Midwife and Doula Services, LLC

01/15/2026

Leave the bag of water intact!!

01/07/2026

12/25/2025

Hmmmm.... epidurals during labor separate mom from baby...
This makes sense......instead of choosing - get up out of the bed, move around, eat for energy, guzzle fluids! Better yet- think ahead! Choose a homebirth with a seasoned midwife.

12/24/2025

An important discussion in my "placenta 101" class- held following every birth I attended-early on in the hospital setting & for 15 years attending births at home!

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Placentas don’t have an expiration date.

They don’t hit 40 weeks, throw up their hands, and say, “Welp, my shift is over. Good luck, kid.”

The placenta is a living, dynamic organ that adapts, grows, compensates, and supports the baby as long as the pregnancy is healthy.

It doesn’t suddenly “stop working” at 39, 40, 41, or even 42 weeks.

What does happen?

Providers project their fear of due dates onto your body.

They treat 40 weeks like a deadline instead of a range.

They blame the placenta for every convenience-based induction they want to schedule.

But the science is clear:
⭐ Healthy placentas show normal function past 40 weeks.
⭐ Many babies are born at 41–42 weeks with completely normal placentas.
⭐ “Postdates placenta failure” is often a manufactured fear, not a physiological fact.

A placenta doesn’t just quit.

It signals. It shifts. It gives clues.

Stop telling parents their bodies have an expiration date.

Stop pretending the placenta is some unreliable organ that randomly gives up.

It continues to function normally until birth, unless there is an actual medical condition causing impairment and that condition shows signs LONG before labor is induced for “just in case.”

-Love,
Flor Cruz
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𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, & 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭!

12/15/2025

Valuable information! Share widely!!!!!

THE SH0CKING REASON SOME BABIES DON’T MOVE FOR HOURS AND WHY MOTHERS IGNORE IT 😭🤰🔥

Your baby has a pattern.
A routine.
A way they normally move.

So when your baby becomes unusually quiet:
✔️ No kicks
✔️ Very soft movements
✔️ Long silence
✔️ Something feels wrong

DO NOT IGNORE IT.

Baby movement is the only language your baby has to communicate.

WHAT CAN CAUSE DECREASED MOVEMENT 🚨

1️⃣ Baby not getting enough oxygen
2️⃣ Placenta problems
3️⃣ Cord around the neck
4️⃣ Low amniotic fluid
5️⃣ Infection
6️⃣ High blood pressure
7️⃣ Medication effects
8️⃣ Baby sleeping too long
9️⃣ Baby in distress

Sometimes it’s harmless…
Sometimes it’s an emergency.

WHAT TO DO IMMEDIATELY 🔥

👉 Lie on your left side
👉 Drink cold water
👉 Eat something sweet
👉 Focus for 1–2 hours

If still no movement or movements are weak, RUSH TO THE HOSPITAL.

Do NOT wait till evening.
Do NOT sleep on it.
Do NOT “hope it will come back.”
Early action can save your baby’s life.

WHEN TO SEEK HELP FAST 🚨

👉 No movement for hours
👉 Movement suddenly reduces
👉 Movement becomes too weak
👉 You just feel something is wrong

Your instincts are powerful, trust them.

A baby that moves well is a baby that is well.
A quiet baby might be asking for help.

Checking baby movements regularly is not overreacting
it is life-saving.

You will not lose your baby.
Your pregnancy will end in joy.
Your testimony will be loud. 🙏💛

Keep reading my post for more health and maternity care tips they don't always teach in antenatal class

Preshcute utonwa

12/15/2025

Beautiful!

12/13/2025

take these images in! and feel them!

12/13/2025

tears!

12/09/2025

Yes! Yes! Yes! Be Bold!!

Birth Rules You Didn’t Know You Could Break

1. “You don’t have to give birth on your back.”
Hospitals default to it, but it’s the least effective position.

2. “You don’t have to push when someone tells you to.”
Your body’s urge to push is more effective than coached, forced pushing.

3. “You don’t have to stay glued to the bed.”
Movement helps labor progress and reduces pain, even with an epidural.

4. “You don’t have to accept cervical checks.”
They’re optional and not always necessary to know how labor is progressing.

5. “You don’t have to be continuously monitored.”
Intermittent monitoring is safe for most low-risk pregnancies and gives you freedom to move.

6. “You don’t have to accept an induction just because you hit 40 weeks.”

Evidence shows many babies need more time, not intervention.
7. “You don’t have to deliver on hospital timelines.”
Your labor isn’t “too slow” just because it’s not fast.

8. “You don’t have to say ‘yes’ the moment something is suggested.”

Pause, breathe, ask questions, YOU get to decide.
9. “You don’t have to push for two hours straight.”
Resting in between, changing positions, and waiting for the fetal ejection reflex is effective and safer.

10. “You don’t have to be separated from your baby after birth.”
Skin-to-skin immediately is evidence-based and beneficial for both of you.

11. “You don’t have to allow visitors right after birth.”
You can choose privacy, bonding time, and space.

12. “You don’t have to labor under bright lights.”
You can dim the room, close blinds, and ask for a calmer environment.

13. “You don’t have to be quiet.”
Birth noises help relax your body and guide your pushing.

14. “You don’t have to labor in the same room the whole time.”
Walk the hall, shower, use a birth ball, movement matters.

15. “You don’t have to stop eating and drinking in labor.”
Evidence shows most people can safely eat and hydrate.

16. “You don’t have to get an IV ‘just in case.’”
Oral hydration and a saline lock are options for low-risk labors.

17. “You don’t have to lie still after getting the epidural.”
You can still switch sides, sit up, use the peanut ball.

18. “You don’t have to apologize for advocating for yourself.”
Asking questions, saying no, or requesting alternatives is your RIGHT.