Aligned Birth

Send us Fan Mail Let’s face it, sometimes pregnancy brings about pain, discomfort.  In this episode, we discuss some common discomforts experienced during pregnancy as well as the remedies that we have learned about that can help provide relief.  We talk about nausea, vomiting, bloating, cramping, exhaustion, fatigue, increased headaches, increased urination, incontinence, general pelvic pain and...

Send us Fan Mail As you prepare for labor and birth, packing the hospital back can be somewhat daunting because “what do you really need”.  And let’s face it, anytime we’re packing for a trip and forget something, it can cause unnecessary stress.  We definitely don’t need extra stress when it comes to giving birth!  This episode shares some helpful tips for packing for the hospital, but this list...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jessica Brock, a patient of Dr. Shannon and one of Doula Rachel’s former client’s, shares her two birth stories. She shares how she prepared for her first birth with lots of research and advocacy and how this helped her navigate her long and exhausting (albeit beautiful and healthy) birth of her first son in 2018.  She then shares how her first birth informed her...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Shannon and Doula Rachael dissect an article from one of their favorite magazines, Pathways to Family Wellness.  This article is about the Role of Chiropractic in Childbirth Education and is by Sarah Clark. The article premise is how chiropractic care is an essential part of not just birth, but childbirth education, and how it has the ability to change birth a...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Shannon and Doula Rachael discuss the top 6 reasons people seek or may want to seek out chiropractic care during pregnancy.  We share the most common reasons, which is usually pain and discomfort and then we discuss the unexpected benefits or outcomes that may come from chiropractic care during pregnancy.  We discuss sciatica, round ligament pain, hip pain, pubic symphysis, lo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Doula Rachael is talking with Perinatal Mental Health Therapist, Shannon Weist of Maternally Mindful. Shannon Weist is a licensed clinical mental therapist that provides both in person and telehealth services in the state of Georgia. She specializes in infertility, pregnancy and postpartum. Shannon helps to bring awareness and shed light on the importance of creati...

Send us Fan Mail This journey called life can bring many highs and lows, so Dr. Shannon and Doula Rachael sit down and chat about what’s been working and what hasn’t as it pertains to the birth work they do, their motherhood journey, and their own personal health and wellness.  Not only do they get to sit down and share some of their personal conversations that aren’t typically recorded, but they...

Send us Fan Mail “You’ve got to birth where you feel comfortable”  You have to feel safe where you are birthing - where are you going to be able to surrender” In part 2 of Dr. Ashley’s interview we talk about how she had her first child while in the chiropractic program and began to switch her chiropractic focus from sports to prenatal and pediatric care.  Being in school also impacted how she app...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Ashley Harper joins us on the show to talk all about B!RTHF!T.  We’ve mentioned this program on several episodes before, but today, we get to define what exactly BIRTHFIT is with leader/coach and prenatal chiropractor, Dr. Ashley.  She has a wonderful exercise background and she uses that knowledge with her chiropractic training to help expectant parents keep their physical bo...

Send us Fan Mail Doula Rachael shares the framework that can help guide you along your unique path to giving birth. The Lamaze 6 Healthy Birth Practices are foundational, practical, and effective in helping to ensure you have the best chance at having a safer, healthier, and more satisfying childbirth.   Use these birth practices to help increase your knowledge and confidence and to have conversat...

Send us Fan Mail One of Dr. Shannon’s patients joins us on the show today to share her birth story.  Each birth is so unique, there is beauty in sharing these stories, and I’m so thankful for Sarah sharing her story.  Because remember, when we talk about birth, not only is a baby born, but so is a mother!  She created a pretty unique birth support team which included a midwifery practice out of a...

Send us Fan Mail In part 2 of Doula Rachael’s conversation with Hannah Atterberry, they shift gears from birth story to doula business.  Rachael and Hannah are co-doula partners who are working toward building a sustainable birth doula business that offers a full-spectrum of support including childbirth education, newborn care classes, birth doula services, postpartum planning calls, and postpartu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Doula Rachael has her co-doula partner, Hannah Atterberry on the show to share her amazing birth story. Hannah became a doula before having her own biological child which is rare.  Many doulas become doulas after having their own birth experiences.  Doula Rachael was Hannah’s doula for her birth. Hannah tells us about her desires and plans for her birth and how sh...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Shannon and Doula Rachael share a conversation about helpful ways to prepare for and navigate through the fourth trimester with more ease and confidence. The fourth trimester is the 12 weeks after you give birth.  The fourth trimester is a sacred time full of many ups, downs, beautiful and hard moments, time spent getting to know your new baby, time spent gett...

Send us Fan Mail Essential oils, if used correctly and safely, can be used during pregnancy, labor, and birth.  In this episode we chat about what exactly an essential oil is and some things to look for when searching for oils (think quality!).  From using oils to invoke calmness and focus during labor, to using oils to help relieve pain and cope during back labor and transition - there are lots o...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Shannon and Doula Rachael discuss what it means to have a gentle and family-centered cesarean birth and why it is so important.  Having a gentle and family centered cesarean helps the birthing parents participate and feel more connected with their birth.  You can have an empowering and satisfying birth experience no matter how your birth unfolds.  Having a sup...

Send us Fan Mail We're highlighting another favorite episode from 2021!  This one is all about creating your birth support team.  We've talked about this in a lot of episodes last year, so it's a great one to revisit!  Enojoy! One of the goals of this podcast is helping mamas make informed decisions.  One way to do that is to surround yourself with knowledge and knowledgeable birth...

Send us Fan Mail Happy 2022 friends! This episode is a throwback to one of our favorite (and top downloaded) episodes  of 2021…all about birth plans! Creating a birth plan can be an overwhelming and intimidating process, but as Doula Rachael and Dr. Shannon discuss today, the process can be so important and beneficial.  In this episode we discuss our own personal birth plans (which happen to be ve...

Send us Fan Mail As a chiropractor and doula, we spend a lot of time with expecting and newly postpartum mothers. There is a ton of information you need and want to know about preparing for nursing. In this episode, we are going to talk about nursing posture.  Nursing posture is just one component (of many) to learn more about and to bring awareness to during this time.  In this episode we discuss...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Shannon and Doula Rachael share their favorite resources for all things women’s reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and beyond!  We include our most treasured and shared resources including books, podcasts, websites, plus our favorite social media peeps to follow.   Resources shared in this episode include: Books/Magazines: Taking Charge of...

Send us Fan Mail Creating a vision board is fun, creative, and beneficial in helping you create your goals for your life, your work, and even your birth.  In this episode, we discuss: Dr. Shannon’s vision board events (past and present) What is a vision board? Why do people create vision boards? How to create a vision board? Hint, there is no right or wrong way! The benefits of implementing visual...

Send us Fan Mail This week we continue our interview with Pelvic Floor PT specialist Dr. Tina Harris.  Last episode we explored the specifics of pelvic floor PT, and how Dr. Tina approaches care.  So much of her care is related to her life’s story and journey, and that’s what we go into with this week’s episode.  She has experienced infant loss and pregnancy after loss.  She has dealt with subpar...

Send us Fan Mail As a doctor of physical therapy, Dr. Tina is looking at her clients as a whole.  She looks at how they are functioning, and she takes it a step further to assess the health and overall function of the pelvic floor.  Now don’t worry if you don’t know what bones, muscles, or ligaments make up the pelvic floor, or if you only think of physical therapy in terms of “post-injury care”,...

Send us Fan Mail What do the holidays and your due date have to do with each other? The rate of inductions dramatically increases in the days leading up to a major holiday...and the rate of babies actually born on major holidays dramatically drops. This is due to the fact that some care providers want to manage the course of your labor and control whether or not they are working on a holiday. The...

Send us Fan Mail Are you planning a VBAC? Have you had a VBAC and want to learn more? Are you pregnant or hoping to be pregnant soon with your first baby and want to learn more about avoiding an unnecessary primary cesarean?  Are you a birth worker looking for ways to effectively and compassionately support your clients who want a VBAC?  Then this episode is for you!  In this episode we will share...