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