ParentLink Singapore

22/09/2025

An incredible new study found that pregnant women who consume just 6 dates a day in the 4 weeks leading up to their due date were 74% more dilated upon their arrival to the hospital, had a 77% shorter first stage of labor and a 42% lower rate of caesarean sections.

Eating dates in the late stages of pregnancy lead to higher cervical dilation upon hospital admission because the fruit contains nutrients that influence oxytocin receptors, preparing the cervix and uterus for labor by increasing muscle response to oxytocin and other labor-supporting hormones. Dates are a rich source of energy from natural sugars and fats and also contain prostaglandins, which contribute to cervical ripening. Additionally, they provide serotonin, calcium, and tannins, which contribute to powerful uterine contractions.

Eating dates in the late stages of pregnancy shortens the first stage of labor due to their ability to stimulate the production of prostaglandins, which promote cervical ripening (softening and thinning of the cervix) and increase uterine contractions. Dates also contain tannins, which have a similar effect, and provide a natural sugar source for energy during labor. Some studies even suggest that dates can increase uterine sensitivity to oxytocin, leading to more effective contractions and a quicker and smoother labor process.

These actions are also the exact reason why women who eat dates in the late stages of pregnancy and far less likely to need a c-section!

The most common recommendation is for women to begin eating 6 dates a day starting in their 37th week of pregnancy.
PMID: 40322306, 21280989

SEE ALSO: https://www.pelvicphysio.co.nz/the-sweet-secret-to-a-smoother-labour-dates

21/09/2025

Look at this stunning placenta! This one is vacuum-sealed.⁣
⁣
Here’s some things you might not have known about the “Tree of Life”:⁣
⁣
1. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺. The placenta isn’t fully formed until 8-10 weeks. In those early months, your body is releasing HCG, progesterone, and estrogen to feed and grow the placenta. It is these hormones that begin a healthy pregnancy.⁣
⁣
2. Before the placenta attaches to the uterine wall, something amazing happens. The arteries in your uterus are called “spiral arteries,” and they are curled like little pigtails. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 “𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦” (𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢 so it can fuse to the uterine wall. ⁣
⁣
3. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮. The blood that flows from you to your baby has to get past the “bouncer” before it’s allowed through. So the nutrients get to your baby, and waste is filtered out.⁣
⁣
4. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘹𝘺𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳. So in those moments of intense contractions where baby is hugged tightly, the placenta is there to provide extra oxygen if needed.⁣
⁣
It’s an incredible organ, and the only one that we grow and dispose of in our lifetime. ⁣
⁣
None of us would be here without it.⁣
No wonder it’s called the Tree of Life!

19/09/2025

19/09/2025

Culture often defines postpartum as a quick “recovery period.” But science tells us something different. Postpartum isn’t about “bouncing back.”

Research led by Dr. Magdalena Martínez-García shows that the maternal brain continues to change for up to six years after birth. Gray matter and cortical thickness decrease beginning in pregnancy and through the postpartum period. These changes are not loss, they’re adaptation. They expand a mother’s capacity for emotional connection and responsiveness.

A 2024 study published in Nature Neuroscience confirmed this transformation, using precision imaging to track the brain from preconception through two years postpartum. The results reveal what women have always known: motherhood rewires us in ways that make us stronger, more resilient, and deeply attuned.

Postpartum is not only about recovery. It is strength. It is resilience. It is evolution.

12/09/2025

As I keep working through the writings of Michel Odent, there are little gems scattered everywhere. This one reminds me of what I spoke about on ep. 127 of podcast.

In that episode I speak about how I rarely stitch first or second degree perineal tears and give a clinical assessment tool to help work out which tears will heal well without stitches and which might need repair:

1. All 3rd and 4th degree tears should be repaired
2. No 1st degree tears NEED stitching and most 2nd degree don’t need stitching
3. If the wound is not bleeding and sits together well with good symmetry, it’s ok to leave to heal
4. Approximation of the wound is important so limiting activity and keeping your legs together will aide effective healing

Get the full story podcast ep.127 - do I need stitches if I tear at birth

21/08/2025

Cool & Impressive Facts About the Uterus

-Strongest muscle in the body (pound for pound). There is still an ongoing debate about this in the science world. But the fact is, the uterus can generate up to 100 lbs of force per contraction during labor. That’s more than many athletes can deadlift with just one muscle.

-Expands 500x its size.
From about the size of a pear, it can stretch to hold a full-term baby, placenta, and up to a liter of amniotic fluid. Then it shrinks back down after birth.

-It has memory.
The uterus can actually “remember” previous pregnancies. After someone has given birth, future labors are often faster (all things being equal) because of changes in uterine muscle fibers.

-Blood flow powerhouse.
In late pregnancy, the uterus receives 20% of the entire body’s blood supply to nourish the baby and placenta.

-Self-repairing organ.
After birth, the uterus clamps down on blood vessels and regenerates tissue where the placenta detached. Few organs in the body can heal so rapidly.

-Source of life since forever.
In many cultures, the uterus was seen as the “original cauldron” of creation, where life begins, where transformation happens, and where raw power resides.

-Contracts outside of labor too.
The uterus contracts during menstruation, or**sm, and even breastfeeding (thanks to oxytocin)."

_Rebeccawanosik

11/08/2025

Human eggs appear to be protected against a certain type of age-related mutation. In a small study, researchers found no signs that mutations accumulate in the mitochondrial DNA of human egg cells as women get older, which may give us clues as to how they can stay fresh for decades.

“When we think about age-related mutations, we think about older people having more mutations than younger people,” says Kateryna Makova at Penn State University. “But expectation is not necessarily the truth.”

Mitochondrial mutations don't seem to build up in women's eggs as they age, which suggests they may have evolved a mechanism to avoid this

21/07/2025

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that fetal stem cells from the placenta can help repair a mother’s heart after injury, such as a heart attack. Presented at the American Heart Association’s 2011 Scientific Sessions and published in Circulation Research, this study is the first to show that these stem cells migrate to the mother’s injured heart, transform into heart cells, and assist in healing. Using pregnant mice with tagged fetal cells, the team observed the cells traveling directly to damaged heart tissue and differentiating into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle, and blood vessel cells. The researchers also replicated this transformation in lab conditions. Unlike previous stem cell therapies, which often fail or raise ethical concerns, placenta-derived cells show strong regenerative potential and avoid triggering immune rejection.

19/06/2025

This gave me full body chills...
"👁️ Did you ever wonder why the baby’s taken across the room? Why the cord is clamped fast, the mother left shaking, the lights so bright it feels like judgment?

Did you ever feel the stillness—the eerie quiet when the father’s hands are empty, the grandmother’s not in the room, and the newborn is nowhere near a breast?

It’s not just medicine.
It’s not just policy.
It’s a ritual.
And it’s not ours.

🧬 They inject pig-derived Pitocin to mimic the hormone God designed to flood a woman’s brain in labor. But it doesn’t reach the brain. It only contracts the body.
The love doesn’t flow.
The imprint doesn’t land.
The bonding doesn’t seal.
Just pressure. Just force.

💉 Synthetic love.
⚡ Counterfeit release.
🧠 Neurological silence.

And while the woman is watched but not touched, while the baby is wiped but not suckled, while the father is praised for being “supportive” but not leading—
they cut the thread.

👶 The mother-baby dyad was made to reflect divine intimacy. To pass down trust, peace, protection.
But when it’s broken—
the body remembers.
The child stores the grief.
The mother learns disconnection.
The father fades from view.

That’s how it starts. But it doesn’t end there.

Then come the bottles.
The cribs.
The high chairs.
The eight-hour separations called school.
The praise of independence that is really just early detachment.
The lie that the nuclear family is enough. That Mom runs the home. That Dad is just for weekends. That children are safest raised by strangers in buildings funded by gods they do not know.

🕳️ We are not looking at broken systems.
We are looking at precision-engineered fragmentation.

And you feel it. You’ve felt it all along.
That something was taken before you could name it.
That someone was missing even while you were being told you had “everything you need.”

But listen: the lie only wins if we let it.
And we won’t.
We are pulling the babies back to the breast.
We are restoring the mother's voice in the birth room.
We are putting grandmothers back at the table.
We are praying over the placenta.
We are keeping them close at night.
We are burning the counterfeit and walking in the design.
This is not soft work.
It is a holy war"
- written upon the heart of almost every midwife

THANKYOU Kriyanna Feyalove Elumen for posting this TRUTH from Cardinal Birth Midwifery Service!

I have been attending births since 1995. Hospital, Birth Center, and Home to help the atrocity of separation dissolve. There needs to be trillions more of us.

Photo Credit:
Jennifer Mason Photography

10/06/2025

In 2008, during a gynecological surgery, Dr. Jacques Donnez managed to record something never seen before: the complete process of ovulation in a woman. The images show how a bulge forms in the o***y, followed by the opening of the follicle and the slow release of the egg, surrounded by a gelatinous substance. Unlike what was previously thought, this event is neither immediate nor explosive: it lasts about 15 minutes. The photographs, published in scientific journals, not only amazed with their visual value but also provided new insights into the human reproductive mechanism.

06/06/2025

Bloom

11/05/2025