Yoga Birth Babies

Surrogate Carrier: The act of carrying a baby for an intended family. In my opinion, one of the greatest gifts a person can give to a family that needs assistance in creating their family.  In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with Anastasia Bartlett, a Certified Health Coach, Personal Trainer, Yoga Teacher, owner of Superior Surrogacy Consulting and three time surrogate carrier. In o...

The path to creating a family can differ for everyone. For some it may require fertility assistance, others a surrogate, and others no assistance at all however for approximately 135,000 families it involves adoption.  In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies, I speak with adoptive and assisted reproduction lawyer, Rebecca Mendel. As an adoptive parent, Rebecca offers both her personal experience and...

Currently in the US, approximately one-third of all babies are born by cesarean. However, it's interesting to note that when I asked my prenatal yoga class of 21 pregnant people how many have considered the possibility of cesarean birth, only 3 people raised their hands.  For many, the idea of a surgical birth is something they would prefer to avoid, but not learning about the process and preparin...

Can you imagine the need to be the main advocate for yourself in the middle of labor and directly postpartum? Or being pushed into the situation to go head to head with the hospital staff just to see your baby? That is exactly what happened to Jessie Katz. In the middle of her labor and directly postpartum, Jessie was able to find the clarity and strength to loudly and speak up for what she knew w...

A “big baby” is one of the top reasons for a suggested induction for pregnant people. But did you know that ultrasound offers less accuracy after the 37th week of pregnancy and can be off up to 15% of the estimated weight?  In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies I speak with founder and author of Evidence Based Birth®, Rebecca L. Dekker, PhD, RN, APRN. Rebecca and I had a chance to speak about a...

One of the most talked about subjects at the beginning of every postnatal yoga class is breastfeeding. How is it going? What do you do with cracked nipples? What are you going to do when you go back to work?  In the episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with Director of Stork and Cradle, Tamara Hawkins, FNP, RN, IBCLE, LCCE, CHHC. She answers all of these questions and more in the episode I am...

What do you do when you realize your child has special needs and considerations? For some parents of children who have special needs, they may feel isolated and overwhelmed by living outside “the norm.” In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with Bridget Tichar. Bridget is the mother of Teddy, her 2 1/2 son, who a year ago was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. Bridget shares the painsta...

The US is the only developed country that does not offer paid maternity leave to new parents. Support for new families varies from the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which offers job protection and mandates 12 weeks of unpaid leave, to private companies who provide paid leave maternity and paternity leave. In NY State, as of January 1, 2018, parents who work for private companies are eligible...

The shift from pregnancy to postpartum is unlike any chasm one will ever experience. And while there is often much care and attention being paid to the pregnant person’s well being, the new parent that emerges on the other side, is often left to wade through the turkey waters of parenthood with limited help. In our current culture, many people have lost the community that gathers to take care of t...

It's possible you've never heard of “tongue tie,” but 5% of babies are born with this condition. If your little one has a tongue tie you likely understand how it impacts feeding your baby, from the bottle or breast. And if undiagnosed, it can affect speech development. In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with author of the book, Latch: A Handbook for Breastfeeding with Confidence at...

Why is it that so many pregnant people wait until 12 weeks to share the news of their pregnancy? This silence retreat may be comforting for some, but isolating for the 1 in 4 people who do not see their pregnancy go past the first trimester. In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with the creator of the #IHadAMiscarriage campaign, psychologist Dr. Jessica Zucker. Dr Zucker opens up abou...

How would you react upon finding out you were carrying twins? Shock? Excitement? A bit nervous? A combination of all three? If are one of the 3.35% of parent having twins you may be looking for some support and guidance as you welcome your new expanded family. In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies, I speak with author of the book, What To Do When You're Having Two and founder of Twiniversity, Natal...

One of the most commonly used phrases in exercise and yoga is “engage your core.” But what does that even mean? What muscles are being asked to work and is it really helpful or healthy to have an engaged core?  In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with pelvic floor yoga specialist Shannon Crow. Shannon dispels some commonly believed myths about what the core is and how it should be us...

Nobody ever enters parenthood and thinks having a baby would land them in the psych ward. But that is exactly what happened with Lisa Abramson. On this episode of Yoga| Birth|Babies, I speak with executive coach, mindfulness teacher, best selling author, and mom of two girls, Lisa Abramson.  Lisa is also a survivor of postpartum psychosis, a rare and severe maternal mental health condition. In thi...

Birth plans have gotten a bad name. How can you possibly plan a birth since they rarely go as planned? However, investing time, thought, and energy into what areas of the birth are important to the birthing person can be invaluable. By making their wishes known, it can help the birthing person feel supported, heard and seen, especially when things move away from the preconceived vision of birth. ...

The role and practice of a midwife is often misunderstood. Many think this is someone who simply assists medical doctors, or they confuse the offerings of labor support doula with a midwife, assuming this person has limited medical training and authority or just catches babies. (None of those assumptions are correct!) So what does a midwife REALLY do? In today’s episode of Yoga |Birth|Babies, I sp...

Laurel Beversdorf has always been a teacher and practitioner who embodies the philosophy of svadyaya (self study) so, it was no surprise when Laurel started to deviate from a traditional yoga practice and began to explore adding resistance bands into her practice. She approaches asana based on her studies of anatomy and biomechanics of the body and seeks to explore functional ways the body can mov...

One Wednesday morning, during circle time, a student bravely spoke up about an experience she had at her last prenatal appointment. Her doctor told her she had gained too much weight between visits. The woman left her appointment upset, ashamed and confused about what to do next. Upon hearing, I too was confused and had no answer to give her other than weight gain is not linear and not be so hard...

It is very possible that you never thought much about your cervix until you became pregnant. Once you're hovering around your due date, it can become a prime concern. At each weekly exam, you may be wondering, “How dilated am I?”, “Does that mean labor might start soon, or do I still have a ways to go?” Depending on the results of a cervical exam you may be in a tailspin of excitement, disappoint,...

You sneeze, you pee. You run, you pee. You cough, you pee. What do all three of these problems have in common? They are all likely being prescribes the same solution, Kegels. However, for many people, simply Kegeling themselves to happiness can actually worsen the problem. In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with internationally-acclaimed yoga educator and pelvic floor specialist, Le...

What happens when the reality of parenthood doesn’t match the expectations, dreams and hopes? It can sometimes leave someone feeling regretful of their new situation and questions their choices. And often, with this regret, one feels shame, embarrassment and alone. In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with Marissa Zwetow, who is licensed therapist who specializes in prenatal and postp...

“I would like a deep, painful tear of my perineum” said NOBODY! Pretty much in every movie or TV show where birth is being portrayed, we see the birthing person flat on her back, legs spread wide and people are yelling at her to “PUSH!” It’s no wonder that is how people think they should approach birth. But let’s pull back the curtain a bit of after effects of pushing in such a way. Have you ever...

What is it like for a birth doula, childbirth educator, and prenatal yoga teacher to experience birth with so much knowledge and experience coloring her lens of labor? Many may think it, with all the preparation and knowledge, it would be smooth sailing. Well, life and birth unfolds in it’s own wild ride no matter who you are and what you bring to the table. In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babie...

Not long ago, I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Yoked podcast with Kelly Sunrose. During the conversation which started off mainly talking about prenatal yoga, Kelly and I started to discus the impact of yoga on pregnancy and birth. I was not surprised to hear of the challenging labor, birth and postpartum that Kelly, a very experienced yoga practitioner endured. Kelly’s story, like my ow...

In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with labor and delivery nurse, doula, Lamaze Childbirth educator and author, Debby Amis. Debby breaks down this new study to highlight areas of inconsistent interpretation and emphasizes the lack of focus on the increase in 3rd and 4th degrees tears that have been noted with this new recommended guideline. Get the most out of each episode by checki...