Birthing Balance: Doula Services

08/09/2022

01/06/2021

What an awesome image of a united team working together ❤️ partner catching baby, mama working hard and her mama breathing with her and holding her 🤍


Repost from .doula

I am absolutely in love with this powerful moment so beautifully

I love how her mother is here, breathing with her. Filling her with strength.

Thank you and for sharing ♥️💛

12/31/2020

🧪Metrohealth Main Campus provides free walk-in pregnancy tests M-F. No appointment or insurance required!
🔽
https://www.metrohealth.org/obgyn/pregnancy-tests

See Your Doctor Safely | COVID-19 (440-592-6843) | Visitation Policy | Obtenga la información más reciente aquí

12/24/2020

“Abstract
Microplastics are particles smaller than five millimeters deriving from the degradation of plastic objects present in the environment. Microplastics can move from the environment to living organisms, including mammals. In this study, six human placentas, collected from consenting women with physiological pregnancies, were analyzed by Raman Microspectroscopy to evaluate the presence of microplastics. In total, 12 microplastic fragments (ranging from 5 to 10 μm in size), with spheric or irregular shape were found in 4 placentas (5 in the fetal side, 4 in the maternal side and 3 in the chorioamniotic membranes); all microplastics particles were characterized in terms of morphology and chemical composition. All of them were pigmented; three were identified as stained polypropylene a thermoplastic polymer, while for the other nine it was possible to identify only the pigments, which were all used for man-made coatings, paints, adhesives, plasters, finger paints, polymers and cosmetics and personal care products.”

Health impact is unknown but scientists say particles may cause long-term damage to foetuses

12/16/2020

😂😝

11/30/2020

“For parents with noise sensitivity. Helping you remain calm - because caregivers deserve caring too 👼 🍼🤱

✅ Buy 2 get 3! Use Code: 3FOR2.
✅ Buy 1 get the 2nd 50% off! Use Code: GET50.”

I’ve never considered the need for this! The comments are also very supportive.

Best Earplugs 2020

07/25/2020

This is not what you had planned. This is not what you’d envisioned. There are no visits from friends, no loving doula bringing you soup, no “mommy and me” yoga classes, no coffee dates, no stroller walks through the park. There is empty space where you had planned comfort and company. There are long days with no one but your little one to talk to and this big transition to navigate all alone.

I know it’s lonely, mama. I know the walls of your house feel tight and the days feel so long, and you crave a warm hand on your knee and the soft embrace of a friend. You wish for someone by your side to marvel at this beautiful baby of yours and to wrap an arm around you when the feelings get too big and scary.

We were never meant to do this alone. Motherhood has never been a solitary sport. And yet here we are, in this odd chapter of isolation and distance, with no choice but to do it by ourselves.

But mama, know this- We are alone. Together. You are surrounded all the other mothers who are navigating this tender time in isolation. You are held by all of us who have walked the path before you and who know how much you must be hurting. You are wrapped in the warm embrace of mama earth, as she too settles into this time of slowness and healing.

This too shall pass. And when it does, hugs and coffee dates and visits from friends will taste so much sweeter. Soft kisses on your cheek and arms around your waist and gentle laughter in your ear will be the joyful medicine after this trying time.

Until then, hunker down mama. Find the coziest, warmest spot on your couch, sink into the pile of unfolded laundry, and sleep the Spring away, with that sweet babe warm on your chest.

Shared from ❤

02/26/2020

Repost from
———
We weren’t meant to raise children in isolation. But many American families don’t have this luxury. The US is the only wealthy country in the world that doesn’t require paid maternity leave, let alone paternity leave. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
⁣⁣
So this study from Sweden was particularly interesting to me as a psychiatrist who treats women with pregnancy related mental health conditions. They gave fathers paid leave, but not just 30 days after delivery - fathers were given the flexibility to use it on days the mother needs extra support, even if it just means a couple of days at home at a time. Essentially as needed time off, 30 days for the whole year. In Sweden, mothers are still home for this year (important to note!). ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Researchers found in the first 6 months postpartum, there was a 26% decrease in anti-anxiety prescriptions in comparison to mom’s who gave birth right before the policy was enacted. They also found a 14% decrease in hospitalizations or specialist visits, and 11% less antibiotic prescriptions. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
⁣⁣
One of the places families used the time off was for mom to go to her own doctors appointments and seek care. She could do this because her partner was able to stay home and provide childcare. Lack of childcare is consistently one of the biggest barriers for women seeking mental⁣⁣ health treatment in the postpartum period.⁣ ⁣
⁣
⁣⁣
Did your partner have any time off after your baby’s birth? How would your postpartum period have been different if your partner had time off?
⁣⁣

11/24/2019

Around 40 per cent of women in a survey experienced phantom fetal kicks, which is the feeling of a kicking fetus years after giving birth

11/19/2019

A good visual to post before baby arrives.

09/25/2019

For me the rebozo is not only a tool for pregnancy, nor do I use it only to carry my baby. For me the rebozo is a means bonding with my children, a way to take care of them while they sleep, the way I give them my love , and my warmth. I use my rebozo as protection and as an element that keeps me safe and close to those that I love.
I use it with my children and with my relatives in the same way, (non technique) my rebozo is part of my identity and my ancestral heritage.
If you want to know the deep history of the rebozo come to one of my workshops, and remember if an indigenous person tells you that it is not ok to learn ancestral knowledge from non indigenous people you should listen. Enough with cultural appropriation.

09/12/2019

Some are repetitive but useful!

These small gestures make a big difference.

08/31/2019

A grandmother in Vietnam breastfeeding her grandchild. It is a common practice in many cultures for a grandmother to relactate so that she may breastfeed her grandchild. It is truly an act of love.





UPDATE: We are getting a TON of questions about colostrum and induced lactation and relactation and how menopause affects this, etc! We will be going LIVE in 2 minutes with an IBCLC to answer any questions here!

UPDATE: A lot of people seem to be curious about how this is possible. Breastmilk production is all about supply and demand. The breasts can continue to make milk indefinitely as long as there is a demand for it. People also seem to be curious about how menopause might affect this. Pituitary glands are necessary in the production of breastmilk and menopause does not restrict the pituitary glands ability to function. So, yes, even after menopause it is still possible to produce enough milk to nourish a baby. Loving all of the conversation around this?! Aren't women's bodies just amazing? We can do so many things that we didn't even know 😉

08/20/2019

CW: infant loss

"I couldn’t believe the suffering. We can’t not support these families.”

08/02/2019

❤️❤️❤️

07/18/2019

Researchers found our ancestors had a much different take on breastfeeding two million years ago. Australopithecus africanus mothers breastfed for much longer due to food shortages.