Ambers Guided Blessings; Pregnancy, Birth and Babies

10/10/2022

When a friend or family member has a baby, we are all eager to be of service in any way we can. Unfortunately, the kind of help we tend to offer sometimes isn’t in alignment with a new-moms actual needs. If you want to get real specific, I’m talking about holding the baby. While holding a fresh ...

07/23/2022

Scientists have discovered an odorless scent molecule called hexadecanal, or HEX, that is released by humans and impacts aggressive behavior. The HEX molecule is the most abundant molecule released on the newborn baby's head. The researchers found that this molecule reduced aggression in males (biologically important as infanticide is a relatively common event in the mammalian world) and increased aggression in females (key to infant protection). We have shared with parents that when they are skin to skin with their newborn they should remove the baby's hat to allow them to inhale the scent of their newborn as it elicits an entire range of activity in the parental brain. This is one more reason to take a deep sniff! (Mishor et al., 2022)

Source: Eva Mishor et al, Sniffing the human body volatile hexadecanal blocks aggression in men but triggers aggression in women, Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg1530

07/03/2022

People tell us not to feed for comfort while they sip their sleepy-time tea.
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People tell us to not cuddle our children to sleep while they spoon their partner.
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People tell us our child is too old to breastfeed while they sip their cow's milk.
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People tell us not to nurse or rock our babies to sleep while they sell us the latest gadget that’s supposed to do the exact same thing.
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People tell us to let them cry, while they go comfort a friend.
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People tell us responding to our child is creating bad habits, while they smoke and drink.
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Man, do they tell us! But I’m not them and neither are you. Because we hear our instincts loud and clear and they will not be silenced.
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Because even though we are exhausted, we know our baby’s cry is not a protest, but a communication.
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Because we know their need for us at 3am is not a manipulation.
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Because even though our backs and hips ache from sleeping in that dang c position, we know that little indent on the right side of our bed will soon fade away - and we would welcome that pain in our body just to feel them latch one more time.
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People tell us, but we know. we know this is important, we know that this is right for us and our baby, and we know this is just how it’s supposed to be.
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We know mama, they may tell us, but let’s rest in our know.
-Melissa Ostroth
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Absolutely adore these words by

📷 .photography of beautiful mama and babe

via and 💞

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💞Raising Humans Kind: http://t.co/T8goym3P6Z 💞
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www.LRKnost.com

Fighting a rare, incurable cancer, but I'm still here!💞 L.R.

05/23/2022

We were just talking about this in class. A good read. Let’s be the change!

I recently went to visit a new mama with a two-week-old baby. This mama wasn't a client of mine but rather the daughter of a friend whom I offered to look in on. When I arrived with a pot of soup and some lactation slice in my bag, I found her trying to make a snack for her boisterous three-year-old whilst juggling a fussy newborn in her arms. Her husband was at work and would be till late, there was washing piled up waiting to be folded, she hadn't eaten breakfast or had a shower even though it was nearly midday.

As I took over the snack making duties and put the soup on to warm, I asked how she was getting on even though I had a fair idea just by the look in her eyes. She forced a smile as she spoke about how she was 'ok' and 'a bit tired' but I could see the tears gathering in the corner of her eyes and it broke my heart to see her try to put on a brave face, trying to cover up a situation that was far from ideal. This was a new mother who was alone, isolated, lonely, exhausted and overwhelmed and despite all of this, was still trying to pretend as though she was coping and even enjoying this time.

I also noticed that the house was full of cards and bunches of flowers ...... dead ones ......

When I mentioned all of the gifts, cards and bouquets she said 'yes, people have been so kind'.

Hmmmmmm I thought. They might have been kind, but they've also been completely thoughtless.

This new mother didn't need cards and bunches of flowers to slowly wilt and die on the mantelpiece. She needed support, she needed love, she needed another pair of hands to take the weight off her shoulders. She needed healthy food, she needed a caring touch, she needed a listening ear and she needed practical help.

I'm sorry but dead flowers don't cut it ....

The care of new mothers and parents is so woefully underappreciated and overlooked that cards and flowers rather than support and practical help have become the norm in our culture. However, as I explained to this new mama as I folded her washing and cuddled her baby so she could eat her lunch, if she had lived in India or China it would have been totally different. Historically in these cultures (and in most other indigenous cultures worldwide), there would be no snack making for the toddler or washing to fold. Instead, she would be snuggled in bed resting with her baby as others took care of her every need. She would be having a daily massage and have her belly bound for comfort. There would be delicious and nutritious meals served to her and her toddler would be amused and cared for by others giving her time to rest and recover from her birth and to fall in love and breastfeed her newborn.

The difficult truth is that the leading cause of death for new mothers after birth in most Western countries is now su***de. Let that sink in for a moment.

It is my opinion that this devastating statistic is a direct correlation to our 'bounce back' culture that doesn't honour a 'slow postpartum' but instead insists new mothers rush back into their old lives, their old jobs, their old jeans. Insta perfect. But to what cost?

How have we got it so wrong? And what can we do to reverse this damaging trajectory?

I believe that education is the key. Education about the importance of the postpartum weeks. Education about the fact that a newborn baby cannot be optimally nourished and nurtured by a mother or parent who is exhausted and depleted and whose cup is empty. Education about the value we should place on the care of new mothers and parents so that they thrive rather than just survive the weeks following birth, setting them up for a positive start to their parenting journey.

I'm determined to make this happen. I would love for you to join my Slow Postpartum revolution. Let's make the world a better place, one mother, baby and family at a time ...

With love Jojo ###

PS: You can find out how to join my Slow Postpartum movement in the comments

04/20/2022

They are two healthy babies, three months old, exclusive breastfeeding, and, believe me, neither the one on the left is obese, nor the one on the right is undernourished.

They are variations of normality!

Most likely, when they start crawling, the one on the left will slim down a little and the one on the right will gain muscle mass.

Do not compare your child to other children. Each of us is different.

Dr. Barn

04/08/2022

Transverse lie is normal in early pregnancy until about 26 weeks or so. By 29-30 weeks we expect baby to be head down.

The Forward-leaning Inversion is a classic at Spinning Babies® for helping to move baby from transverse. In short, it is a technique that creates room in the lower uterus. The baby can then use that space—with the natural pull of gravity—to snuggle into a more ideal position for birth.

The Forward-leaning Inversion was born out of (no pun intended) a realization of Dr. Carol Phillips during a birth that she attended—and it is to Dr. Carol that we owe the credit for this wonderful technique:

Dr. Carol Phillips, DC, friend and teacher of Gail Tully’s, developed the Forward-leaning Inversion after watching the sudden ease of a birth following a ride down three flights of stairs in a gurney to the ambulance. The mother had been pushing and not able to move the baby. Dr. Carol had done all the techniques she usually saw get good results. So the midwives decided to transfer from the home birth to the hospital and get the baby born there. They just didn’t want mom walking down three flights of stairs at ten cm just in case baby did come out on the stairs. So they called the ambulance crew in to help. They carried mom down on the stretcher headfirst—in case the baby came out on the stairs. When they put the mom into the ambulance, swoosh, out came baby crying and kicking. What made that possible, Carol asked herself? The ride down the stairs head down! What anatomy did that effect?! The utero-sacro ligaments to the cervix! Dr. Carol figured out a posture to replicate the ride this mama took. The Forward-leaning Inversion was born.

As with any other technique in pregnancy and labor, please be sure to have help when doing it. There are medical contraindications to consider, such as high blood pressure or another risk of stroke. You can learn more about the Forward-leaning Inversion on our website, and consider reading it before trying it at home!

https://www.spinningbabies.com/pregnancy-birth/techniques/forward-leaning-inversion/

11/24/2021

A childbirth educator considers “the place of change” in labor that transcends stages and what she sees as the overemphasis on pushing. Read more…. Getting Pushy

10/25/2021

Love this! 🤍

"Breastfeeding women who have been infected with Covid-19 continue to secrete virus-neutralizing antibodies into their milk for up to 10 months, data suggests."

"Besides emphasizing the important role breastfeeding could play in helping to protect infants from the disease, researchers believe that such antibodies could be used to treat people with severe Covid-19, preventing their condition from getting worse."

Some good news for your day! Did you know this?

10/23/2021

“When pregnant, the cells of the baby migrate into the mothers bloodstream and then circle back into the baby, it’s called “fetal-maternal microchimerism”.⁠

For 41 weeks, the cells circulate and merge backwards and forwards, and after the baby is born, many of these cells stay in the mother’s body, leaving a permanent imprint in the mothers tissues, bones, brain, and skin, and often stay there for decades. Every single child a mother has afterwards will leave a similar imprint on her body, too.

Even if a pregnancy doesn't go to full term or if you have an abortion, these cells still migrate into your bloodstream.

Research has shown that if a mother's heart is injured, fetal cells will rush to the site of the injury and change into different types of cells that specialize in mending the heart.

The baby helps repair the mother, while the mother builds the baby.

How cool is that?

This is often why certain illnesses vanish while pregnant.

It’s incredible how mothers bodies protect the baby at all costs, and the baby protects & rebuilds the mother back - so that the baby can develop safely and survive.

Think about crazy cravings for a moment. What was the mother deficient in that the baby made them crave?

Studies have also shown cells from a fetus in a mothers brain 18 years after she gave birth. How amazing is that?”

If you’re a mom you know how you can intuitively feel your child even when they are not there….Well, now there is scientific proof that moms carry them for years and years even after they have given birth to them.

I find this to be so very beautiful.

06/29/2021

This is beautifully described and hope each and every one of you ha e someone like this in your life!

“The last two times I’ve arrived at my client’s place, she has taken a nap as soon as I got there.

Today, she napped for about 3 hours.

While she rested, I folded a few loads of laundry, looked after her older children, cleaned the kitchen, bathroom and living room, organized some things she hadn’t gotten around to and made sausage, potato, and kale soup.

When she woke up, I continued to clean and organize so she could rest.

We chatted about sleep associations and how to set up an environment to promote sleep for her newborn. I made her an herbal infusion and we ended the day with an hour massage.

I’m working to change the way we support new moms. Much of what I do for my clients is not the role of a postpartum doula. But that’s okay.

Here’s why…what I do for new moms is what family does for new moms in others cultures.

They do everything that needs to be done around the house so the new mom can focus on resting and bonding with her baby.

I’m bringing those cultural traditions to moms here in my community…a community where many of us have been left unsupported and disconnected.

You deserve this type of care as a mom within your first two years postpartum. Don’t focus on those who forgot about you. I remembered and I am here for you!

It is so important that we hold new mothers to a high regard and treat them with so much love and kindness in their postpartum time.

Most of us who are on the outside looking in to the life of a new mom only see warm moments where they are cuddling and loving on their babies.

We rarely see those moments where they are breaking down because they are sleep deprived and struggling to find balance in their transition into motherhood. Many new moms feel disconnected with themselves and their community and are hanging on by a thread.

Every opportunity you get, show kindness to the new mom and let them know you are there to hold space for them and show your support with absolutely no judgment. Nurture them and help them feel empowered in their postpartum journey.”



Credit: Kilah Lawson

06/11/2020

Know what your getting into here. Know your rights and options.

05/23/2020