EarthMamaAngelBaby has a Support Breastfeeding with Integrity pledge and badge. The pledge is below. This is what I pledge!

The Support with Integrity Pledge

I PLEDGE to use my energy to help defuse dogmatic battles about what technique, position, frequency, equipment, duration or organization a woman chooses for breastfeeding. I affirm that my time is best spent directing my positive, encouraging support toward helping mamas successfully breastfeed.

I PLEDGE to keep my ego in check, while treating other breastfeeding boosters, lactation facilitators, breastfeeding organizations, and mothers respectfully, knowing that we’re all working toward the common goal of providing breast milk for babies. I also welcome respectful disagreement with my own opinions and accept that disruptive disagreement is counter to the goal of helping mamas feed their babies.

I PLEDGE to agree that there are many right ways to breastfeed a baby. A breastfeeding mother should not feel pressure or judgment to perform a specific way. There isn’t a “wrong way” as long as the breast milk is flowin’ and the baby is growin’.

By displaying the Support with Integrity badge and signing the pledge, I agree to hold hands and help mamas get what they need to make breastfeeding work for them, no matter how they choose to do it. If a mama and baby are making it work, I’ll stand and cheer them on from the sidelines.

Caveat: This is not a place to judge those who choose not to or cannot breastfeed. This is a pledge to be supportive of all those who choose to support breastfeeding.

- See more at: http://blog.earthmamaangelbaby.com/support-with-integrity/#sthash.l6Qva3HB.dpuf

Birth Preferences Round 2

So I made a birth preferences infographic for my son's birth, but never ended up using it since we arrived at the hospital only half an hour before he was born! Some things on my first set of birth preferences are no longer a big deal to me though, so I decided to make another one, and found a set of icons that I really liked. I recolored them and added a preface, and I hope that I actually get to use it this time and hand it to the nurses at the hospital when I arrive!

You may have heard both the terms "birth plan" and "birth preferences" used when talking about what the mom/parents want for their baby's birth. But I do not like the term "birth plan" cause you really can't plan everything. You WON'T get everything you "plan" for. Life is messy. Birth is messy! ;) So I use "birth preferences" to show that these are things I'd prefer to have happen, but I make sure to add in a preface statement saying that I want my baby's health and my health to take precedence above all, and that these are my preferences for a NORMAL birth. If major complications arise, everything will probably go out the window because the medical team will be focusing on bringing baby into the world safely. And I am okay with that! 

Please feel free to use my birth preferences as inspiration to create your own! You can also find fill-in-the-blank birth preferences sheets online. Like this one at Pregnancy and Baby or this one at EarthMamaAngelBaby. They also have a customizable icon birth preferences sheet, or you can download their icon birth plan as a PDF.

If there's interest, I can make the icons that I recolored available for download. :)