A Mother's Instinct

A Mother's Instinct Taking the Birthing World by Calm....

Offering Fertility Hypnosis, HypnoBirthing classes, Doula services, and Infant Massage classes in the New York City and Greater Baltimore areas.

01/04/2023

Practice saying these words out loud:

“Stop. I did not consent to this.”
“Stop. I do not consent to this.”
“No. I will not consent to this.”
“No.” and “Stop.” (complete sentences all on their own)

I write and speak about trauma-informed care every week. Part of that work is crafting and offering language and scripts for both patients and providers to engage in empowered conversations with one another. Sometimes the script is this direct and simple, knowing the work it takes to say and hear is incredibly complex. Other times the scripts are drafts of my own wandering thinking about how to find language and tone and approach, knowing that others will find their way in my rambling.

When we practice saying things like this out loud, whether in a whisper or a yell or a scream, the words are easier to recall when we need them most. in disempowered situations like healthcare or (for some) intimacy.

I know how hard it is to find language when we need it, from my own traumas and for those for whom I’ve provided care.

I know the power of a whisper, and the power of a scream.

Sometimes we can only be heard loudly. Practice being loud because we forget that we can be.

Scripts weekly in my newsletter 💌

*xualassault *xualassaultinhealthcare

12/06/2022

🌿😌SPHINCTER'S LAW😌🌿

"Can You 💩 In Front Of Them?"

Did you know? If someone comes in the room 👀 that doesn’t make mama the most comfortable, it can actually halt labor. Dr. Ina May coined the “Sphincter Law” term. She has seen (and so have I) almost fully dilated cervixes close when the wrong person/people entered the room.

Labor is not much different than s*x or bowel movements. It requires a safe space for mama to work through the physical and emotional requirements to perform an instinctual feat.

Labor isn’t a show for family members. Family can be well meaning, but that still doesn’t mean they need to be present.

Now go look up "Sphincter's law" mamas. 😊

Follow on IG:
www.instagram.com/Doulaviewllc



**p #💩 #👀

07/27/2022
07/21/2022
06/02/2022
05/24/2022

In a chat with actress Rachel Bilson, Dax Shepard explained how his wife Kristen Bell framed s*x when explaining it to their young girls—and we're...

04/07/2022

Everyone should have this information. 👇🏼
This way, if you choose to have IV fluids and or need them, newborn weight and loss/gain can account for this in the first weeks.
In 2011 a team of Canadian researchers published a study which linked routine IV fluids with excessive weight loss in newborns. The study concluded that it takes about 24 hours for babies to correct their fluid state and therefore a true birth weight should be done at 24 hours. Here's the issue with with weighing baby at birth with a mother who received IV fluids: those fluids not only over saturate the mother (throwing her into an electrolyte imbalance), but this same thing happens to baby!
So let's say you had the typical hospital birth..labored for 12 hours with fluids being pumped into you the entire time. Baby is born weighing 8lbs 8oz. You go to your 3 day postpartum checkup and baby is down to 7lbs 5oz! Well..thats over a whole pound lost. The provider you see suddenly encourages you to supplement with formula because your baby is losing too much weight. You wonder how could this be...youve been nursing round the clock, changed plenty of wet diapers. How could this happen? .
You spent months researching breastfeeding and all its benefits for it to come down to this?..and at only 3 days postpartum! You feel like you've failed, but you fear that your baby is starving. So what do you do? You supplement...with formula. Next your milk supply drops because you're not bringing baby to the breast, but rather to the bottle. Before you know it you have an exclusively formula fed baby. .
This scenario is SO common, and I believe receiving IV fluids in labor is a HUGE part of the problem. As if the obstetric community hasn't failed women enough..now their "harmless" interventions caused you to lose all confidence in your ability to feed & nourish your baby from your breasts. .
So what can you do???
1. STAY OUT OF THE SYSTEM!
2. Say NO to routine IV fluids
3. Bring this study to attention if this happens to you
4. Continue nursing your baby. Bring baby to breast as first solution when she cries
5. Nurse in demand NOT on schedule



Edited to add:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1948093/

References:
https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1746-4358-6-9

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3174114/pdf/1746-4358-6-9.pdf

https://www.nfaap.org/sso/sso.aspx?nfredirect=https%3A%2F%2Fpediatrics.aappublications.org%2Fcontent%2F127%2F1%2Fe171.abstract%3Fsso%3D1%26sso_redirect_count%3D2%26nfstatus%3D401%26nftoken%3D00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000%26nfstatusdescription%3DERROR%253A%2520No%2520local%2520token&no-redirect

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine put this as well in one of its 2017 protocols.
https://abm.memberclicks.net/assets/DOCUMENTS/PROTOCOLS/3-supplementation-protocol-english.pdf

https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/08/15/study-shows-link-between-maternal-iv-fluids-and-weight-loss-in-newborns/

Good info form evidence based birth.
https://evidencebasedbirth.com/iv-fluids-during-labor/

03/23/2022

Your body will know when it is time to breath your baby down if left alone without intervention.
Even more so the fetal ejection reflex (Ferguson) will guide your body to involuntarily release your baby down and out without forced pushing.

10/08/2021
03/16/2021

“They told you about the contractions, but did they tell you about the expansion? Did they tell you how your body would open to make way for the whole universe to pass through? Did they tell you how your heart would explode with a love bigger than anything you’ve ever known as you pulled your baby to your chest?

They told you about the ring of fire but did they tell you about the crown of stars?

Did they mention that there’s a moment when your baby enters the world and you leave your body and touch the heavens and become the light of a million galaxies? Did they tell you how the pain of stretching to receive your child would be more exquisite than any sensation you’ve felt?

They told you would scream but did they tell you about how you would roar? Did they tell you about the power that would rise up from your belly as you called your baby forth with your mighty voice? Did they tell you how you would embody the wild woman within you and breathe fire with your song?

They told you would bleed, but did they tell you how that sacred blood wouldn’t scare you? How you would feel grateful for that magical liquid of life as it trickled down your leg- how you would honor its flow and how it would help you heal a lifetime of hating your body’s bleeding cycles.
They told these stories and taught you to fear birth, to fear your power, to fear yourself. But you’re stronger and wiser than that mama. You know that birth is your divine dance, your soul’s song, your moment with God, and you walk fearlessly into her open arms”.

~ Catie Atkinson of Spirit Y Sol
www.spiritysol.com

Art by Amanda Greavette Fine Art
www.amandagreavette.com

02/11/2021

Open Letter to Health Units, Politicians, Policy Makers & Medical Practitioners in Regards to the Institutionalized Abuses of Pregnant…

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