Yoga Birth Babies

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...

Few experiences in life create such a sudden shift on so many deep levels like entering parenthood. In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies, I speak with writer, women’s mentor, doula and founder of MotherSHIFT, Jessie Harrold about embodying the rite of passage into motherhood. Jessie helps guide women through the transition into parenthood through her program MotherSHIFT. She thoughtfully explores...

It’s not often during an interview I have such a major a shift in perspective on the topic of discussion. But that is exactly what occurred during my talk with author and RIE method teacher Janet Lansbury. The RIE method floated around in a distant hemisphere somewhere in my awareness. I had heard of an RIE class near me when my children were very little but never really invested much time in disc...

I reached out to Hannah Sarah Faich Dini to be a guest on Yoga | Birth | Babiesbecause chatting with her and simply knowing her is a true delight. I also, in my many years of working with the pregnant population, have not encountered three pregnancies quite like hers. For all three pregnancies, Hannah Sarah had breech babies. And for all three pregnancies she faced the possibility that her births...

Stepping onto the yoga mat may feel very vulnerable for many people. It’s a time to be present with body, mind and breath and that can be challenging, especially if you have suffered through any type of traumatic experience. According to Sidran Institute, an estimated 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives. In this episode of Yoga...

If you're a parent, or simply have been around children, you know the how hard it can be to stay calm when a child is whining. I'm almost 8 years into parenthood and still, I find myself hungrily looking for expert advice on this issue! In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies, I speak with Clinical Psychologist and founding editor of AhaParenting.com, Dr. Laura Markham. Dr. Laura breaks down many of...

Every year 10-15 percent of babies born in America spend some time in the NICU. In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies, I speak with Evelyn Gama, a licensed mental health therapist and mother to a NICU baby. Evelyn’s son was born at 26 weeks old and spent several months in the NICU. Evelyn opens up about that challenging time and how she reorganized life to straddle the world of being fully availabl...

In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with Spinning Babies Trainer and home birth midwife, Nicole Morales. Nicole offers insight to why a baby may be breech and methods to help baby navigate it’s way head down. Her empathic approach to her work will also provide comfort for those who may need to accept and surrender to a new and different birth experience than planned. This valuable ep...

The number one reason for first time birthing people to have a cesarean is “failure to progress”. Failure to progress is defined as a labor lasting 20 hours or more for first time parents. However, labor is not always linear and can have variations. Back in the 1940’s the Friedman Curve was introduced in hospitals as a means to determine how quickly a laboring person should progress in labor, appr...

We've all met those people we start chatting with and instantly decide, I want to know more about you. As Krisitn and I casually talked during the breaks of Prenatal Yoga Center's Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training, (which she was enrolled in) I started to realized how our personal paths mirrored one another and even intertwined at times. I loved hearing her open and honest experience of her two very...

Welcome to part two of the Birthing From Withinfocused podcasts. Recently, I embarked on the path to becoming a Birthing From Within Mentor. The process to becoming a mentor is multilayered but starts with a weekend intensive course called Crossing the Threshold. Right after attended the weekend course, I recorded last week’s podcast with Koyuki Smith, one of the weekend mentors. So I thought it o...

If only there was a way to script out your “ideal” birth and be guaranteed the experience unfolds in that exact manner. Unfortunately, that’s impossible. However, many of us try to overly plan and seldom allow ourselves to relinquish the illusion of control over the wild nature of birth. In this episode of Yoga|Birth |Babies, I speak with birth doula and Birthing From Within Mentor, Koyuki Smith....

We've all heard “It take a village to raise a child.” And while it sounds like a cliche or catch phrase, those of us who've been through or witnessed the transition from maiden to motherhood can understand the incredible importance of a supportive community. In this episode of Yoga|Birth| Babies, I speak with the director of event programming & operations at Motherly, Jessica Pallay. Jessica and I...

Did you know that 20% of the population has a unique brain trait called Sensory Processing Sensitivity aka the “highly sensitive person”? And of course, this is not limited to only adults. Babies and children can also exhibit these traits and are unfortunately are often misunderstood and characterized as “colicky” or “overactive” or “anxious”. In the episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies, I speak with li...

I was recently sorting through old pictures of me “pre-children” and noted how cute and put together I was back then. My hair was cut regularly, my clothes were fun and fashionable and I had a very respectable handbag collection that never contained random lego pieces or pink hair bows. Why did becoming a mother lead to abandoning my fashion sense and falling into the “mom rut” of mainly sporting...