https://motherheal.com/, https://motherheal.com/

MotherHeal, East Lothian (2025)

02/06/2025

Fear around birth is pretty common, and it’s understandable.

If you’ve not given birth before, it’s impossible to imagine what it’s like.

Perhaps you’ve had a previous bad experience with birth.

We aren’t around the births of family and community members as much as we used to be, so for most of us our experience is limited to short videos on social media.

Birth is such a huge event for your body and your mind – it completely transforms you.

And some fear is a natural part of the experience.

Facing this fear is an important part of the process.

During a birth, we are faced with not being able to control everything, and we need to surrender and just let it take it’s course. And that’s scary.

But it’s also a great life lesson.

What are some things you can do if you’re feeling the fear during pregnancy?

🔥 Learn about normal physiology of birth, and how your body works. Take a good class.

🔥 Do some yoga and meditation – breathing techniques in particular help with relaxing into the fear.

🔥 Learn hypnobirthing – deep relaxation techniques which work on your subconscious to help you to feel positive and confident around birth.

🔥 Learn how you and your birth partner can work together so you feel supported.

🔥 Get yourself a doula – knowing someone will be with you to support you can help you access the strength and courage you already have.

If you’d like to practice techniques to ready your body and mind for birth, come along to my kundalini yoga for pregnancy classes – it’s what kundalini yoga is good for!

Or get in touch if you’d like to learn 1-2-1 birth preparation and hypnobirthing.

We can do this with excitement and joy!

01/05/2025

One of my teachers described Kundalini yoga as yoga for Real Life.

Not with the goal of floating away somewhere else.

But being able to experience yourself.

To feel your body, to feel the energy running through it.
To feel yourself inside of your body, a thinking, feeling, spiritual being moving your way through this life.

Trying to figure it out, trying to do your best, aiming for happiness.

Our lives are all a story, and what greater part of that story than the birth of a new life?

What greater challenge is there than being a parent?

This is why I use Kundalini yoga techniques to help in pregnancy.
Anyone can do it – you do not have to be flexible or look great in a pair of yoga leggings.

This yoga helps to ground you in yourself while realising what you are capable of.

It moves you our of your mind chatter and settle more clearly into yourself.

It helps you be you -
without expectation of others
without your insecurities blocking you
without being led by your fears

It’s great practice to begin as you’re getting ready for being a parent.

Classes are ongoing – spaces coming up.

30/01/2025

⚡️New Episode of the Mother Podcast on Scar Therapy⚡️

Our birthing scars stay with us forever.

Abdominal scars from caesarean sections run deep.

Layers of various tissues need to heal and lay down scar tissue, and this scar tissue has an effect on overall health.

With the caesarean section rate so high, there will be many mothers living with abdominal scars.

This episode is for you, and for your care givers.

Understanding your scar and how it can affect your health is an important part of recovery.

Learning to care for our scars will help us return to vitality.

Listen to this episode to find out:

⚡️how scar tissue forms

⚡️what adhesions are

⚡️how to care for your scar in the first 6 weeks after birth

⚡️how massage helps

⚡️⚡️how scars impact health

Please share with your friends, colleagues and students.

You’ll find the podcast in my info.

16/01/2025

Have you been told your placenta is low-lying at your 20-week scan?

Placentas can embed anywhere in the uterus, but more often than not, they grow at the fundus - the top of the uterus.

Sometimes they embed lower down, and if they are within 2cms of the cervix at your 20-week scan they are classified as “low-lying”.

This means you will be advised to have a further scan in your pregnancy to ensure the placenta has moved away from the cervix.
Usually this is not before 32 weeks.
Sometimes the placenta is still low at 32 weeks, and then a further scan is booked for 36 weeks.

This means that it’s 12-16 weeks between scans – and that can be a long wait if you’re feeling anxious about it.
That is a large chunk of your pregnancy to be feeling worried.

Only 1 in 200 will have the placenta covering part or all of the cervix at term.

This is called Placenta Praevia, and it’s a serious condition whereby the baby needs to be delivered by caesarean section, because the placenta is in the way of the baby getting through the cervix.

So it is very very likely that your placenta will have moved away from the cervix at 32 or 36 weeks, and plans for birth will continue as normal.

Yes, for some women the placenta will remain low and they will require caesarean section.
1 in 200 of women.

It can be difficult to relax and enjoy your pregnancy when you’ve been told a test or scan has given an “abnormal” result. You’re not alone in your anxiety. Many pregnant women struggle with this.

Yoga, relaxation and being around other pregnant women can help greatly.

In my pregnancy yoga classes, we talk about these things and share information, alongside using kundalini yoga techniques to help body, mind, emotions and spirit feel better so you can be fully present to fully experience this time without the distraction of worry.

I’m a midwife, kundalini yoga teacher and certified hypnobirthing practitioner so I have many tools to choose from to help you enjoy your pregnancy.

Classes are Tuesday evenings in Haddington.

Booking is on my website.

13/01/2025

Why I love being part of East Lothian Birth and Baby...

When working with pregnant women and new mothers, creating community is a really important part of it.

It's a unique time - an all-encompassing one with it's own needs, and having a tribe of others going through it alongside you can make all the difference between a terrible day, and one which you get to laugh about the difficult bits.

The East Lothian Birth & Baby team are a great group of local practitioners who provide important services to support you during this time, and add to your community.

East Lothian is a wonderful place to live, with its own unique lifestyle, culture and history.

When I was a community midwife in East Lothian, my clients used to travel to Edinburgh for classes or services, so the connections they made were in Edinburgh or beyond.

I'm happy to say that there is now so much happening in East Lothian that we can stay in our own community and create those connections here - this becomes really important when it becomes more difficult to travel just to get to classes or see a fellow mum.

I can't tell you how many new mothers I looked after who felt isolated - it is really not a good feeling.

I recommend you begin to build your community once you are pregnant - it will make a world of difference to your mothering years!

My work is focused on helping women and their families through pregnancy, the birth, and the immediate postpartum period.
It is designed to help you to get to that place feeling nourished and confident, and part of a community of pregnant women on that journey together.

Give East Lothian Birth & Baby a follow for info and tips, and to keep in touch with any events coming up. Ask to join the Community group, where most of the info and chat is.

I'll see you there x

23/12/2024

A different kind of Christmas this year

I once had a kundalini yoga teacher who talked about how this weird and wonderful yoga helps you to surf the waves of life, rather than get knocked down by them.

I’ve always loved this metaphor and use it myself in classes.

My family’s latest wave is a whopper though, and I’m struggling to get on the surfboard.

We discovered about 6 weeks ago that my husband has cancer.

I know many of you will have experienced cancer close-up.

This is my first time.

At times I've felt like my mind would break with trying to process the implications.

My emotions swung so radically from one extreme to another that I couldn’t trust them.

Daily yoga definitely helped, but I found it exhausting to tell people, so unless I had to, I didn’t.

It’s very isolating.

And a reminder that we are all walking our own paths, with all kinds of s**t going on under the surface.

How do you tell your kids?

I really don’t know.

Honesty and love has been our approach.

No false reassurances, because I don’t see the point in that.

Lots of cuddles and reminders that we all love each other very much.

And we will for as long as we can.

Invitations to talk, but what can anyone say beyond

“I’m terrified”

“Me too”

He is in hospital recovering from surgery now.

Our Christmas entertainment is admiring the lights as we go back and forth from the hospital.

The photos are a reminder of where we are this year, and the older photo was taken the day after he had a heart attack next to a swimming pool in Crete and was in the ICU.

Then the kids had all spent the night in my bed with me,and we didn’t know if he would survive.

My husband likes a health drama, it seems 😆❤️

He said recently that he’s learned more about love with this latest wave than he ever has before.

So, from me and my family -

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing this Christmas, we really hope you are feeling loved.

We are.

31/10/2024

Why is kundalini yoga a good idea during pregnancy?

Pregnancy is a time of great change, and parenthood is one of the most challenging and important jobs we do. Especially now – there is a lot going on in the world, things are changing quickly.
It is important to get connected with how you wish to live and raise your children, and that means increasing your confidence and reducing anxiety and stress.

We use the kundalini yoga techniques of breath, movement and release to get to the heart of you so you can go away at the end of class feeling relaxed, centred and lighter. If you’re feeling good, your baby is feeling good.

We have a beautiful community of pregnancy mamas who are fantastic at supporting each other.
And being a midwife and a herbalist, I have much experience to draw on to be able to help you understand your growing body and what to expect with birth and beyond.

Classes are Tuesday evenings in Haddington, and you can join straight away.

See you on the mat.
Suzanne x

22/10/2024

As a midwife who has studied and practised herbalism for 30 years, I get a lot of questions about raspberry leaf tea.

The main misconception is that it is used to induce labour.

There is no evidence that raspberry leaf induces labour.

That is not what it is meant to be used for.

Instead, raspberry leaf tones the muscles of the uterus and helps with elasticity of the pelvic tissues.

How does it work?

Raspberry leaf does not bring on contractions, but it helps contractions – when they come – to be more effective. The uterine muscle cells can both contract more efficiently, and relax in between more efficiently.

This means labour is shorter, and the baby gets good amounts of oxygen in between contractions.

This also means that used postpartum, it helps the uterus involute (go back to pre-pregnancy size), stay well contracted and empty out more efficiently, reducing the risk of infection.

Not only that, but it enriches and increases the flow of milk.

It is an incredible plant.

Tea or capsules?

Tea – always tea. It enters the bloodstream through the gut almost immediately. Capsules take time to digest and much of the active constituents are lost in the digestion process.

Capsules ONLY if you really don’t like the taste of the tea.

For more info on the history, research and how to use it see my blog - link in bio

09/10/2024

I recently taught a pregnancy yoga class where we did a kriya to heal, balance and align the throat chakra.

What does this mean?

The throat chakra is the seat of self-expression and communication.

It’s being clear about who you are and what you need.

It is about being heard.

It is an energetic space from which you create, and express that to the world.

And it has to do with self confidence.

Most of us need to do some work on our throat chakras.

Physically, it involves the neck and shoulders.

It holds the thyroid and parathyroid, both of which are under increased stress during pregnancy.

The thyroid is an endocrine gland and works to balance hormones, metabolism, heart rate, digestion, mood, growth, bone health – basically, it effects the whole self.

So why work on the throat chakra in pregnancy?

Pregnancy is an excellent time to consider how you communicate with others.

Your personal relationships become deeper and more important as you prepare for this new person to enter your lives. Being clear about what you want, what you need and what your boundaries are become more important.

You will also be communicating with caregivers and other parents, and asking the right questions or providing support will become a bigger part of your life.

Healing the throat chakra helps to release any times you’ve not been heard, any time you have held yourself back from speaking what needed to be said, any time you’ve let your voice become quiet due to fear or lacking in confidence.

Pregnancy is a time to build your strength in communication and to be able to express yourself.

You are already advocating for the child you are carrying, and that will continue for many years to come.

I teach kundalini yoga for pregnancy classes in East Lothian.

I am a midwife and kundalini yoga teacher, with a specialist training in kundalini yoga for pregnancy.

If you’d like to join us, send me a message.

02/10/2024

Although many women will have positive birth experiences, some will suffer PTSD or birth trauma from their experience.

Research evidence shows that 4-5% of women develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) every year after giving birth, amounting to approximately 30,000 women in the UK, while about a third of women experience birth as traumatic.

The 2024 UK Birth Trauma Inquiry Report highlights reasons for and recommendations for changes in the maternity care system to prevent trauma in birth.

And the majority of recommendations are around how women are treated throughout pregnancy and the birth itself.

Feeling listened to and having good communication with staff are essential.

Having an understanding of what is happening and feeling in control – being able to give consent for procedures, for example – is also important to having a positive experience.

For these to occur, you need to be informed and prepared.

The Birth Trauma Inquiry Report’s first recommendation is good antenatal education.

That’s the main reason for me offering 1-2-1 birth education.

I offer comprehensive and individualised workshops for birth, which means that we can explore any topic further and tailor it to your pregnancy situation. So if you have any aspects to your pregnancy that may lead to a variation of care offered, we have the opportunity to look at options and evidence in more detail so that you can better understand what may be offered.

I have had women tell me in the past that they are just going to “wing it” with birth.

These days, more than ever, it is important to be properly prepared.

Get in touch if you’d like to discuss any of my 1-2-1 options (link in bio).

I have recorded a podcast on birth trauma with the lovely as well, so check that out (again in my bio)

And if you’re looking for more info on birth trauma, the UK Birth Trauma Association has a good website.

If you think you or your partner may be suffering from birth trauma, please seek out the help of a professional.

It is real, and support is available.

25/09/2024

Can you learn hypnobirthing from a book?

I often hear about people preparing for birth by reading a book on hypnobirthing.

It makes sense – why pay for a course when you can just buy a book and read that in your own time?

Does it work?

Well, not really.

Books are helpful and give you a great base and understanding of birth – if you read them.

But preparing for birth requires more than just getting some information.

Birth is as individual as you are.

Everyone has different experiences, different needs, different wants, and different situations.

And every birth is unique – no birth story is EVER the same as someone else’s.

So preparing with a professional who listens to your situation, asks the right questions, and uses your strengths to help you prepare is much more effective than reading a book.

Hypnobirthing requires commitment and practice to work well.

Having a personal guide along the way creates the space for you to realistically prepare for the birth experience – no matter what happens along the way.

And to prepare in a way that suits you best – not following a generic plan laid out for any pregnant person.

No matter what happens, we’re aiming for you to feel in control, confident, and happy with the outcome. It’s important for everyone’s health – including your baby!

Preparing for birth and parenthood is one area where scrimping and saving results in you cutting yourself short.

It’s too important for that.

By all means, buy/borrow a book. It will be helpful.

But you may need more support than that.

Any questions, please get in touch.

23/09/2024

Hypnobirthing and birth preparation are not only for vaginal births.

It’s always important to be prepared, relaxed and confident going into birth – whichever kind of birth you have.

In my 1-2-1 Preparation for Caesarean Section session I help you prepare for an operative birth in a healthy, positive way and individualising it to your personal situation.

I will talk you through the entire procedure, using tools to help you get an understanding of what you would like to happen.

You and your birth partner design your ideal scenario, and then we put it into a plan.

Your plan is what makes your experience unique and special.

(The plan includes the most important bit - how to have your plan read, recognised and followed while in hospital!)

We also cover what your birth partner will be doing, their role in support and how they can be most involved in the birth.

We look at the risks involved, and what that means, and how any complications would play out.

And how to adjust your plan to be able to react best to any unexpected complications.

We look at the initial recovery – what to consider for best outcomes, and how to survive the postnatal ward (with all respect to the postnatal ward!) 😊

We look at ongoing recovery – healing, nutrition, movement, scar care.

And we look at newborn physiology, and all the options to get the absolute best start to life for your baby. This means understanding what is available with skin-to-skin and getting feeding started.

As always, my training considers your absolute best birth scenario and incorporates that, and then matches it to the reality that things may not be straightforward, and how you can best react to changes in the plan.

Have a look at my website for the details.

MotherHeal

02/06/2025

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30/01/2025

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31/10/2024

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