Mountain Laurel Birth Services

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Summersville, WV
Mountain Laurel Birth Services

Birth Doula and Childbirth Educator

08/20/2025

You know what your dream birth looks like. Let me help you make it a reality.

My calendar is completely open February forward.

03/18/2025

To celebrate my postpartum return to placenta services, I’m offering *FREE* tinctures with every capsule order placed through the end of March!

Ask me about it!

https://www.mountainlaurelbirthservices.com/placenta-packages

02/08/2025

Just another perfect example of how you were made for birth!

02/03/2025

There's a lot we can learn from animals when it comes to birth. After all, our needs as mammals are pretty similar!

All mammals look for safety and privacy for labor to unfold. What does that look like for humans?

✨ Creating a supportive environment- when choosing who to invite into your birth space, think of who makes you feel heard and loved in vulnerable moments? Choose a provider who you really resonate with, and use your prenatal appointments to ask questions and get comfortable with them!

✨ Invite familiarity in- what makes you feel the most at home? Bring your favorite pillow, diffuse your favorite essential oils, wear your own clothes!

✨ Release your fears- fear isn’t always an external factor. Sometime our preconceived ideas about birth are riddled with fear. Taking the time to address these fears before labor begins will make for a smoother process all around.

11/15/2024

I revisit this beautiful thought often, and it feels extra personal right now as I prepare for the birth of my second child.
My Heavenly Father loves me so, and resting in His goodness brings peace.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬ ‭

08/09/2024

God’s beautiful painting outside of the hospital. A lovely gift to welcome a new baby into the world. ❤️

Also, my fourth birth in a month! Things are picking up over here 🥰

05/02/2024

You could be 0cm and have a baby before bed, or you could walk around for weeks at 4cm.

Until labor actually begins, it's unreasonable to place expectations on your cervix's progression.

When might it be helpful to know what your cervix is doing?

✨ If it makes you feel good to know you've been making changes (but remember, this can go the other way if you haven't made any changes)

✨ If induction of labor is the plan, there may be a higher chance of a vaginal birth if some change has begun

✨ If you are making decisions about how to move forward with induction, knowing the state of your cervix may impact what method you use.

The most important thing is knowing that you have the right to consent, refusal, or delay!

04/17/2024

Did you know that the best time to start nourishing your child is... long before they exist?

Before I continue, a note for the mamas who are just learning the importance of nutrition: The next best time is at the next meal you make. A Children are quite resilient, so don’t be hard on yourself if you didn’t know much about nutrition when you started having babies!

Many ancient cultures had special “sacred” foods (which we now know to be incredibly nutrient dense) that they fed to both women and men for a set period of time before they were married for the purpose of ensuring healthy offspring.

This practice is a far cry from what many of us do today (starving yourself before the big day so you can be skinny for the wedding and honeymoon, taking birth control until you’re ready to start trying for a baby, starting a prenatal vitamin only after you find out you’re pregnant, avoiding certain nutrient dense foods bc crummy science and the government told you to, etc).

As a culture, we need to return to thinking generationally.
The better nourished our bodies are when we become pregnant, the healthier the next generation will be... and the healthier we will be in the meantime and as we make the transition into motherhood!

Some foods to prioritize: Eggs, liver, meat on the bone, slow cooked meat, bone broth, seafood, fish eggs, full fat and fermented dairy, and a colorful variety of vegetables with an emphasis on dark leafy greens. 🥛🌰🍳🧂🫕🍗🧈🥬🍓🥭🥑

Current (re)read: Real Food For Pregnancy by lilynicholsrdn

04/14/2024

It’s common to overlook postpartum as an important period to plan for.

Here’s a few tips-

⭐️ Think of who you want present. Who makes you feel safe and loved? Who are you comfortable helping care for you? You will need to rest and focus on caring for your newborn, so support people are needed to care for you.

⭐️ Think about nutrition. Freeze meals, ask for a meal kit subscription on your registry, do a meal train, but snacks, etc. Proper healing and breastfeeding have high nutritional needs. Don’t forget to plan for food.

⭐️ Breastfeeding prep. I highly recommend taking the time to read a book and take classes to help prepare for breastfeeding. Stock up on ni**le balm, silver ni**le shields, and any other nursing supplies you may want.

⭐️ Have a heart to heart with your partner. You are in this together, being on the same page about you envision your postpartum and what to expect is valuable.

04/11/2024

I will always advocate for informed decision making.

Just because it is a policy or routine your provider follows, doesn’t mean it’s right for you.

‼️ Every birth plan can look different and still be the right choice for each family. Informed decision making doesn’t lead every person to the same conclusion.

Do your research. Ask questions. Follow your intuition.

04/09/2024

Oxytocin is the love hormone.

❤️ It helps the uterus contract

❤️ It creates feels of euphoria and calmness

❤️ It’s responsible for the mother baby bond

❤️ It increases as labor progresses

❤️ It decreases in the presence of fear and disruption

04/06/2024

Have you heard of the fear, tension, pain cycle?

When you’re feeling fearful, anxious, or unsafe, your body's fight or flight mode activates and your bloodstream fills with adrenalin. You may start breathing heavily, sweating, and your heart rate will increase.

This is an automatic and primitive response to fear, and it’s not always something you can control.

The next part of this response causes you to tense up your entire body in anticipation of pain or threat. Your muscles get tense, your shoulders rise, your fists and jaw clench, and all of the muscles in your body are stiff and activated. You're ready to fight your threat (in this scenario, your "threat" is the pain of labor).

When your body is in this state, it's really hard to calm down or feel relaxed, and you'll usually experience even more pain.

Additionally, when the body is tense, it can interfere with the natural progression of labor by inhibiting oxytocin production and making it more difficult for the baby to move down the birth canal.

Labor is a time to shut of the “thinking” part of your brain and allow the primal part of your brain to activate.

To avoid this cycle….

⭐️ Educate! Take birth classes, make a birth plan, and practice mindfulness

⭐️ Support! Hand pick your birth team, prepare your partner, and hire a doula

⭐️ Mindset! Focus on the meeting your baby, positive affirmations, and reframe the pain

Address

Summersville, WV
26651

Website

http://www.mountainlaurelbirthservices.com/

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