By The Meadow Birth & Life Services

06/23/2025

Yesterday we made a trip to see the stone Leighton’s Mimi put up for him, right next to his Papa. Although ✨he✨isn’t actually here (his ashes sit in a box, on a shelf, in our home) having a physical spot to honor and remember him is surprisingly so healing.

Grief is wild. I’ve spent 8 years not doing anything because nothing could ever be good enough for him. Or, anytime I would try I would just freeze. 8 years feels like a lifetime and no time at all, at the same time.

There’s no right time for any of it. There’s no time limit in grief, just like there’s no time limit on the love you have for your children. No matter where you are in this path without your beloved, the timing is exactly right.

04/06/2025

Stepped out from supporting a strong mama to this on my car 🤍

03/04/2025

01/10/2025

Did you know labor is less about your cervix opening and more about the thickness and contracting power of the uterus moving baby down and out? READ more about what empowering birth expert Carla Hartley has to say about this revelatory perspective in birth physiology!

"We think in pictures and we should be painting accurate pictures. The cervix nor the va**na bloom. The cervix is not a zip lock bag. The purpose of labor is NOT the creation of an opening or a hole... The purpose of labor contractions and retractions is to BUILD the fundus, which will, when it is ready, EJECT the baby, like a piston. Without a nice thick fundus there is no power to get baby out....the cervix does not dilate out....it dilates UP as a result of the effort to pull muscles up into the uterus to push muscles up to the fundus. The cervical dilation is secondary to that. The cervix is pulled up as a result of the building of the fundus. Assigning a number to cervical dilation is of little consequence and we make a huge mistake by interpreting progress or predicting time of birth to that number. Any experienced midwife or OB can tell you that the cervix can be manipulated and that a woman whose cervix is at 7 could have the baby in a few minutes or a few hours.

If more providers and educators knew the truth about birth physiology, we could make a huge difference for mothers. What is important is to keep her well supported for the purpose of the appropriate chemistry, to keep her well hydrated and nourished for muscle strength, and to believe in her. We should be supporting her so that her physiology and that of her baby are unhindered, so they can finish what they started.

We should not be measuring, poking, or interpreting her labor. THIS CHANGE in teaching about labor could make such a difference for women who are imagining what is happening in their bodies during labor. How much more strength might they have if they have an accurate picture?" -Carla Hartley

10/24/2024

The stimulus, contraction or crying baby or whatever it is, is out of your control. What is it in your control is your response…. and that is where you will find your power. Tap into your power by taking one stimulus, one thing at a time. You got this!

07/03/2024

July 3rd is National Bereaved Parents Day, a day to raise awareness for all parents who have lost a child of any age, and from any circumstance.

Please join us today and everyday to help raise awareness and to show us that we’re NOT alone.

05/12/2024

Sending love to you all!

03/28/2024

We love doula supported births!

We have a few spots open in our calendar the next few months.

Pregnant and due in April, May, or June?

In honor of , we are offering $100 off of birth doula contracts for babies due through June!

Our doulas love attending births, and women and families love the support.
It's a win-win!

03/24/2024

We are celebrating our doula team this week, and first up we have Abbie!

We asked Abbie what is the most fulfilling part of being a doula.

Abbie: Watching the new family begin! First baby or fifth, it's a new life that they haven't experienced yet. And seeing mama and baby get to know one another after such a long wait, and dads just staring with admiration at their partners and new baby!"

Thank your for all the incredible work you do for families in our community, Abbie! Happy World Doula Week!

📸 Beth Grocott Photography

01/30/2024

It’s not your fault, and you’re not alone. You also deserve support through this experience ♥️

12/23/2023

In case no one has told you this yet...

The physical loss of a pregnancy, of a child, is not the end of a miscarriage or pregnancy loss journey. It's actually the beginning.

Every day after loss is part of your "life after loss" journey and each day will bring it's own challenges, stressors, wins, loses. You will navigate this life and it won't be easy -- but you will do it.

Life after loss is hard. Going from the "old you" to the "new you" is actually traumatizing for a lot of people because of the change in ambitions, dynamics, life goals, etc. It is a difficult transition.

Don't let anyone tell you that there's a time period where you should be "over" what's happened to you.

xoxo,
Arden
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11/04/2023

A baby’s head fits the birthing pelvis like a matching puzzle piece, therefore, birth can be easier when you intentionally help baby into the matching position.

Read more here: https://www.spinningbabies.com/pregnancy-birth/baby-position/