You just found out you’re expecting a baby! What now? A flood of emotions is bombarding your mind and you begin to question yourself. Am I ready to be a parent? What about the birth itself? Take a step back and imagine that giving birth is a natural process and you want to experience this adventure and have a positive memory that you and your partner will cherish for the rest of your lives. We believe the birthing process is a natural process but wanted to know what to do to prepare ourselves for this beautiful adventure so we sought out the expert, Sarah Lavonne, founder, Bundle Birth to find out what to do to obtain our best birthing experience.
Sarah Lavonne brings the art of expert compassionate nursing directly to you for your pregnancy and birth. Having attended more than 5000 births, she is amazed by each one. She believes “Your biggest moment is my biggest passion” Her mission is to bundle you with meaningful coaching, the-real-deal education, and support so that you can have a confident, empowered birth experience.
Hi, Sarah Welcome! We are so excited to hear from you first hand about the valuable resources you have to offer. Your passion to bring such positivity into the birthing process is so contagious! What inspired you to become such an amazing resource for couples having a baby?
I’ve been a nurse for eight years and I always imagined myself being a foreigner at the bedside forever, in fact, being a new nurse is so overwhelming and there are so many things to learn. I walked away from my first shift on the floor and thought to myself, “I’ve found my calling,” I was so excited! There are people that go through two, three, and four careers in their lifetime, I guess I’m one of the fortunate ones because I believe I can do this forever! I absolutely love this work with all my soul. I get to be a part of such an impactful and important time in the lives of men and women and it feels like such an honor.
When I originally started in this field I learned a lot about myself. I like to be challenged and wanted to continue to grow and make an impact in the world. I grew up overseas, being born in Equador in South America. Part of my dream was to make a difference here in America so I always felt like there had to be more than just being a bedside nurse. I went through multiple roles in the hospital setting. I started teaching childbirth classes and helped develop some of their classes at a major hospital here in Los Angeles. I then became a peer mentor overseeing new nurses when they finished their orientations, along with nursing and patient education. Afterward, I became the manager of the Childbirth and Parenting Education Department.
Looking back I’ve done a lot of different things in the birth world and all of that was new and challenging which also exposed me to the need for valuable resources and how great that need was. It showed me there’s a lot that we’re doing but also a lot that we are not doing. The more I thought about Los Angeles, in particular, I realized LA is so saturated with many resources but somehow still lacking, not to mention the rest of the United States and the world.
I noticed we don’t have reliable educated people we can connect with that understand topics like your birth story and that becoming a mother or a father is such a huge transition and the actual story of that happening can kind of make or break your experience and mindset going forward. I’ve seen in the world of obstetrics so many things that could be done and weren’t being considered for better outcomes in this arena, this inspired me to want to do more, however, the hospital wanted nothing to do with them.
At one point, I felt my soul would die here because of my creativity and yet I could offer no help because there was no interest. On a whim, I decided I was going to try. I believe there are two ways to make changes one from the inside out and the outside in. I felt like I had maximized my reach from the inside out so I looked at the outside in, not knowing what I was getting myself into. Even though I have a nursing degree I still had a lot to learn. Knowing what I know now and looking back I wouldn’t have taken the risk to make these changes because of the fear of failure.
I asked myself the question, where would I go for information if I was pregnant? Of course, Dr. Google. Yes. And so I googled childbirth education and found lots of resources out there. But still, how would I ever know where to go? Next, I looked at the credentials of the people giving out pregnancy-related birth information. Thinking to myself, I’m board-certified in obstetrics having seen over five thousand births. This made me think, I have something to contribute that is trustworthy and up to date and medically-based on personal interest, love and awareness especially having practiced in Los Angeles. Also, the clientele that I was serving at the hospital was much more pro-natural, many times from an Eastern Medicine perspective. I felt I had a good balance for this and I know my skillset so let me try and help. This is how I got started, honestly, I never intended to be on YouTube. I took a chance to see how it would flow. I posted a couple of videos and they got lots of traction. It’s the overwhelming growth and the stories that come in that move me so much. For example, yesterday there was a woman that wrote me on Instagram with a picture of her baby. “Thank you so much for all you did for me and my birth. I heard you in my head when I was breathing”. “It wasn’t everything I wanted but I flexed and flowed and that saved me, I delivered 45 minutes ago.” I said to her, “no, no, no, put your phone down and bond with your baby.” “I will be here for you after your bonding moment.”
I was so touched by the fact that she felt the need, 45 minutes after birth, to tell me and thank me for helping her. The crazy part is, I don’t even know this woman’s name! This is insane to me! It shows me how amazing our world is today! Literally I am by myself, there’s no one else that’s really helped me. Yes, little pieces here and there, but I’ve done everything by myself and put in so many hours of work, however, for that one story, it’s entirely worth it to me!
Wow! It is such a big deal because when you going through the process you’re not really sure, there’s no manual, everyone’s different right! It’s a big deal! And to stop and say “thank you!” I think is the highest compliment anyone could pay you!
Absolutely! The entire world can literally be brought to tears pretty much every day. Honestly, that’s what keeps me going because it’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life but is it worth it! Without any hesitation in my heart or soul, this just keeps me pushing forward and I ask “what else can I do to help?”
Truly inspiring! Thank you, Sarah, for joining us today. Stay tuned for our next segment when we talk to Sarah about anxiety and pregnancy. To learn more about Sarah and Bundle Birth you can visit her website, UTube Channel or follow her on Instagram.