Thirteen Moons Acupuncture & Birth Services, 16 Fairbridge Lane, Cockatoo (2025)

01/06/2021

I think a lot of people don't understand that, despite the name, MOST obstetric violence doesn't involve physical force. It can also be threaded through law and policy, and manifest through improper communication or lack of communication.

Like:

- patients are not given the option to refuse membrane sweeps, cervical checks, waters being broken--they're told very nicely that this is what is going to happen and most people don't even know to question that

- state regulations "require" patients to submit to prenatal vaginal exams if they want to have a home birth

- hospital policy restricts doulas from being present with their clients

- mandatory surgery policies aka VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) bans

- a patient is given a deadline for birth (before X weeks) or for labor (in under X hours) with the consequence being an invasive medical intervention

- any version of "you want to keep your baby safe, don't you" or "you don't want to hurt your baby, do you" as a justification for a medical invention or substitute for informed consent discussion

- the justice system has no mechanism to value the impact of rights violations and trauma on victims so no such lawsuit is ever viable

This is by no means an exhaustive list.

I would argue that obstetric violence is structural where midwifery is marginalized and oppressed, and overseen by hostile parties who often have a vested interest in suppressing midwifery access.

09/04/2021

I will never be quiet about this. Nothing will heal your pelvic floor, your tender womb, your energy levels, your state of mind, your digestion and your emotional, spiritual and physical bodies, like REST. And not sporadic rest but consistent, deep, stay in bed, on the couch kind of rest where you feel fully supported to do so. Where you never feel like you have to be up and doing other things. Where you have prepared in advance, the support around you to take care of the house and the food and the other kids. Nothing will do it like rest. It is NOT lazy to rest in postpartum. Ever. To lay in bed, feeding your babe, eating nourishing food, staying warm and cosy. Getting out and about too soon can be physically detrimental despite our fast paced world believing that the sooner you get back into exercise and social activities the better. The vata (air element) is easily disturbed by getting out and about too soon and leads to unfortunately common issues like postpartum anxiety, depression, sleep issues, low milk supply, extended postpartum bleeding and lochia, prolapse, incontinence and postpartum depletion. These issues are RIFE in postpartum women and it is NOT because they don’t do enough pelvic floor exercises or eat enough lactation cookies. It is because they don’t get enough REST!

05/02/2021

Let’s talk about GHEE 😍

This magical elixir is literally edible gold for postpartum mamas.

In Ayurveda, ghee is the ultimate Vata calming and ojas building food. Ojas is our radiance ✨ it gives us our sparkle and influences the reproductive tissues. If ojas is strong, we are fertile, have glowing skin, energy and inspiration for life, feel grounded, full of health and the mind is clear. This kind of state is one that we want to be in no matter our stage of life, but incredibly important for postpartum women. It might sound impossible to feel that vibrant with a newborn baby, but it’s not. We are conditioned to believe in the struggle because our society does not value postpartum care. For many mothers, with the lower standard of care they receive, this level of vitality during postpartum has been unachievable.

Ghee is an essential element of Ayurvedic postpartum care and one that you can easily have prepared for when your postpartum comes around. I recommend using cultured butter for its gut health benefits.

Add it to hot drinks, soups, stews, rice, porridge, basically ANYTHING you eat or drink. Not only will you be keeping your excess Vata in check and building your ojas, you will also be providing good fats for breastmilk production, lubricating the digestive system to make those postpartum poops much easier, providing your body with an abundance of fat soluble vitamins to keep hormones, energy and moods stable and staving off baby brain 🧡

19/01/2021

“Sleep when the baby sleeps.” I know it can be triggering and annoying to hear, but it’s actually an essential part of your postpartum recovery! It’s a natural and physiological aspect of postpartum that breastfeeding not only makes babies feel sleepy but mamas too. It’s how we are hardwired to get much needed rest when we’re no longer getting a full night’s sleep. We SHOULD be able to sleep when baby does, especially when snuggled up in bed together. It’s innate. It’s built into our cells to sleep and rest as one. But what I hear so many mothers complaining of is their inability to actually relax and fall asleep when baby finally does. It can be a vicious cycle! When you’re not able to fall asleep and take the rest you need in postpartum, it disturbs your Vata (air + ether) energy and when your Vata energy is disturbed, you will have trouble sleeping! And so the cycle goes on and we end up with an exhausted, anxious mama 😓
So what can you do to keep your Vata in check and ensure you’re getting enough rest to fully recover? First we need to call in more support. People who can cook, do the housework and look after other children so that you can rest. Find any way you can to get support and make your life simpler.
Eat only warm, well cooked and easy to digest foods like stewed fruit, congee and kitchari.
Give yourself a daily oil massage (abhyanga) and wrap your belly to protect the open energy of your womb.
Take daily herbal baths (bringing baby in the bath is wonderful for bonding and increasing sleepy oxytocin).
Add Vata reducing herbs and spices like cardamom, ginger, black pepper and cinnamon to all of your foods.
And GHEE! Add ghee to everything. It is an epic Vata pacifying food and one that should be on every postpartum mamas list.
All postpartum mothers deserve to know that “sleep when the baby sleeps” is GOOD advice. Give yourself permission to rest. And if the rest isn’t coming easy, check your Vata ✨

11/01/2021

NEW POSTPARTUM OFFERINGS 🦋

Before my second baby is due in April, I wanted to dedicate some time to serving other postpartum mamas. I feel this work is so important and I simply can’t wait until I’m back from maternity leave (in who knows how long!?) to sprinkle a little love and healing into my community for postpartum mothers and their babes.

I have two separate offerings that will allow me to bring this work to those who are local and also any mama Australia wide.

VIRTUAL SUPPORT
🦋Individual postpartum planning sessions
🦋Individual postpartum care education sessions
OR
🦋Sacred Window Package ~ includes 1 postpartum planning session, 1 postpartum care education session, instruction booklet and a self care package with handmade mama massage oil, baby massage oil, ghee, belly wrap cloth, herbal bath mix and a flower remedy.

IN PERSON (Melbourne)
🦋Single home visits ~ 3 hours in home, Ayurvedic meals cooked fresh, mama massage oil and self massage instruction, belly wrap cloth and instruction, herbal bath soak and light housekeeping duties.

www.caseyhone.com.au for more details and bookings 🙏🏼

Much love xx

09/01/2021

The first 42 days (6 weeks) after birth, our bodies are in a very Vata state. Vata is a combination of the elements air + space. When we give birth, our womb that was full for so many weeks has now started to empty. Not only is our baby earthside but we lose all of the luscious amniotic fluid, placenta and over the span of a few weeks we lose blood and fluids (lochia) until our womb has healed. We are very open and receptive in this state and can easily be knocked out of balance. Vata is dry, rough, light, cold, subtle and mobile and when Vata is in excess and left out of balance in postpartum, we can develop postpartum depression, anxiety, constipation, dry skin, sleep is not restful and we can become spacey and scattered. Baby can also develop colic through Vata qualities in breastmilk. In order to nourish a new mother and ensure she does not succumb to Vata imbalance, her first 42 days must be focused on warmth, hydration, oils, softness, gentleness and stillness - the opposites of the harsh Vata qualities.
In Ayurvedic postpartum care we focus on 4 Pillars: Rest, Diet, Massage & Body Care and Herbs.
If you do not have a postpartum doula you can bring these pillars into your own postpartum care by staying in and around your nest for 42 days; keeping baby in your auric field and introducing the outside world very slowly; eating a sattvic diet of easy to digest, warm, soupy, grounding, oily and building foods; oiling your body daily with sesame oil before bathing or showering (preferably in a bath prepared with herbs and flowers); belly wrapping; taking Vata reducing herbs and spices (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, clove, black pepper, cumin etc) in food, ghee or teas to strengthen digestion and rebuild the body.
How we as mothers spend these 42 days will determine our state of health for the following 42 years and greatly impact our entire experience of motherhood.

08/01/2021

How many of us felt fully healed and ready to go at 6 weeks pp? I know I definitely didn’t. Even after my belly and womb had shrunk back down to pre-pregnancy size, my core still felt delicate. Even after I regained my energy and made my debut back into the outside world, I still felt fragile after being around too many people or doing too much. Even months after birthing my baby, I didn’t feel truly settled into motherhood and my new reality until he was around 12-18 months old. His first birthday was as much an initiation and milestone for him as it was for me.
You see there is no prize for who can get back into things the quickest and there really is no benefit to it either. However, it IS beneficial for all mothers to observe their vulnerability and be gentle with themselves for at least 12 months after the birth of each baby. It is not of detriment to any of us. Let’s normalise and recognise a longer period of rest and grace for new mothers 🙏🏼

08/01/2021

There is an idea that was told to me by a TCM practitioner, that the first 42 days after birth will lay down the ground work for health for the next 42 years. This can be a sobering thought for many woman who have not been programmed to take time out for deep rest and recovery after giving birth, but rather have been subject to our culture’s urgings to bounce back as quickly as possible.

I love the idea of the Fourth Trimester, because it gives women a well recognised tangible framework to aim for. When you consider how much a womens body changes through the 40 weeks of pregnancy, and the incredible feat of birthing, and the massive hormonal changes that comes through the placenta, it would seem that 40 days is the least amount of time a woman should take for her system to regulate again.
For starters, there is an enormous amount of hormone rebalancing that needs to occur, its not just about the uterus and birth canal retracting. Oxytocin is the hormone of breastfeeding, and it is natures design that a women and her baby should “bathe” in oxytocin for a prolonged amount of time.

For many women, the idea of being confined for 40 days after having a baby, with no social interaction, no household work, being fed a highly nutritious diet from extended family, seems extreme to say the least, because it is so unlike what we are accustomed to. In our culture of busyness, women receive a badge of honour for returning to work quickly, and the ultimate goal is to get your “pre-baby body” back.

For a women returning to work, I would strongly encourage her to read up on the Fourth Trimester, and see how she can incorporate the wisdom fo her own unique situation. It doesn’t need to be all or nothing. For example there may be some dietary wisdom she can incorporate, or it may be that once she returns home at the end of the day, she can be supported in fully being present with her baby, and her partner or friends taking up some extra household duties.

We are laying down the change for our daughters and their families. Even if you were not able to practice 4th trimester wisdom yourself, be an advocate for the women coming after you.

06/01/2021

Kaya Kalpa & the Sacred 42 Day Window

After birth, a mama is incredibly open and receptive, vulnerable and delicate, just like her newborn. For the first 42 days after the birth of her baby, a sacred window of opportunity has opened and a newborn mama can call in any reality she would like. The way that she is taken care of during this time sets the tone for her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being for the next 42+ years of her life.
During this sacred window, Ayurveda proposes that by performing and observing a set of specific therapies - Kaya Kalpa therapies - she can reverse ageing, rejuvenate the body and cells and heal anything spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically from before she was even pregnant. Mama can choose take the path of deep rejuvenation or she may succumb to postpartum depletion.
I am currently taking the path of learning and sharing these beautiful, sacred Kaya Kalpa and Ayurvedic postpartum therapies and cannot wait to bring this healing wisdom to mothers in my community and hopefully Australia wide with virtual services as well. I’m also incredibly grateful that I will be immersing myself in its nourishment with my own postpartum window after the arrival of our second baby in April 🙏🏼 More information about these therapies coming soon.

27/12/2020

Do you or a mother in your life need some emotional support right now? Intuitive flower remedy blends are a powerful healing tool for restoring emotional balance and harmony within ourselves as mothers and subsequently within our children as well.

I blend these flower remedies intuitively, based on a distance energy reading done on your energy body and auric field. The flowers I select for your blend will restore any imbalances that are picked up on during the reading.

These blends are homeopathic and energetic in nature and thus are completely safe to be taken during pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and alongside any medications, supplements or special diets. They will not interact with or disrupt any other healing processes you have in place. Blends can also be applied topically to the wrists or heart centre of babies under 6 months and given orally from 6 months onwards.

Please message me to purchase 🙏🏼

17/12/2020

I believe our bodies were intelligently designed. We will never know with 100% certainty what’s going on with baby when using external diagnostic measures like ultrasound. 70% of major heart defects, 75% of missing limbs and 50% of Down’s syndrome cases are undetected with ultrasound. Does that shock you? Were you of the belief that ultrasound could pick up anything that might be ‘wrong’ with your baby and that you could feel reassured by its accuracy? It’s a common belief and one that I shared before I dove into the possibility of a wild pregnancy, a journey without any external diagnostic tools used (unless I was guided to use them).
I believe wombs are created without windows because the not seeing with our eyes and not knowing with our heads, is what keeps us connected to our babies and our bodies. We’ve all heard the stories of women who FELT that there was something wrong with their baby but because their care providers rely so heavily on external diagnostic tools, if these tools do not pick up on what the woman is saying, they do not believe her. Babies have been saved by mothers who FEEL but also sadly babies have been lost because these mothers who feel have not been listened to. We are not stupid. We are not irresponsible. We are not incapable. When things are right we have the ability to feel it, just as we do when things are wrong. It’s when we are completely removed from our feeling and intuition that things truly do go wrong. When we are fully reliant on someone else, on a system, to detect and diagnose and care for our babies, we forget. Our senses become dull.
I KNOW this journey is not for every woman in this moment. I believe that it is POSSIBLE for every woman to do it this way because for thousands of years that’s how it was done. But I respect that things are incredibly different now and we are more removed from our inner knowing and senses than ever.
For my own journey with wild pregnancy, it is important to me to keep my senses in tact and so I choose to have no external testing done unless my intuition tells me I need it. And that’s fully possible. I know some may read this and instantly hold mistrust for my ability to do that and that’s okay! I know how this modern world has infiltrated us with mistrust, not only in others but in ourselves too. But I don’t need you to trust me or validate me. I do that for myself 💚

Thirteen Moons Acupuncture & Birth Services

01/06/2021

09/04/2021

05/02/2021

19/01/2021

11/01/2021

09/01/2021

08/01/2021

08/01/2021

06/01/2021

27/12/2020

17/12/2020

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