her own instincts, mom will calmly birth her baby, open the sack (each puppy is born in its own sack), shred the cord (cutting it too cleanly could cause excessive bleeding), and clean up the puppy herself. The licking clears the nasal passages and stimulates the pup to breathe. The pup makes his own way to the nipple and nurses until mom stands up and moves to birth the next one. She also will then return to nursing her litter. We (my husband and I) attend the births as observers, ready to help if needed. And the only times moms have needed help was with the first puppy ever- then mom does the rest- or with a very large litter and mom is exhausted with the last few.
I'm saddened at how much of a loud and chaotic time we make our births out to be. A quiet, calm, mother-centered birth can really make the difference between birthing with fear, and subsequent complications, and birthing with power. The addition of a doula to the birth team can help a mother to reduce her risks of complications and c-sections, and the doula serves to help mom's caregivers carry out the birth plan. Having a professional support in labor also frees dad up to support mom emotionally and to fully attend his child's birth.
Maine WAHM Network member Harmony Lattin has set up a CAPPA (Childbirth and PostPartum Professionals Association) training for labor and post partum doula certification. I will be attending, as will some other MWN members. If you are considering becoming a doula, or hiring a doula, you can email me for details. Each doula-to-be is required to attend at least 3 births for the certification process, and you may be able to take advantage of our eagerness!