Silicon Valley Doulas

09/20/2021

You’re allowed to feel all the feels.

I agree 100%! 🙌

📷 The Breastmilk Queen - Amy McGlade

09/13/2021

💖✨

Some friends and I were talking about this the other day and I had wanted to share it and then this comic came across my feed just now.

I didn't "bond" immediately with my first baby. I knew logically that I loved her and would do anything for her, but I never felt that MOMENT that new moms feel.

That's okay! We have a great relationship today, nineteen years later! ❤️

Some parents have traumatic births and that can make bonding hard. In my case, I think it's something to do with the way my neurodivergent brain handles object permanence (like, no exaggeration, after my second child was born I literally said "oh! A baby!" Lol like I didn't know for nine months that I was expecting one).

Regardless of what contributes to your personal experience- you are not a bad parent for not bonding immediately. Meeting a new human is a LOT to take in. ❤️❤️❤️

Also some babies just look weird 🤣🤣🤣 (those are my favorite babies ftr ❤️)

Image credit Loryn Brantz Books and Illustration

(When I use my own language I do my best to use inclusive language to help trans dads or enby parents know they are welcomed and supported here. ❤️ I did not create this image, however, and do not feel comfortable changing someone else's art. Please do not go *attack* the artist! I know my folx won't, but gotta say it anyway)

Image shows cartoon drawing of two new parents holding newborns. The first looks happy and says "I now know the feeling of true love" and the other says "nice to meet you ...small alien raisin". Above the two images it says "both reactions to motherhood [Parenthood] are normal"

07/10/2021

This moment - we all know it - no matter how our babies were born.

Do you know what I love the most about this photo?

The fact that no one is interfering with this sacred moment.

Mama is holding her baby close. No one is disrupting them. No one is checking if the cord is still pulsing, measuring babies head, weighing baby, putting a tag on baby, asking questions, giving baby a vitamin k injection, removing baby to a warming table... they are simply just left to enjoy the moment!

And that is my favourite thing ❤️

Photos Credit- Teresa Palacios

06/23/2021

You may have noticed us posting about pregnant people and their babies. Or maybe you heard us refer to parents as gestational and non-gestational parents. Inclusive language doesn’t exclude anyone. We aren’t replacing mothers and mamas - but we do want everyone to feel welcome here. 💜

06/23/2021

Just sayin

If you were told this, you were likely lied to.

Yes, even if your grandmother was told this, and then your mother, and then you. Just because someone said it doesn't make it true. It may have just made their job easier.

Except in cases where there has been previous damage to the pelvis (like broken bones from an accident) or a deformity (due to a disease like Rickets), your body WILL birth your baby if given enough time and the ability to move into the right positions (and, in rare cases, a little assistance).

When a provider says a pelvis is too small, they are usually referring to Cephalopelvic Disproportion (CPD). CPD means that a baby's head is too large to fit through the mother's pelvis. True CPD is incredibly rare and super difficult to determine.

Most of the time a diagnosis of CPD is given with absolutely no basis for the statement.

Once in a while a series of measurements called “pelvimetry” is used to determine the size of the pelvic outlet to see if the baby will fit. These measurements are basically useless, however, since they can’t account for the fact that your pelvis expands by up to 30% during birth, and your baby’s skull plates slide over one another to fit the space (forming a cone). You also can’t know a baby’s size before birth, since late term ultrasounds are notoriously inaccurate.

So, basically, they’re guessing.

More often than not, a diagnosis of CPD is due to lack of patience, an unnecessary induction, or other controllable circumstances. Many cases of “failure to progress” during labor are arbitrarily given a diagnosis of CPD.

Were you told that your pelvis was too small to birth your baby?

06/20/2021

Someone cutting onions around here?!

06/18/2021

If your toddler loves Sesame Street as much as mine, you might cry happy tears about these new characters too. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤎

06/17/2021

Inclusive language harms no one.

06/17/2021

It’s heating up folx! Here’s some tips for breastfeeding in the heat!