Ride the Wave Birth

09/04/2019

*** Update: I've learned that Jabina Coleman IBCLC was the person who coined the quote pictured here. Unfortunately, Facebook isn't letting me tag them, but I wanted to give them credit. ***

The day I had my cesarean, a family member visited me in the hospital. As she entered my room, she walked right past me and directly to my baby. I felt invisible. I needed love in that moment. I was at the beginning of what would be a long struggle post-partum and I needed to be seen.

with
・・・
It takes a village to raise a child, but also to raise a mother. Motherhood is sometimes scary, overwhelming, lonely, tiring, exhausting and oh so hard. We need a village. People who can give us support, make us laugh, love us, telling us they've been there, giving us a smile - someone who holds us, the mothers. Be in that village, just like you need other moms, you need to be there for other moms too. ❤️

08/08/2019

🤣🤣🤣

New study suggests: Pregnant woman silently yearns for opinions of complete strangers on her health, readiness for childrearing, and attractiveness...

07/13/2019

"For centuries, lullabies have helped soothe babies to sleep. But it's only in the last couple decades that research showed, for premature babies, these slow, simple tunes could be life-changing." 🎼🎵

Research shows that music therapy in neonatal intensive care units helps infants get released from the hospital early. Experts in Florida helped pioneer

06/17/2019

Yes!!! Diversity matters, especially in the birthing room.

The black maternal mortality crisis is not improving. Doulas can help.

06/17/2019

05/30/2019

👶🏻😇😆

05/22/2019

This Seussical birthing plan is perfect!! 😍

We agree!

05/22/2019

In some places, pelvic floor PT is standard of care after birth. In the U.S., many people are not aware that it is offered or that it can be highly beneficial for most people, regardless of how they gave birth.
Do you have any experience with pelvic floor therapy? Was it helpful?

https://mamaonthemend.com/blog/lets-make-seeing-a-pelvic-physical-therapist-after-giving-birth-our-new-normal?fbclid=IwAR3Librplllu82spAqDX7CXrEQnfOu8HRarg1ctchteOEToM_iC_kp1tgbw

Going to a physical therapist (PT) after pregnancy and childbirth isn’t standardized care in America, but it absolutely should be.I sat down with three therapists at Body Connect Health & Wellness (where I get treatment) to learn more about why every mom should check in with a pelvic PT at

04/30/2019

Real talk.

04/25/2019

Amazing! As a disclaimer, I do not recommend getting an X-ray during pregnancy due to the adverse health risks, but as a study of human anatomy this is pretty cool.

Just a reminder of the strength of capability that lies within the body.

stand with women and pregnant people as they grow another human. is normal. is normal.

Thanks for the inspiration,

04/23/2019

Graffiti in Barcelona

04/18/2019

Yessss! It's so true. Emotional support, transportation, and lugging around all the gear. 😂😂😂

04/18/2019

🤯🤯🤯

Matthew Eledge and Elliot Dougherty of Omaha, Nebraska, needed a surrogate to carry their baby. They never expected she would turn out to be Matthew’s mother.

04/08/2019

I love this! A palette of cervical dilation. The human body is amazing, sculpting and painting its own little works of art. 🎨

How amazing... our bodies are magic! ✨ That's what 10 centimeters looks like - ready for baby's head to slip on through!

via SCV Birth Center

04/07/2019

Little monsters, terrorizing moms everywhere!

This mom survived 9 months of breastfeeding a biter.

03/31/2019

How to show compassion for someone who has lost a baby. 💜

💖

03/25/2019

The problem rests in how we treat mothers as a society: before, during, and after birth. How women make that transition into motherhood--physically, emotionally, and financially--is crucial. Having a thriving community and the economic resources to support new parents at every step of the way is key. Not to mention, reducing birth trauma in the delivery room (i.e. supportive birth team that empowers the mother to make her own choices in labor) and giving moms the time and care needed to fully recover before heading back to work. It takes a village!

"But if we really want to tackle postpartum depression, we need more than a drug.

Research has shown that postpartum depression is more common in countries with high income inequality, high rates of maternal and infant mortality, and a work-life balance skewed toward work. (Hello, America.)

The clinical definition of postpartum depression is a 'medical complication of childbirth,' but this doesn’t take into account women’s emotional lives, and the fact that the way our culture treats some new mothers amounts to abuse."

We need to pay more attention to the way our culture abuses and isolates new mothers.

03/24/2019

"In the new media world that we live in our perceptions of how we think we should look may not be healthy, achievable or right for a particular individual. This campaign hopes to reduce some of the pressures that new mums [may be] feeling by celebrating the body changes that come with motherhood rather than trying to edit them out."

I remember the first time I really looked at myself after giving birth to my fourth son. It was an accident; I had been avoiding cameras and mirrors for the first week when I happened upon a surprise mirror in my mom's washroom. After taking a bath.…

03/24/2019

Pure joy! 🌞🌈

03/12/2019

Let's rephrase this:

"Doctors urge common sense and trust in the birthing process to reduce C-sections"

There. That's better. 👍

For many women, a safe, healthy labor lasts longer than the times cited as normal, according to guidelines from the nation's obstetricians. Giving women more time ups the odds of a va**nal delivery.

03/12/2019

Less va**nal checks and other unnecessary procedures, which interrupt the flow of labor and slow down uterine contractions!

Did you know labor is less about your cervix opening and more about the thickness and contracting power of the uterus moving baby down and out? READ more about what empowering birth expert Carla Hartley has to say about this revelatory perspective in birth physiology!

"We think in pictures and we should be painting accurate pictures. The cervix nor the va**na bloom. The cervix is not a zip lock bag. The purpose of labor is NOT the creation of an opening or a hole... The purpose of labor contractions and retractions is to BUILD the fundus, which will, when it is ready, EJECT the baby, like a piston. Without a nice thick fundus there is no power to get baby out....the cervix does not dilate out....it dilates UP as a result of the effort to pull muscles up into the uterus to push muscles up to the fundus. The cervical dilation is secondary to that. The cervix is pulled up as a result of the building of the fundus. Assigning a number to cervical dilation is of little consequence and we make a huge mistake by interpreting progress or predicting time of birth to that number. Any experienced midwife or OB can tell you that the cervix can be manipulated and that a woman whose cervix is at 7 could have the baby in a few minutes or a few hours.

If more providers and educators knew the truth about birth physiology, we could make a huge difference for mothers. What is important is to keep her well supported for the purpose of the appropriate chemistry, to keep her well hydrated and nourished for muscle strength, and to believe in her. We should be supporting her so that her physiology and that of her baby are unhindered, so they can finish what they started.

We should not be measuring, poking, or interpreting her labor. THIS CHANGE in teaching about labor could make such a difference for women who are imagining what is happening in their bodies during labor. How much more strength might they have if they have an accurate picture?" -Carla Hartley

03/08/2019

The impossible double standard of the working mother in American culture. Also keep in mind that breastfeeding and caregiving are not compensated, despite how much time these domestic jobs require.

Happy International Women's Day!

“We expect women to work like they don’t have children, and raise children as if they don’t work.”
- journalist Amy Westervelt

*Illustration by the phenomenal Laura Breiling.

03/08/2019

SERIOUSLY. HOLDING YOUR OWN BABY IS AN ADDITIONAL FEE OF $40.

You probably didn't know this, but hospitals in the United States actually charge new moms to hold their baby for a couple minutes after giving birth. A tiny moment of 'skin-to'skin' contact between mother and child costs more than many people earn in two or three hours of work. The healthcare system in the US is greedy and inhumane.

03/07/2019

❤️❤️❤️ "After African-American women, Native-American women face the second-highest rate of death during childbirth, more than twice the rate of white women. In 2003, the Tewa Birthing Project began to examine the disparities in health care for Indigenous women, particularly by creating more access to the support provided by a midwife or doula."

Tewa Women United takes a holistic view of motherhood, strengthening cultural knowledge and healing historic trauma at the same time.

03/07/2019

03/05/2019

Access to midwives and birth doulas should not be a privilege, but a maternal right, as it has always been in traditional cultures. There is nothing "new age" or "trendy" when it comes to labor support. Over the past few centuries, western medicine has pushed midwives and doulas to the fringes, and only now are we (in the U.S.) beginning to understand and embrace the many benefits they bring into the birthing room, improving health outcomes for mothers and babies alike.

02/24/2019

🙃🙃🙃

02/19/2019

Fantastic news! Birth doulas are now a covered benefit in 3 states. Given all the health benefits for moms and babies, this just makes sense!

New York is set to become the third state Medicaid program to cover pregnancy and birth coaches for low-income women as a way of lowering the maternal mortality rate.

02/16/2019

Surprise! is natural and healthy, so cuddle away, not that anyone needed an excuse to do so 💕

New research suggests that holding your baby as much as possible can help contribute to brain development. So feel free to cuddle as much as you want!

02/12/2019

"According to the National Center for Victims of Crimes, 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys will be a victim of sexual abuse. These abused children all have one thing in common – they eventually become adults. Naturally, many of these adults become parents but have never spoken about what happened to them, leaving trauma symptoms to lie dormant, festering, until acts of Parenting 101 expose them to triggers which can send them spiraling. Most struggle silently, alone, and confused. It doesn’t have to be that way. And in fact, it shouldn’t be."

"I often asked myself, 'What the hell is wrong with me that I feel like this?'"