October Birth & Parenting News

Book Release! The freshly updated 2nd edition of Patty Brennan’s Doula Business Guide Workbook: Tools to Create a Successful Practice is now available. Designed for birth, postpartum and end-of-life doulas. Plus, routine induction at 39 weeks? Yummy fall recipes-pumpkin everything! Breastfeeding and returning to work. Enabling the BabyMoon. New lactation credential. Read the newsletter.

Posted by Patty Brennan on October 6, 2018 • Filed under
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Fall Recipes

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

By Patty Brennan

1½ cups whole wheat baking flour
½ cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons wheat germ (optional nutritional boost)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (ditto)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
½ cup milk
½ cup honey
½ cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, blend the pumpkin, egg, milk and honey. Mix all the ingredients together with the raisins. Coat the muffin tins thoroughly with butter. Spoon the mixture into the tins. Cook for 20–25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 1 dozen muffins

Pumpkin Pie Rice Pudding

By Beth Barbeau

Getting any kind of orange vegetable into one of my sons is a real challenge, but this dish does it every time! So far he hasn’t noticed that my “Pumpkin Pie Rice Pudding” breakfast always follows the nights he refuses squash at dinner. For best results, act chagrined and tell the kids that you made this for dessert for later, but since time is now too short to make breakfast, they “have to” eat the dessert for breakfast!

3 eggs
2 cups milk (as you wish—rice, almond, goat, raw cow’s milk)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons vanilla
¼ cup maple syrup or honey
2 cups left-over baked pumpkin (or squash—butternut, acorn, yams)—mashed in any combination (added butter or salt okay, but avoid putting pepper on it the night before as it really doesn’t go with pumpkin pie)
1–2 cups leftover cooked brown rice (less makes it more like custard, more makes it thicker and primarily rice)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a mixer or whisk, whip the eggs in a nice big bowl. Add the milk, then everything else but the rice. Lastly, stir in the rice. Pour into a buttered baking dish. A 9×9” casserole dish usually works fine. If you need it done faster, or to look more like fancy dessert, use buttered ramekins instead. Cook until a knife inserted comes out clean, about 15–20 minutes for the ramekins or 40–50 minutes for the baking dish. Serve plain, or with milk, maple syrup, whipped cream, warm honey, etc.

Serves 8–10

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

By Patty Brennan

Don’t throw out the guts of your pumpkin. Let the kids help you harvest the seeds and prepare them for consumption.

pumpkin seeds
1 cup water, or enough to cover
1½ teaspoons salt

Remove the pumpkin seeds from your pumpkin and clean off the strings the best you can. Wash the seeds and soak them overnight in salted water. Drain and spread the seeds out in a low baking pan and bake in a 300-degree pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until golden. Using a spatula, flip the seeds and re-distribute them on the cookie sheet halfway through your cooking time. You can eat them with the shells on. They’re delicious!

Pumpkin Apple Dip

By Stephanie Schaldenbrand

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
½ cup pumpkin
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons maple syrup
Apple slices (any kind)
1 lemon, juiced (optional)

Beat cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Add pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Mix well. Chill for one hour. Serve with fresh-cut apple slices. If making apple slices ahead of time, toss with a bit of fresh lemon juice, just to coat, and then sprinkle with cinnamon.

Makes 1½ cups

Hot Apple Cobbler Drink

By Sarah Hashimoto

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons apple butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 pinches cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients and heat over medium heat until steaming. Garnish with cinnamon sticks and a thin apple slice.

Serves 2

September Birth & Parenting News

Our next newsletter will feature a new look & new business name! Finding hospital cesarean statistics (& more); consumer alerts; doula business models. Which model of doula business are you best suited for? Choose 1 of 3 free tools (questionnaires, worksheets, planners, etc) to guide your exploration. Read the newsletter.

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Summer 2019 Birth & Parenting News

Spinning Babies’ 3 principles of balance, gravity & movement; infant sleep guru; vitamin K research; Doula Business Development Workshop; doulas are hot! Center for the Childbearing Year is changing names to Lifespan Doulas. Our new website will offer birth, postpartum and end-of-life doula training. Read the newsletter.

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June 2019 Birth & Parenting News

Big changes are coming as Center for the Childbearing Year and Lifespan Doulas join forces (announcement!); Pat Kramer Memorial Celebration on the Summer Solstice; prevent birth trauma as a birth doula; gestational diabetes updates from Evidence Based Birth; birth doula job posting; the value of professional certification for doulas; and more! Read our June newsletter.

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May 2019 Birth & Parenting News

Is Mother’s Day a Hallmark holiday? Celebrations, fundraisers for moms. Postpartum herbal healing baths; doula continuing education opportunities-mark your calendars! Sympathy vs. empathy? Brené Brown reminds us that we can only create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to get in touch with our own vulnerabilities. Read the newsletter.

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April Birth & Parenting News

It’s one thing to complete doula training … it’s a whole other realm to wrap your head around starting your own business. Define your next steps. Plus ACOG updates on 2nd stage of labor; WIN Network Detroit improving mother-baby outcomes; breastfeeding updates; new breastfeeding credential and a 90-hour course; Baby Fair in Lansing; and more! […]

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March Birth & Parenting News

What is the doula model of care? Use a peanut ball to shorten labor and prevent cesareans. Is your doula business floundering? Feeling stuck? Sample a free tool from Patty Brennan’s Doula Business Guide Workbook to get you unstuck. Save the date for April Greater Lansing Baby Fair. And more! Read the newsletter.

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February Birth & Parenting News

Free sample doula business development tools from The Doula Business Guide Workbook. Choose one: (1) Personal Inventory Exercise, (2) Examining Our Beliefs about Money Exercise or (3) Doula Business Models Comparsion Chart. Also cabin fever solutions for moms; breastfeeding and medications; survey on nipple shield use; fear of failure; and more. Step outside of your […]

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January Birth & Parenting News

Your 2019 doula transformation. See our January Special Sale on comprehensive DONA International birth and postpartum doula training. The Doula Business Builder Deluxe Training also includes training to make your dream of starting a doula business a reality. The completely revised and updated 3rd editions of my books, The Doula Business Guide and companion Workbook […]

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December Birth & Parenting News

Frederick the mouse & fun kids’ CD to get you through the dark days; save $200 on 2019 doula training before December 20; welcome Ann Arbor Doulas, our newest business at the Center; book release-TheDoula Business Guide 3rd edition and companion Workbook coming soon! Medicaid for doulas in New York, consequences of birth trauma, and […]

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November Birth & Parenting News

Worldwide cesarean rates; natural medicine chest for kids’ super immunity; ginger-lemon-honey tea recipe; comparison of doula business models-free sample tool from the freshly updated Doula Business Guide Workbook, 2nd edition, by Patty Brennan. Which model best suits your skills and personality? Our 2019 doula training schedule is now available online. Lock in 2018 prices when […]

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