aliciacontreras.com

01/04/2022

This is a great opportunity to learn an other way to connect and enjoy time with your baby while you benefit his health and mood.

Join us for a 5 week course that will teach you how to massage your 0-12 month old baby.

06/03/2021

05/18/2021

We’re all doing the best we can. Emotions may be unpredictable from moment to moment, but work through those thoughts with compassion and kindness - like you would for someone you love.

03/13/2021

Katie is a health coach and one of the moms that I had the privilege to support during her pregnancy and birth. Sharing this transformational experience with such an amazing couple is a gift and a pleasure.
Here she shares her birth story.

‎Show The Real Raw You Podcast, Ep 031: Leo's Birth Story: A Natural Birth - Dec 22, 2020

10/18/2020

Postpartum comes with huge physical, emotional and spiritual changes. Here Aviva Romm shares some common physical symptoms you can experience.

Pregnancy, birth, babies. All the curated instagram images make it look so sexy and romantic. And then there are the things no one prepared us for - the blood sweat and tears - literally!⁠
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The shift into postpartum leads to the most significant hormone changes we experience in our lives, all in a matter of 72 hours, and with that, some ‘weird’ symptoms can manifest.⁠
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Below are some of the normal things nobody tells us about. Hopefully knowing will prevent you from thinking you’re totally dying or in the least, that something’s really wrong:⁠
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〰️ Shaking: Immediately after birthing, intense shaking and chills are common due to shifts in adrenaline as your body ‘comes down’ from the birth experience.⁠
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〰️ Baby blues: Different from postpartum depression, the baby blues are a common and normal period of weepiness, anxiety, and irritability in the first 5 days after birth, and can last hours or days. It’s due to massive hormone shifts - especially a plummet in estrogen and progesterone - that occurs after birth, and is aggravated by fatigue and low blood sugar. If you feel down for longer than this period of time, or find that the sadness is interfering with your ability to care for yourself and/or your baby, please talk to your practitioner.⁠
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〰️ Night sweats: many new mamas are alarmed to find themselves drenched in sweat the first couple nights postpartum - don’t be! Your body releases fluid volume naturally accumulated in pregnancy (and from IV fluids in labor). Sleep on a towel, have a change of jammies nearby, and an extra blanket layer on your bed if you feel chilled from sweating.⁠
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〰️ Fear of going to the bathroom: Fear of p*eing and pooping post vaginal birth, especially with a tear/repair or after cesarean, are common. If your yoni is tender, use a squeeze bottle with tepid water as you p*e; for pooping, eat fiber, take deep breaths, and take it slow, knowing it’s safe to let go - and go.⁠
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〰️ Mood swings: Hormone fluctuations can lead to wild mood shifts from intense moments of elation and gratitude to rage or sadness. This intensity will pass, though mom-feelings are still intense. Learn to ride the waves and have tools for inner calm.

06/02/2020

04/03/2020

03/26/2020

Hi, I want to share 5 tips you can do to feel supported in your pregnancy while social distancing.

Aviva Romm, MD

03/19/2020

If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, worried mom or just looking for good information about COVID-19. Aviva Romm, MD is my favorite source of good information. She created a dedicated page for articles related to this topics. Let’s avoid fake news and look for good sources of information.
http://avivaromm.com/category/covid-19
She also has a podcast with a lot of this new information Natural MD Radio.

I’ve been watching the COVID-19 map from Johns Hopkins daily. We started out at 2 cases in the US about 10 days ago, were up to 505 cases this past Monday, 808 yesterday morning, and we’re at 1039 as of this morning. I know how confusing - even terrifying - a global virus can feel, so I want to share a new page on my blog I’ve created specifically about COVID-19 to support you through this time: https://avivaromm.com/category/covid-19/
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This is an evolving hub, and on this page I have already posted 3 articles for you on COVID-19. Each day or two I’ll post another article to include:⁠
•Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and COVID⁠
•Commonsense approaches that REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE.⁠
•COVID-19: How Dangerous Is It⁠
•What You Should Be Doing to Protect Your Immunity⁠
•How to Prepare for COVID in Your Town - and Home⁠
•What Natural Approaches Do - and Don’t Work ⁠
And more…⁠
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My goal in creating this page is to share with you the best of what’s known about COVID-19, reasonable use of natural therapies with an honest appraisal of what we know about them and COVID, and yet what you can reasonably do for home care. Please keep in mind that unlike many herbalists and wellness physicians - I’m not trying to sell you ANYTHING for COVID-19. Just wishing to provide you and your family some reassurance, calm, safety, and glimmers of light in this very crazy time.

https://avivaromm.com/category/covid-19/
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03/19/2020

Use these simple practices to keep your baby as healthy and “stress-free” as possible.

03/18/2020

Hi, I want to share with you 5 things you can do to take care of you and your baby during pregnancy specially in this time of social uncertainty.

03/18/2020

https://www.aliciacontreras.com/blog/COVID19

5 things you can do to take care of you and your baby during pregnancy specially in this time of uncertainty. COVID19.

02/07/2020

There is so much to be done...

Come learn more about how we can do this at www.BirthPsychology.com

12/08/2019

This is so important! It can make the difference and prevent trauma for mother and/or baby during pregnancy and birth.

As a medical student I had at most, an hour of training on obtaining informed consent and only for medical procedures - not medication use. That consisted of making sure you read a patient the risks of a procedure and had them sign the form confirming this. It did not include actually explaining the risks - just reading a list of them to someone who was feeling unwell and vulnerable, but at the same time, influencing them by telling them how much they need the procedure. The implications of the risks tended to be minimized, rather than personalized - as in this is what this could really mean for you if this horrible thing happens. No breadth of alternatives were given.⁠
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In the clinic, pharmaceuticals, invasive tests, and procedures were usually afforded much less informed consent time - if any. Usually a prescription is just written, it's assumed the patient will take it, and no risks are communicated. ⁠
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Comments like "I'm just going to do a little snip because I don't like your baby's heartbeat" (l heard that one not too long ago; I stopped the OB from doing it; baby was born 30 seconds later, no problems), the vaginal exam someone went to do without even waking a sleeping mother (that person got stopped in their tracks, too!); the medication put in the IV without the patient being told....ALL NOT OKAY. ⁠
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EVERY exam, EVERY procedure, EVERY medication REQUIRES your INFORMED consent (unless a dire emergency or you're medically unable to give consent, like you're unconscious, or delirious and it's a lifesaving intervention). That means you get to ask questions until you understand AND you can SAY NO. Or I'd like to think about that. Consent doesn't just mean someone reads a list of possible risks or tells you it's needed. It's a full explanation of RISKS and ALTERNATIVES. AND what happens if you say no or wait.⁠
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Yet this is not happening!Let's take hysterectomy, for example: AT LEAST 20% are considered medically entirely unnecessary, and only 30% of women advised to have a hysterectomy, of a study of over 5,000 women, were informed of non-surgical alternatives by their doctor. Women in their 30s were the least likely to be informed!

12/03/2019

If you are pregnant....

09/19/2019

This are all very important things we should all consider to do and provide during pregnancy to every woman.

Infant Mortality Reduction Strategies:Saving our babies, through compassionate and culturally competent care for pregnant mothers/people, using Midwives and doulas as often as possible, have pregnant people get early and consistent prenatal care, encouraged them to breastfeed for at least 13-months, eat well, rest,
drink water, drink red raspberry, nettle and alfalfa herbal tea. Receive loving supportive care from partner, and getting congratulations and hugs regularly from family and community members. Having a birth vision of health and wellness and with a Mother Shower to back it up. We can reduce infant mortality, by reducing stress for pregnant women, so they can birth a 38 plus weeks, with a baby, who weights at least 6lbs. The leading cause for African American infant mortality is premature births, micro-aggressions, racial profiling and hostility while living Black in the US contributes to African American birthing before 38 weeks.

As a society we can change this, and must change this, all mothers/parents deserve to celebrate their babies first birthday.

www.shafiamonroe.com

09/18/2019

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In this moment, he’s not interested in nursing, getting his weight checked or being measured.
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He’s interested in studying mommy’s face.
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Memorizing every single characteristic that makes his mother’s face.
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This is his moment to gaze into your eyes and fall in love.
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He’s been waiting for this moment as long as you have.
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And when this moment is over, he will be able to identify your face and smell amongst a sea of people.
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He will always prefer you.
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Relish in this moment.
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Love,
Flor Cruz
PhotoCred: MJF Birth Photography