By Guest Blogger, Jacqueline Holden, MA, NCC, PMH-C The New Parent Checklist When preparing to welcome a new baby, parents often make long lists of things to buy and classes to take. Most prenatal checklists look the same: -find a provider -take a childbirth class -schedule maternity pictures -decorate the nursery -write a birth plan Preparing Your Relationship Unfortunately, what’s missing from most lists is anything about preparing your relationship
Your Village Built By You
January 12, 2021
By Guest Blogger, Olivia Spitzer We have all heard the adage, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As new parents, a big piece of your work is identifying who will be included in your child’s village. During (and even before) pregnancy, you are already thinking about which grandparents will be available to you for support. You know which friends will serve as aunties or uncles. You find a
6 Tips for Bringing Home Baby Number Two
January 5, 2021
By Guest Blogger, Krystle Gard When you bring your first baby home time stops. Your whole life is now all about them. You feed on demand, sleep when you can, and stare at that sweet baby for hours. Life is relatively simple. And by ‘simple,’ I mean you have one sweet baby to care for. Enter baby number two and everything shifts. Now you need to navigate how to feed
This Can’t Be Normal (but it is)
December 29, 2020
By Guest Blogger, Caitlyn Martin You’ve wanted this baby so badly… You (or your partner) carried them for the better part of the year, through the ups and downs of pregnancy, and now you get to hold them in your arms. All the love you have been storing in your heart is spilling out into this sweet bundle of joy and you can’t believe you get to keep them with
What to Eat Right After You Have a Baby
December 15, 2020
By Guest Blogger, Katerina Baratta, LAc, MSOM It’s time to talk about what to eat right after you have a baby. You’ve spent the better part of the past year figuring out what to eat so you could have a healthy pregnancy. But what you eat after giving birth is just as important. Because the way you eat in the first few weeks after giving birth has a huge impact
10 Things You May Not Know About Home Birth
December 8, 2020
By Guest Blogger, Dr. Lisa Jewell, DC YOU’RE PLANNING A HOME BIRTH?! People’s reaction when I told them I was planning a home birth was always the same, “You’re choosing to give birth with no drugs?! Aren’t you afraid?!” and now when I share my birth story it’s, “Wow, good for you. I could never do that!” or even the occasional, “Are you crazy?! Didn’t that hurt?!” The answers to
Postpartum Doulas Fill the Healthcare Gap During COVID and Beyond
December 1, 2020
By Guest Blogger, Marnellie Bishop The arrival of a global pandemic on America’s shores has quickly and glaringly brought to light the dangers of the US healthcare system. The COVID-19 crisis made it painfully clear that our medical institutions are failing a significant portion of our citizens. Sadly, postpartum doulas have known this for a long time. Fortunately, these newborn specialists are ready and able to support the whole family
Parenthood Disconnect
November 4, 2020
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 I recently reflected on a meeting I had a few years ago with second-time expectant parents. As their three year old played with toys in my living room they told me about the parenting challenges they had weathered since the last time I was their midwife. They had a great home birth the first time around, but wondered why they had focused so
Questions to Ask Homebirth Midwives
October 27, 2020
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 With more people considering home birth or planned out of hospital birth these days it’s good to know what kinds of questions to ask while searching for your perfect birth attendant. I wrote and published these questions on my website years ago when I was a homebirth midwife. I’ll never forget the one time a pregnant couple who interviewed me pulled out my
Questions to Ask Obstetricians and Hospital-Based Midwives
October 20, 2020
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 We get lots of questions about pregnancy birth and postpartum care providers and hospitals. Our prenatal yoga students have so many choices to make – especially during the pandemic. In some hospitals laboring people can have only one support person. In others, they may have more than one. Some people are considering virtual doulas. In other situations they can be accompanied by an
