Breathe, Balance, Birth

04/30/2024

It’s time for a change.

17.6K likes, 645 comments. “ care in is bad.”

04/27/2024

“It used to be that if a baby was born unscathed, with all its fingers and toes, that was considered a successful birth. But that’s a low bar. Penny’s biggest gift was daring people to imagine the childbirth care we all deserve.”

Thank you Penny for challanaing the norm. Your legacy continues on.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/health/penny-simkin-dead.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR19XwYOO7JJQyogY8xAFqKJOCECaT54Xd6GFC4O8OGHpyuSKdHdgzTQWEQ_aem_ARi_oyXJ9vD8M6UdXuZSPC7Eqnq0CPvWiK40NHC7I-VBgzNv0WXGQfEdO_KVc8WxuQSAe7ArZae5MfZyYhJDMR_t

As a childbirth educator and maternal advocate, she promoted a profession that provides comfort to women giving birth and offers postpartum care as well.

04/05/2024

I'd like to introduce you to a simple stretch and yoga routine that will help ease some aches and pains and balance your body - that you can do from home!
Daily Essentials by Spinning Babies® has been crafted by midwife and creator of Spinning Babies Gail Tully and prenatal yoga instructor and doula Sarah Longacre. This digital download offers

➡️ 35 minutes stretch routine - Daily Activities
➡️ Tips for keeping your body balanced and avoiding pain as you go about your day - Move Smart
➡️ A special tip to help you find comfortable positions that still allow gravity to help baby use gravity - Rest Smart℠
➡️ A demo to show the Forward-leaning Inversion
➡️ 28-minute Blooma Yoga Flow by Sarah Longacre

https://spinningbabies.ontraport.com/t?orid=10396&opid=26

*Affiliate link - thanks for your support!*

04/03/2024

A Body Balancing Session is for you if:

👉 are over 20 weeks pregnant AND
👉 have lower back pain OR
👉 have round ligament pain OR
👉 have sciatica pain OR
👉 have any pain during pregnancy OR
👉 you want to help your body be better prepared for labor

Basically - if you are over 20 weeks pregnant, a Body Balancing Session is for you!

Now in East Lansing and Farmington. Book today!

www.breathebalancebirth.com

04/01/2024

This is your reminder that announcing a pregnancy as a joke can be hurtful to those who experience infertility. One in eight couples experience issues with conceiving and maintaining pregnancy. Please be considerate as you fool around today.

03/30/2024

Did you know that doulas aren't just for birth? Doulas can help with various types of life situations.

➡ Postpartum Doulas - these doulas come to you after the baby is born and help you through the transition of having a newborn. These doulas can help you establish confidence in parenting skills, and get extra rest, and some will help with light housework and meal prep!
➡ Antenatal Doulas
➡ Fertility Doulas
➡ Death Doulas
➡ Full Spectrum Doulas

I'm sure I am missing many types - let me know in the comments below!

03/28/2024

Did you know that using a doula is evidence-based?

☑ Doulas decrease the risk of cesarean by 39%
☑ Doulas increase the chance of spontaneous vaginal birth by 8%
☑ Doulas decrease the use of pain relief medication in labor by 10%
☑ Doulas help shorten labor by an average of 41 minutes
☑ Doulas help increase birth satisfaction by 31%

Which one of these evidence-based benefits is new to you? Is there one that would be a reason for you to hire a doula?

03/26/2024

What do doulas do? The work of a doula falls under four basic categories:

✅ Physical support
✅ Emotional support
✅ Informational support
✅ Advocacy

What does it look like? Each doula is different - so if you are looking for a doula interview them and find out what they do. Some examples are:

➡ Physical support - comfort measures for labor like massage, hip squeezes, etc. Also teaching your partner these comfort measures is an option!
➡ Emotional support - empathetic listening, encouragement, and check-ins are all ways a doula can emotionally support you
➡ Informational support - doulas can help you understand your options, and help you figure out what questions to ask your provider so you can make a TRUE informed decision
➡ Advocacy - reminding you of your decisions, your questions, and your options. This can also include support of your decision regardless of their personal beliefs.

What should a doula NOT do(ie not in the scope of practice of a doula)?

❌ Provide medical care - doulas are not medical providers and are not trained to do vaginal exams, trace fetal heart tones or deliver your baby.
❌ Place their beliefs of how your birth should go on you - they should provide judgemental free support of your decisions.
❌ Provide medical advice - doulas should encourage discussions between providers and you so you can ask them questions and know your options.
❌ Speak in place of you - advocacy looks different for everyone. Doulas can help you communicate, make sure YOUR voice is heard, and make sure medical decisions are ones YOU feel YOU make, not made for you. Advocacy in doula work is not the doula leaving you out and speaking their opinions and stepping over you.

If you had a doula, what did the doula do for you"

03/24/2024

Happy Doula Appreciation Week!

While I have had to take a step back from taking doulas clients, being a doula is who I am. It is at my core. Whether I am working as a Labor and Delivery RN, teaching classes, doing bodywork or just living life with friends, supporting people is at my core. And I am so thankful for my doula, my doula friends and every doula I work with.

DId you have a doula? Tag the below and appreciate them with me!

03/23/2024

Evidence-based care is NOT:

❌ Following ONLY what research states

❌ Following ONLY what your provider's expertise dictates

Evidence-based care IS:

✅ A beautiful balance between what YOU want, what research shows, and your provider's clinical expertise

✅ Inclusion of your preferences, beliefs, and desires as an equal, if not forefront, part of the conversation - and you make the ultimate decision!

Did your provider follow true evidence-based care while you decided what was best for you and your baby during pregnancy?

03/21/2024

Some of my favorite Birth Affirmations are "simple". They are easy to say, but not always easy to believe. Trusting your ability to birth can help calm your nervous system, help oxytocin flow unrestricted (a required hormone for labor), and decrease adrenaline (a hormone that blocks oxytocin). How do you learn to trust your ability to birth?

➡ Listen to positive birth stories
➡ Follow educational and positive social media/podcasts about birth
➡ Educate yourself on labor, what to expect, and tools for comfort in labor by taking classes
➡ Get to know your body by taking my Spinning Babies® Birth Preparation Classes
➡ Know that your body is balanced and ready for labor by booking Balancing Sessions with me

What have you done to help yourself trust your ability to birth?

03/19/2024

It's officially spring today!

🥰 I love the new life feeling of spring
🥰 I love seeing green life sprout from what appears to be dead ground
🥰 I love the anticipation of summer

Spring, and all the feelings I have about spring, remind me of birth. Labor can feel long and never-ending - like winter. And right when there is a sensation of "this will never end", new life emerges. And this new life, this freshly born baby, is full of hope and anticipation for what will come.

Do you love spring? What is your favorite part? Let me know below!

03/17/2024

Today's "P" is Position. I saved the best for last as I am passionate about educating expecting parents on fetal positioning (and what can be done to help invite baby to an optimal position). My Balancing Sessions address fetal position during pregnancy. My Spinning Babies® Birth Preparation Classes helps you understand how your passageway affects your baby's position, and what can be done to invite your baby to correct any mispositioning.

Register today!

www.BreatheBalanceBirth.com

03/16/2024

Today's "P" is Passeway. Your pelvis, muscles, ligaments and fascia play a HUGE role in birth (and pregnancy!). Creating balance invites your baby to get into an ideal position and can lessen pregnancy aches and pains as well as create an easier birth.

Psssst - I can help with this!

Book today!

www.BreatheBalanceBirth.com

03/15/2024

Today's "P" is Psyche! Your psyche entering and throughout labor can also play a vital role in writing your birth story. It can slow labor down if you are stressed, yet a relaxed and trusting body can facilitate a smoother birth. Education and a supportive birth team all are part of creating an environment where relaxation and trust flow easier.

03/14/2024

Today's "P" is POWERS! Uterine contractions push baby down and out during a vaginal delivery. Medically, the hormone Pitocin can be given to assist with creating powerful contractions. While this is not a post on medical interventions (another day, another time), know that I will be discussing things that can be done to help your natural release of oxytocin (and it's connected to another P! - stay tuned!).

03/13/2024

The rest of the week I am going to post about the "Five P's of Labor" and how these five elements work together in birth. Today's P - Passenger. This is the baby! The baby plays a vital role during delivery, completing the cardinal movements of labor. If baby has issues completing these movements labor can be longer, more painful, or even necessitate a cesarean birth.

03/12/2024

My client's reviews speak for themselves.

Book your session today!

www.BreatheBalanceBirth.org