We hope you enjoy this video. Carol Gray is passionate about this subject! About Carol Gray Carol is the founder and owner of MamaSpace Yoga. She has been a therapeutic bodyworker in private practice for over 32 years. She specializes in Craniosacral Therapy for pregnant and postpartum people and infants. Carol has spent years developing hands-on techniques to enhance the mobility in pregnant bodies including the bony pelvis, the abdominal
More About Epidurals
August 24, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 I have been thinking a lot about epidural anesthesia for childbirth. Among those who have experienced it, birth is almost universally described as painful. Who wouldn’t want a drug or procedure that takes away the pain? Clearly, most pregnant people in America want this. It is by far the mainstream way to give birth. When Did It All Begin? What I’m wondering about
How Fetal Constraint Affects Labor and Birth
July 27, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 This is part five of a six-part series. In part one, My Baby Dropped!, I explain why engagement is pathology. In part two, Why Did My Baby Get Stuck?, I explore the maternal factors that cause babies to get stuck. Part three is called Fetal Factors: How Babies Get Themselves Stuck. Last week I wrote Fetal Constraint: How Culture Immobilizes Babies. Today’s post
Fetal Constraint: How Culture Immobilizes Babies
July 20, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 This is the fourth installment of the stuck baby series. Last week I described the fetal factors (ways babies get themselves stuck). The week before I discussed maternal factors. Three weeks ago I covered engagement and explained why it’s pathology. Next week I’ll go over how fetal constraint affects labor and birth. Stay tuned! Today I’m going to discuss cultural factors that reduce
Fetal Factors: How Babies Get Themselves Stuck
July 13, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 There are many things that contribute to fetal constraint (stuck babies). Any one of them can operate independently, but usually there are multiple causes for less than optimal fetal positioning that have synergistic or additive effects. As I continue to explore the multiple causes, I will provide examples of how these things can work in concert to prevent babies from moving into more
Why Did My Baby Get Stuck?
July 6, 2021
It’s not because your pelvis is too small… By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 When I consider how babies fit into — and through — a maternal pelvis I view it from three perspectives: midwifery, bodywork and yoga. As a midwife I generally know more about birth than many bodyworkers. As a bodyworker I know more about how, anatomically and bio-mechanically, a baby fits into and ultimately through a
My Baby Dropped!
June 29, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 “My baby dropped!!” People usually say this with great enthusiasm when it happens. I’ve never really understood why people rejoice about their babies dropping. Why Do They Think This Is So Cool? Do they think that this is proof they won’t be pregnant until the end of time after all? Do they think that their labors will be shorter because the baby is
Craniosacral Therapy for the Perinatal Period
June 15, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 In my other life I’m a bodyworker and bodywork teacher. When I taught in-person prenatal yoga classes, my students often asked me about the benefits of bodywork during pregnancy. They wanted to know more about Craniosacral Therapy (CST) and how it can help. Today I’ll explain it. Why Should People Get Bodywork During Pregnancy and Postpartum? Studies show that people who receive loving
What We Leave Behind
May 11, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 Our Physical Space We are packing. We are preparing to leave what, for the last five years, has been the MamaSpace Yoga studio. For four of those five years this beautiful brick building with the huge light-filled windows was our sanctuary. It was the sacred space where pregnant and postpartum people came to practice and find community. Our Video Filming Location For the
Insomnia — The Movie
May 4, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 Last week’s post, Pregnancy Insomnia Help, included a five-step yoga sequence for sleep. This week’s post is a 14-minute video of that sequence. It was fun making it. I hope you enjoy it. It makes sense to watch it for the first time when you’re not actually trying to sleep. That way, you can figure out where you’re going to set yourself up
