Today, I’m sharing some of my absolute favorites from websites to books and I hope you find inspiration, education and nourishing support from these resources. [hr] Healthy Living: Environmental Working Group, EWG Learn more about how to reduce your toxic burden from cosmetics to cleaning products and foods! This website is so packed full of info for you and your entire family. Eating organic and local can get costly, but there’s good news! EWG has created a guide with this in …
Holiday Survival Guide
What are you doing to keep your sanity, stay healthy and prioritize your continued wellness during this busy season when competing priorities seem to leave you last on the list?! I’ve created a Holiday Survival Guide and Wellness Challenge for the Bodies for Birth Community to help us all stay connected, healthy and calm! I encourage you to print a copy and keep it somewhere you will see if often. Cross off each item as you go or continue this …
Swimming During Pregnancy
If you’re looking for a complimentary form of exercise for your prenatal program, swimming can provide a welcome relief to those aches and pains you often experience during pregnancy! So, what are some of the benefits of swimming? It relieves the pressure of your bump by providing support and taking the strain off your back. It’s great for improving circulation which is sometimes affected during pregnancy due to all the hormones running around your system. Stimulates blood flow and reduces any …
Happy 3rd Birthday, Willie: A retrospective birth story
November 3, 2016: Three years ago today was my son, Will’s due date, so it’s only fitting that I sit to write his birth story; a task I’ve been meaning to get to along with so many others for…well, approximately three years now! As I begin, I know that my story today is not the same one I would have told on the day he was born, or in the early months or even on his first birthday. Time has …
What Foods Breastfeeding Mothers Need to Eat from Guest Contributor: Natalie Michele
The foods you pick while you breastfeed is just as important as your selections during pregnancy. There are certain foods, herbs, or supplements – called galactagogues – that can help your breastmilk supply. On the other hand, there are other foods that should be avoided because they can decrease your breastmilk supply. Breastfeeding mothers are going to experience more cravings. I have found my cravings increase at night when my babies tend to nurse more. Breastmilk is thicker in the …
Embracing The Sacred Messiness of Parenthood from Guest Contributor, Natalie Joffe
As humans we find change and uncertainty uncomfortable. Pregnancy and parenthood is a time of continual change, uncertainty and transition. Just as you adapt to one element of the process, it changes again. You don’t know what clothes to buy or wear because they might not fit in a week. You don’t know what plans to make, because you don’t know how your energy will be. Comparison is the thief of joy, and that is no different during pregnancy. Social …
Mindset of Health for New Moms: Video from Guest Contributor, Dr. Kelly Morrow-Baez, aka The FitShrink
In working with women throughout the perinatal time, I have begun to notice a common theme. I work with lots of postpartum moms from a few weeks postpartum to a few years. Typical goals include weight loss, making time for self-care, getting stronger, regaining core connection, getting healthy (-ier) prior to trying for baby number two, concerns with how to beat cravings, how to enjoy and incorporate a healthy diet again etc. There is a very common theme that I …
Carley’s Birth Story: Welcome, Finnegan!
I am one of the lucky ones. I had such a great birth experience. Moms-to-be out there will probably agree that it’s crazy how many horror stories you hear once people learn you’re pregnant. As if there isn’t enough anxiety around giving birth for the first time! Well – spoiler alert, my experience was amazing and I only hope to be lucky enough to do it all over again. It was a Thursday morning, around 6:30 a.m. and I was …
Motherhood and Self-Care Are Not Mutually Exclusive
I’ve been thinking a lot about self-care and what that means as I prepare for an upcoming presentation for a group of mothers. Motherhood and self-care can feel mutually exclusive at times, so I’ve been digging deep into this topic. I looked at a whole bunch of definitions of self-care and none of them really worked for me; none of them truly embodied my perspective on self-care. So I’ve defined it for my use, for our use if it resonates …
“Water Keepers”: A Guest Post by Meg Heather Ford, ICEA Doula
Water Keepers Exploring the roles of doula, midwife and obstetrician in childbirth I recently supported one of my doula clients through her second birth, and was reminded of the overlapping yet very distinct roles of doula, midwife and obstetrician. The overlap, of course, lies in our shared outcome, which is a healthy mother and baby. The exact definition of ‘healthy’ however, I think differs depending on your role. An OB might define healthy as alive and able to bear children …