Vibrant Women's Health

09/24/2023

If you’ve worked with me in the last few years, you’ve also worked with this beautiful soul, Sierra Moore

Let me tell you a bit about Sierra. Years ago when we first met, I was struck by her excitement and enthusiasm for birth, life, and supporting women. She has a midwife’s heart.

With three young kids she wasn’t yet in a position to attend births, so we started working together in other roles. She became my office manager, and has wonderfully taken over scheduling, sorting labs, setting up charts and intake forms, and a multitude of tasks keeping our practice organized.

Meanwhile she is also pursuing her passions!
Check out all she is doing now:
- She recently became certified as a birth photographer through the Birth Becomes You program
- trained in placenta encapsulation
- she’s taking Aviva Romm’s herbal medicine for women certification course
- she’s now also started her training as a doula

So many incredible offerings to offer birthing families! I’ve been delighted as we’ve started attending births together - she brings a happy, peaceful, positive energy to that sacred space, even in her role as birth photographer. And her photos are beautiful and precious for helping remember these intense and empowering experiences.

You can reach her through her website https://www.lunasolbirthphotography.com. I’d encourage you to check it out.

And today is her birthday! Happy birthday, Sierra!!! Thanks for all you do- I’m so grateful to be working with you, and am excited to see you do next. We are fortunate to have you doing this good work in our community. 💖💖

08/09/2023

I was gone for a month, and my garden went pretty feral. I’m really grateful people kept it watered for me, mostly by turning on a sprinkler. I’m now slowly clearing the waist high weeds/volunteer plants to find my still alive vegetables.

Yesterday I had a client who has been so massively overwhelmed for so long that her body was clearly and defiantly protesting with awful pain and fatigue. My overgrown garden was the perfect metaphor.

Keeping too busy with things we don’t want to do is exactly like turning on the sprinkler and watering weeds. This takes away too many resources (sun, water, nutrients, life energy) meant for what we do want. This is how we get depleted.

Our life, energy, resources are finite and precious. Each of us has something beautiful and important to grow/become. We have to use our resources well

So- yank out the extras that you don’t want. Focus on what you do want to grow (in garden/life). Hand water. Nurture.

To grow good things we absolutely need to set boundaries. Focusing on what we do want means weeding out the rest. This creates the space to manifest what we are meant to.

🌱💖🌻🌿

07/12/2023

A few days ago a little bird wove through a crowd and perched on my head. I love that this little one felt I was a safe place to rest. That’s what I hope to be in this work. 💕✨

06/05/2023

there's a better way to do pelvic exams!

03/13/2022

FREE online pregnancy/ postpartum support circle
every other Thursday, 12-1 pm
https://www.vibrantwomenshealth.com/contact-1

02/01/2022

Last Friday my cornea got very badly scratched. Over the weekend there were times when it was excruciating, and I often wore a compress on both eyes to avoid any movement. I am amazed at our bodies’ ability to heal- it’s so much better now.

Here’s what surprised me- in the worst of it, my 7 year old daughter would sometimes come and give me cuddles, kisses, and just hold my face. And the pain literally decreased- significantly! The difference blew my mind.

On some level, I know how our emotions affect pain- from attending women in labor, and having three homebirths myself. But it’s rare that I personally have had such acute pain and felt this difference of love.

It really struck me - when someone is struggling, we don’t always have to look for a solution (which may or may not be possible) to fix it. Sometimes just being present and sharing love is what’s needed most.

01/27/2022

Yes!! A first step towards honoring our bodies is to learn and use the real names of our lady parts.

To clarify:
Our va**na is the the opening that leads internally to the uterus.
Our v***a is the name given to all the external parts- including the outer and inner l***a and the cl****is.

Our bodies are beautiful and worthy of appreciation and respect 💖

Just posting this because I’ve had a few folk say, since my waxing post, that va**na is enough to say and v***a is too much and it’s just a colloquialism that we use the word va**na for everything. But it’s not, it’s a different body part. V***a is external and includes cl****is and urethra and l***a. Your kid wees from this. It’s an important body part from day one. It’s so easy for kids to say once you say it a few times to your kid. It takes away all the shame and miseducation ingrained over years. V***a v***a v***a. Honestly, saying it still makes me feel weird, sometimes a bit sick but that’s not because of me, it’s because this body part, largely because it includes the all-sinning cl****is has been removed from texts and education on purpose for hundreds of years and so we wince at the word. Amazing that a word has the power to make me feel so sick using it. The feel of this word in your mouth is fighting against a whole lot of historic censorship. But kids have a right to label their body correctly and to know what they have on their bodies. There’s no generally agreed kiddy words for v***a or cl****is like there is for p***s and testicles - w***y - (again due to censorship I imagine) so we just have to use them. Your daughter has a v***a. It contains the cl****is, l***a and urethra. Let’s not hide them from their own bodies the way most of us were. That’s all. It is important and I swear it gets easier the more you say it! ps. Teaching your daughter she has a cl****is is not a sin, it’s her body and it is a bloody important part of it. Good luck and to those who are saying ‘oh for goodness sake, what’s so hard about using the word v***a’, please be quiet, because it is horrendously hard for many. It shouldn’t be, but it is.

pps. In cases of abuse, it is much harder to prosecute if a child cannot label the body part correctly. Of all the reasons to teach my kid the correct names for her body, this is the one that punches me into action.

[image description: tweet I just wrote which reads:

Telling your daughter her v***a is her va**na is like telling your son he has testicles and no p***s and then just calling his p***s his testicles cos you think saying p***s as well is too much. It’s just a word. V***a. Hard for me to say too, but that’s cos of history. Say it x]

01/15/2022

YES all this! plus nutrition, stress coping, movement, breastfeeding preparation, adjusting to parenthood or multiple kids.... and so much more. I'm seeing more people planning a hospital who want this too - everyone deserves thorough prenatal care and support

If an OB can get a pregnant patient cared for in 10 minutes or less, what do we do with all the other 50 minutes in your midwifery appointments with us??

I might lay down on the ground with my pelvic model and point at my butt while explaining how your posture influences your baby’s position in pregnancy. (Normal midwife stuff 😂)

We might spend 10 whole minutes palpating your baby’s position with you during your exam, really making sure you know what your own hands are feeling in there so you can connect with her again at home in between your visits with us.

We may take up half the appointment counseling you on your options for gestation diabetes screening, including refusing the whole thing. (What? Options? Refusing?? )

We might designate an entire visit to postpartum planning and helping you get a course of action in place for much more help and support with your upcoming postpartum time than you had with your first baby.

We may practice stretches to alleviate that pesky sciatic pain, massage your round ligaments for you, practice relaxation techniques or just turn the lights low while you lay down and listen to our suggestions for getting better sleep.

It’s care that can not be replaced with a handout, with a zoom call, with your mother’s advice, or a google search.

It’s care that catches the first onset of a complication and works immediately to bring your pregnancy back into normal.

It’s care that listens, care that feels, care that checks up on you in between appointments to see if the remedy we suggested is working.

It’s not above and beyond care, my friends. It’s the base and basics of what women who grow humans need and deserve. It’s the foundation for confident parenting and connection in a growing family.

It’s our undeniable pleasure and absolute privilege to provide such a meaningful model of care. ♥️