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Adding houseplants not only enhances the indoor decoration, but also purifies the air naturally. Plants can reduce pollution by neutralizing harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in many products that we use in our homes. Top air purifiers include the Philodendron, Spider Flower, Epipremnum Aureum, Gerbera Daisy, Chrysanthemums, Bamboo Palm, Peace Lily, Ficus, Mother-in-Law’s Tongue, Vine, Aloe Vera, and Chinese Evergreen species.

Reducing harmful chemicals and toxins from your home shouldn't feel overwhelming. You can efficiently do this by taking small achievable steps every day, “clean swapping” existing products for healthier alternatives. By doing this, you will establish a healthy lifestyle and improve your family's overall wellness. [ aw ]

Across the nation, an increasing number of women are deciding to deliver their babies with the assistance of a midwife. For Megan Klinkhammer of Fargo, the decision to partner with Essentia Health certified nurse-midwives for the birth of her son is one she is happy to have made.

While a medical doctor helped deliver her four older daughters, Megan was initially leaning toward a home birth for her son because she wanted to bring him into the world naturally. However, Megan’s husband was concerned that home birth could be too risky if complications arose.

This led Megan to Essentia Health’s midwifery department, where she felt she could achieve a more personalized birthing experience under the close watch of medical professionals.

“Working with Amanda was like a partnership versus a one-sided situation where she just told me what I needed to do,” Megan said.

While Megan mostly enjoyed an uncomplicated pregnancy, she did begin to experience contractions a little early, at 36 weeks. She went in to see Jennifer Janke, another member of Essentia’s midwife team.

“I told them my plan was for a natural birth,” Megan recalled. “They were just so open to that; the nurses were obviously on the same page as the midwife team. They gave me choices that I just hadn’t been given before.”

The certified nurse-midwives at Essentia work closely with expecting mothers to create a birth plan that meets their vision of how the labor and delivery should progress. While the hope is that the birth occurs as planned, Essentia has midwifery-friendly obstetricians, physicians and nurses ready to support patients should medical or surgical intervention become necessary.

Megan would meet regularly with certified nurse-midwife Amanda Swanson, with whom she immediately fell in love with as a practitioner because Swanson always let her take the lead in their appointments.

“Jen was phenomenal; she absolutely made me feel comfortable and ran the tests that I wanted her to run,” Megan said. “She put my mind at ease by emailing me less than 24 hours later with the test results and her advice. It just seemed very personal.”

A few weeks later, Megan began to experience contractions at a baseball game. This time, it was the real deal. When Megan was admitted to her room at Essentia Health-Fargo’s newly renovated birthing center, she was asked by her nurse about her plan for delivery.

During labor, Megan utilized the large whirlpool tub located in her room. Calling the delivery room and tub phenomenal, she says, “My contractions were cut in half because of the jets.”

Certified nurse-midwife Denise Powell was on call that night, and Megan remembers how attentive she was during the labor.

“Denise pulled up a chair next to the tub and coached me until it was time to push,” Megan shared. “I feel like that alone was entirely different from my previous experiences.”

Megan gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Cole in the early morning of June 9, the same day as her own birthday. Grateful to Essentia’s team of nurse midwives for helping to bring this “special birthday gift” into the world, Megan says that what made her time at Essentia really stand out was the freedom to choose her birthing experience.

“I love the fact that they were open to my natural views,” she said. “No one judged me, and I just felt like I was at home … like I was having the experience I wanted.”

MidwifeMyths and Facts

Myth: Midwives only deliver babies at home.

Fact: Most midwife-attended births occur in a hospital or medical center.

Myth: Midwives don’t have formal training.

Fact: Certified nurse-midwives have specialized medical training and must hold state medical licenses. Essentia Health’s certified nurse-midwives in Fargo have earned four-year college degrees, many in nursing, and then master’s degrees in nurse midwifery.

Myth: Midwives only allow a natural birth.

Fact: A certified nurse-midwife will support a patient’s choice to have a medicated labor and delivery, including an epidural. However, if a patient chooses a non-medicated delivery, they will help them cope with labor pain using various methods and techniques.

Myth: Choosing a midwife is less safe than a doctor.

Fact: Certified nurse-midwives are held to the same safety standards as physicians. Most women are candidates for midwifery care. If a woman is determined to have a highrisk condition, the midwife team will collaborate with our team of physicians or refer her to an obstetrician if appropriate.

If you are pregnant and want to learn more about delivering with one of Essentia’s certified nurse-midwives, please call (701) 364-8900.

is complicated. Approximately 3 million women face unexpected pregnancies every year in the U.S. 701.237.4473 christianadoptionservices.org

Partner with us as we reach out to women and girls in our area who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and offer them hope. Your support allows us to provide non-judgmental, decision-making mentoring, that includes adoption education, and other life-affirming supports.

Good afternoon Jess,

As I sit and wonder about things to wonder about, I wonder most loudly about this question:

“I wonder if we’ve honored ourselves and each other for our abilities to adapt, adjust, and conquer in the last few years?”

Warmly, Heather

WOW, what a powerful wondering! Immediately your wondering makes me realize on a grand scale that quite literally every person on this planet has had to adapt, adjust, and conquer at some level in the last few years. This is collectively something we have shared with everyone on this pale blue dot (Planet Earth). First of all, thank you for this “ah-ha” moment! I have “known” this in my mind, but had not embodied “feeling” this, until reading your wondering!

I think of Dolly Parton’s quote, “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” To me, this speaks directly to how in the last few years we have collectively shifted our reality and how we live. The conquer part has me still wondering. Conquer means to “successfully overcome” and I don’t know if that part rings true for me/ all of us yet.

And, I appreciate your wondering about if we have honored the spaces we have adapted, adjusted, and conquered. I equally wonder if we could also parse out the spaces that feel adapted and adjusted to but not conquered?

I, for one, have certainly not conquered all of my fears that were activated in the last few years; I am quite sure I am not alone in this. But, there are spaces that I do feel gratitude for recognizing the ability I had to adapt, adjust, and conquer. For me, that was illuminated when I made the quick change in schooling for my kids. I found how quickly I could adapt our home, adjust all spaces, and conquer the learning needed to meet the needs in that temporary moment. This built trust in self that is worthy of honoring, so I very much appreciate you wondering about that in an effort to give us permission to consider if we have honored ourselves!

Life really is about change; change can be beautiful and then other times change can be painful! But, change is not optional; how you choose to adapt, adjust, and conquer is where the choice rests.

“Adapt, adjust ,and conquer” will most definitely look different for each of our journeys, but we did just that, and so, like Heather, I too am wondering if we have honored ourselves and each other for this! I will be now. I will be reflecting on how I have adapted, adjusted, and conquered in ways I hadn’t noticed before and I will be honoring how I see that show up in those around me.

Thank you, Heather. You definitely wondered well!