Indigo Forest

Indigo Forest Supporting 'Healthy Births, Healthy Lives' through natural health & maternity consults, on-line clas

We are a resource for families, supporting healthy births and healthy lives since 2007. We empower families with practical & personalized naturopathic consultations, blogging and specialized products.

I have had the honor of walking alongside women through their pregnancies, labors, births, and postpartums. In their lab...
09/08/2025

I have had the honor of walking alongside women through their pregnancies, labors, births, and postpartums. In their labor and births I am awed by how remarkable they are in how they show up for themselves and their baby and the journey. Perhaps the majority of them wondered if they could, and worried about it. I encourage them to lean into. They’re wondering, their questions, and their fears. Until they are dissolved by the light of information, support, and love.

There’s nothing about our birth journeys that are guaranteed, or are givens. But being present and engaged with the process is powerful, empowering, and brings joy to mighty work.

09/05/2025

☀️ One of my first suggestions has become, “Enjoy several minutes of the first sun rays each morning over the horizon.”

While there are many aspects to regaining and maintaining our health, I’m convinced that Dr. Jack Kruse is spot on when he states that sun is needed for full healing in nearly every situation. I’ve even been adding it to the top of the list for those consulting about end of pregnancy blood pressure concerns and more.

One mom said last week, “If I get my preschoolers out with me in the morning, we have a GREAT day. If we miss it, they’re a mess.”

Lots of health benefits of early morning light, and especially those first rays over the horizon, which are low in damaging UV and very high end healing red light:

☀️Establishes circadian rhythm:  Morning sunlight signals the brain’s “clock” (SCN) to synchronize biological functions
☀️ Supports hormone release:  Stimulates the secretion of hormones like melatonin, dopamine, and leptin for appetite, sleep, and mood
☀️ Improves sleep quality: Early sunlight exposure boosts nighttime melatonin production, leading to better sleep
☀️ Enhances energy metabolism:  Morning sun supports cellular energy generation and mitochondrial health
☀️ Boosts mood and mental health:  Sunrise rays encourage the production of beta-endorphin and dopamine for greater resilience and positive mood
☀️ Strengthens immunity: Sunlight exposure contributes to immune regulation and production of vitamin D
☀️ Reduces inflammation: Infrared wavelengths at sunrise help combat inflammation and aid recovery
☀️ Improves hormonal balance: Beneficial for sexual health and function through support of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone
☀️ Regulates appetite and weight: Leptin regulation from sunrise viewing aids in proper appetite control and metabolism
☀️ Enhances bone health: Activates processes crucial for bone regeneration and helps prevent osteoporosis.

How about trying it for three days and see what you think after that? Let me know.!🥰☀️

🍃BLOOMING NOW! Red Clover is one of my favorites to add to Pregnancy tea blend I’m still drinking (cuz it’s also the Sta...
08/31/2025

🍃BLOOMING NOW! Red Clover is one of my favorites to add to Pregnancy tea blend I’m still drinking (cuz it’s also the Stay Well blend.)

🌿Children LOVE to know the edibles in their neighborhood! Red clover is an easy-to-find herbal friend in many growing zones. If no sprays are used on the field or lawn, including the neighbors😝, recruit the kids to pick clover flowers for winter health!

🚙When I used to to postpartum visits during the summer on midwife rounds, I often had my boys industriously picking red clover in the fields around my clients’ homes. They dry out quickly on a single layer of paper plates on top of the fridge; but watch out for playful cats when drying the herbs up high🥳. Use fresh or dried in tea, infusions, or tinctures.

                              

🍃BLOOMING NOW! Red Clover One of my favorites to add to Pregnancy tea blend I’m still drinking (cuz it’s also the Stay W...
08/31/2025

🍃BLOOMING NOW! Red Clover
One of my favorites to add to Pregnancy tea blend I’m still drinking (cuz it’s also the Stay Well blend.)

🌿Children LOVE to know the edibles in their neighborhood! Red clover is an easy-to-find herbal friend in many growing zones. If no sprays are used on the field or lawn, including the neighbors😝, recruit the kids to pick clover flowers for winter health!

🚙When I used to to postpartum visits during the summer on midwife rounds, I often had my boys industriously picking red clover in the fields around my clients’ homes. They dry out quickly on a single layer of paper plates on top of the fridge; but watch out for playful cats when drying the herbs up high🥳. Use fresh or dried in tea, infusions, or tinctures.

             

🩵Dr. Michel Odent, OB. Champion of babies and midwives. And a giant personal hero for many of us. After a long, generous...
08/26/2025

🩵Dr. Michel Odent, OB. Champion of babies and midwives. And a giant personal hero for many of us.

After a long, generous, and bold life of contribution, last week was time to say goodbye. He wrote many extraordinary books, and enumerable articles for Midwifery Today Magazine. In 2014 I had the thrill of spending an entire day nearly knee to knee with him in a small group training at one of their conferences. He shaped my entire career by modeling the willingness to speak the unique truth; he was a creative and brilliant mind that looked beyond accepted ‘facts’ and was speaking extraordinary ideas that bucked politically correct even back in the 80s.

The effects of his life will be amplified for generations; we are fortunate to have had his mighty help towards restoring normality and empowerment to birth.🩵

                         

📣Calling doulas, midwives, parents, grandparents!🩵. I’m honored to have been invited to be a featured speaker along with...
08/05/2025

📣Calling doulas, midwives, parents, grandparents!🩵. I’m honored to have been invited to be a featured speaker along with some of my absolute heroes in this powerful online interview series. These extraordinary conversations about birth are the comprehensive and frank discussions so rarely heard yet deeply needed!

🩵 It starts August 12th, and by registering now you’ll have free access to each interview for 48 hours to listen at your convenience. Comment BIRTH for an easy link in your messages!

The 60+ countries that have MORE mothers and babies live through birth and the first year THAN THE USA, all use midwives...
07/28/2025

The 60+ countries that have MORE mothers and babies live through birth and the first year THAN THE USA, all use midwives for the majority of care for normal pregnancies and births. They save the surgical specialty, obstetrics, for when that toolbox is truly needed.

The US spends more per birth than any other country, and yet has some of the most appalling outcomes. We’re not saving more babies for that expenditure and by using our high risk experts for the normal vaginal births.

There are, of course, great OB’s and also midwives who get a reputation for a lot of interventions. One key lies in families learning about informed consent, insisting on understanding the pros and cons before decision-making, and owning that they truly must be the head of their own healthcare teams. Mothers’ common sense and intuition about them and their babies are valuable insights that help increase their safety.

Doulas, apprentices, midwives, nurses, docs, friends and family members all help turn this tide by understanding informed consent and encouraging parents to passionately pursue it.

See my blog with helpful details!
https://www.indigoforest.com/blog/informed-consent

07/28/2025

LEMON BALM is EVERY family’s herbal ally! SAFE IN PREGNANCY & BREASTFEEDING! HELPFUL TOPICALLY & ORALLY in Hand, Foot, & Mouth

So effective and safe for the whole family that herbalist Mathew Woods has said, “A tincture of fresh Melissa should be on the shelf of every household as a general sedative.”

🍃Plant name & family: Melissa Offiicinalis
🍃Safe Herbal Sedative for whole family: Lemon Balm.
🧐A recent study found that Melissa helped improve cognitive performance! And increased attention span while decreasing hyperactivity⭐️⭐️⭐️

One of my “TOP 10 FAMILY HERBS” for!
🍃Anxiety, heart palpitations
🍃Fevers in young children
🍃Upset stomach, flatulence
🍃Herpes sores
🍃Hand, Foot, and Mouth (for which there is typically no medical treatment offered.)

✨Has the nerve-soothing qualities of the mint family.
✨Super easy to grow.
🍃Wonderful lemon scent and flavor, a little sour. An easy tea of the fresh leaves, and a fabulous tincture- best with fresh leaves.

Wish you could tell when your baby is deeply asleep so they won’t wake up when you lay them down? One trick is to make s...
07/24/2025

Wish you could tell when your baby is deeply asleep so they won’t wake up when you lay them down? One trick is to make sure that they are ~ fully ~ asleep first. These clues can help!

Our babies are always communicating with their body language and expressions. This is a great primer for new parents to bring some insight to their newest family member!

                                   

🍃Birthing free of politics could mean knowing you’ll be reliably supported even if you ‘go overdue’, safely cared for wi...
07/21/2025

🍃Birthing free of politics could mean knowing you’ll be reliably supported even if you ‘go overdue’, safely cared for with the option of vaginal breech or VBAC birth, or just experiencing calm and true informed consent without pressure and cohesion.

🩵What’s the best or worst you’ve experienced?

                          

How could a simple one page synopsis help you get more of the labor you want? Birth plans efficiently share your priorit...
07/10/2025

How could a simple one page synopsis help you get more of the labor you want? Birth plans efficiently share your priorities and wishes with staff that you’ve never met. Especially if you’re birthing in a medical setting, is critical that your wishes be conveyed in a way that can also be referenced if there are shift changes, for instance.

If you are intending to have a natural birth in the hospital, your birth plan helps them understand that for now, you will be declining many of their routine protocols. Almost by definition, to deviate from your birth plan without your permission puts them on notice that they will have to make an effort to provide the required informed consent.

There are many conflicting perspectives about the value or content about Birth plans. Obviously we cannot control Birth, so being rigid does not serve us and it’s key to maintain flexibility. I think it helps couples clarify their wishes, and makes sure both are informed and on board.

These ideas here are just conversation starters. You can also get info to shape your plan and so can Dr Sarah Buckley‘s wonderful book, Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, or Dr. Marsden Wagner‘s book Creating Your Birth plan.

♥️ Happy Birthing!♥️

Restoring the fierce protective nature of motherhood - by protecting, supporting, empowering women in their journeys to ...
07/04/2025

Restoring the fierce protective nature of motherhood - by protecting, supporting, empowering women in their journeys to motherhood.

Jahmanna is a friend and colleague. I think this is clarity and insight we don’t often hear… What do you think?

                           

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Ann Arbor, MI
48106

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