January Volunteering Update

January Service Hours: 1

Total Service Hours (Spring Semester): 1

This year I have started a new community service opportunity. I will be a Tulane Birthing Companion through Tulane’s Labor Support Initiative. This means I will have opportunities to support individuals before, during, and after giving birth. This can look like attending appointments with the clients, offering techniques to improve their labor experience like music, breathing techniques, massages, and serving as someone who can advocate for the patient. We also recruit clients from University Medical Center and Tulane Healthy Mother’s Clinic.  So far I have only completed our online training and our in-person training is scheduled for Saturday, February 1. I am looking forward to getting to work with clients, nurses, physicians, and other birthing companions. I am also looking forward to having the opportunity to have a positive impact on the pregnancy and birthing experience of the clients I will get to work with. We have already completed the Reproductive module and are currently on the Endocrinology module. I enjoyed the reproductive module since I am interested in women’s reproductive health. So far in the endocrinology module we have covered the thyroid and different diseases related to thyroid dysfunction and we are just getting into diabetes. I am looking forward to learning more about diabetes because I do not have a lot of academic background with it but a few of my family members have Type 2 Diabetes so I have learned some things about diabetes through their experience. Preparing for my Advances presentation was on a paper related to diabetes felt like a nice and interesting introduction to a deeper dive into diabetes.


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