Rookie Birth Preparation Mistakes From a Veteran Childbirth Educator After teaching birth prep for 20 years, attending 2 separate childbirth classes for myself and giving birth to my own 3 kiddos, I have seen a lot in the birth classroom. I have observed repetitive themes over and over, and I would love to give you …
My Water Birth Experience At Home in a Birth Pool I have always been drawn to the idea of a waterbirth. It took 4 pregnancies and 3 births to get there, but I finally did it. My 1st birth was a very uneventful, unmedicated hospital experience. My 2nd birth was an exciting, accidental freebirth on …
Giving Birth with an Abusive Partner My Reflections on Birthing with Horrible Labor Support My first marriage was abusive. We don’t need to spiral into the reasons why I ended up in a verbally, emotionally & physically abusive marriage at 19. I was in it. I was there. I was living an isolated existence in …
Build a Birth Playlist How Music Enhances Your Labor Experience Many different areas of the brain light up when listening to music. It can evoke memories, produce dopamine, increase pleasure, regulate emotions and influence coordination & movement. With all of those benefits, it seems like it might be a really great tool to add to …
Precipitous Labor aka Speedy Labor Before you panic, precipitous labors, or fast labors, only make up about 2% of all births. It is considered precipitous if it lasts 1-3 hours, start to finish. 2/3 of my births have been precipitous so I do have some experience in this category. Let’s quickly go over precipitous labor, …
Things Your Mom Never Told You About Birth Birth Mirrors Sex Two subjects that are too taboo to talk about in polite society – sex & birth – are both part of the same spectrum. Sex and birth mirror one another for a myriad of reasons but the simplest explanation is that they are both …
Things Your Mom Never Told You About Birth You Will Sh*t Yourself Your mom probably spent lots of time and energy ensuring that you mastered toilet etiquette. It’s pretty simple really. Poop in the toilet. Poop in private. There are many paths that all lead to independent toileting; cloth diapers, disposable diapers, pull-ups, elimination communication, …
Own Your Birth Provider Choices Owning your birth means planning & preparing for it in a way that aligns with your individual beliefs & values. Birth is too creative & powerful to control, but there are lots of decisions that you do have control over. Take responsibility for your birth by standing in your power. …
Thinking About Your Birth Birth Plans, Birth Preferences, Birth Wishes & Birth Mapping People love a good plan. We plan vacations, we plan events, we plan out our entire lives. It gives us security, helps eliminate the unknowns and provides tangible markers to work towards. But how do you plan out a major life altering …
Pain Management Options for Birth There are many options for managing your labor sensations – pain – waves- whatever framing you want to give your labor feels. It is normal to try many different ways to work with your body. You might start with lower level pain coping like positions and movement and then explore …
