It is my intention for you to feel prepared, safe and supported during pregnancy, birth and beyond.
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Serving growing families in New Hanover County, Brunswick and Pender Counties.
I’m so excited to be co-hosting a new, local childbirth education class with a birthworker buddy of mine, ! 💓💓💓
Those of you who have or are working with me know that I like to keep things very real when we’re talking about birth - and this class will do that! We will focus on things like stages of labor, partner connection, purposeful movement, finding comfort and so much more!
Go ahead and give us a follow and we hope to see you at a class soon!
Sunglasses for Labor 😎
The shift from home to the hospital can be quite the adventure with getting out the door, laboring in the car, and arriving to a bright hospital environment.
With your labor sunnies in place, you’ll have dim lighting wherever you go, and that oxytocin will continue to flow! ✨💞🙌
With gratitude to my special friend who demoed this so beautifully for me 😍😎😍
To the soon to be, the should have been, the day to day, and the father figures:
Happy Father’s Day 💗
Exciting news! Now offering first moments photography for existing doula clients.
These lifestyle photos will capture those special firsts in the immediate hours postpartum while you welcome your new baby.
More details on my website linked in bio.
Getting clear in on what kind of support you will need in the postpartum and sharing it with friends and family ahead of time helps folks know how to show up for you.
What kind of boundaries did you set for your pregnancy/postpartum?
https://www.parents.com/news/tiktoker-offers-rules-for-visiting-newborns-and-people-are-loving-it/?utm_campaign=parents&utm_content=bestof_lastyearsamemonth&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=6461ae5a590a7900015221a2&fbclid=IwAR1mRw4Xya0j-pfAeP2pwQ7VNYCf-6XpNhht7KkI7Z6zHX-QuZyKAwF7VcE
Repeat after us: Her baby, her rules. One mama-to-be is preparing to keep her baby safe with some practical boundaries.
To those who hold babes in their heart, belly, or in their arms…
To those I’ve held or will hold someday…
And to my mom 💞
Wishing all of you a happy love-filled Mother’s Day
International Day of the Midwife
To all the midwives I get to know, thank you for the incredible things you all do.
Some of you are out here supporting families and risking your livelihoods. That does not go unnoticed.
It’s been a weekend of celebrations over here. Most of our kids are now in the double digits 😭 and our oldest had her first prom.
Where does the time go?
💗💗💗
When we come together, everyone wins 🤞
Posted • Advocating for Certified Professional Midwives in Raleigh today with !
During the pandemic, things were so uncertain and hard. I stumbled upon and watched a reel about trauma and how when we do bilateral movement, it helps our bodies process hard things. I was hooked 😍
Since then, I regularly engage in walks, cycling, or yoga after attending births so I can help my central nervous system work through the stories I carry home with me.
This is my third training with . I’ve learned so many things about trauma and resilience.
One of my favorite things to know is that trauma is not a fixed state!
It is an issue when a memory is encoded, and there are things we can do to help our brain process this experience and move past it.
Come join us for a morning of support, community, education, and coffee! Group meets M,W,F at Three Friends Coffee in Wilmington.
This group is for mom with babies 0-12 months to come together and feel understood and seen. A space for you to get all your questions answered and connect with other moms.
*Starts 3/31.
Yes! Take ALL the pictures 📸
Of your baby, of YOU: your sweet, tender, healing self. Take them all. 💗💗💗
take alllll the pictures // Whether you've hired a birth photographer or not. Whether you have a "fancy camera" or a cracked cell phone.
Take. All. The. Pictures.
Your own perspective, captured in the way that feels right to you in the moment, will always be precious. Gather pictures from your doula, your partner, your family that comes to visit, and save all of them together in one place. Well, multiple places. (Back up your images, friends!)
You can never have too many pictures of your tiny babe!
World Doula Week 2023: Then & Now ✨
My first doula babies will turn 6 this year, isn’t that wild?!
In 2017, I was just connecting with and and joining …
When I was just getting started, I had no idea how much this work would mean to me.
I also never thought I’d be able to go back to sleep when on call 🤣
Here I am saving caffeine for when I really need it, connecting with and being held by my community of badass birthworkers and so thankful for all of it. 💞
📸:
Pushing ✨
• maybe you wait for the urge or until you can feel changes in your body that indicate it’s time. Do you feel ready?
• position changes will create space for your baby to come down and rotate out.
• positions like hands and knees are possible with an epidural - you might need some extra help.
• how do you want your environment to feel, what does your support look like in this moment?
📸: me
😍😍😍
Mighty Ones, let's talk 💬
Let's face it: most of us secretly (or maybe not-so-secretly) love what presents as "control." It satisfies our drive for order, and gives us a sense of safety, right?! There's no better feeling than “I’ve got this"... So what about when things don’t go according to plan, and we spiral out?
What we’re wondering is: What are you *really* craving? Is it truly control... or is it autonomy? If you feel like your fertility, pregnancy, or postpartum recovery is unpredictable, you might start overanalyzing and hyperfocusing, because that's something you feel like you *can* do. If you don't feel listened to by your care provider or cared for in a technocratic system? Down the Google rabbit hole you go! Heck, sometimes when you feel boxed into a corner, you might rehash an old fight with your significant other, just because you can predict the outcome and it offers a weird form of reassurance.
This week's birthstoryteller Adriana Aleman Crane is a self-professed control lover, so releasing that control and letting her body work its magic during labor was HARD. Fortunately, she found some workarounds that helped her own her birth, like the acu-tacks placed by her acupuncturist— because when she pressed them, she felt like she was doing something constructive. While a need for control might put you into your thinking brain and make labor a little more complicated, if you can recognize your desire for autonomy and channel it to your advantage, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s all about knowing yourself!
So let us know... How controlling are you?
Transition 💫
• often the most intense and shortest phase
• this is often where we might hear laboring folks say, “I can’t/don’t want to do this anymore!”
• helpful: grounding / soothing / keeping things low and slow
• sometimes induction meds can produce transition-like contractions
📸:
Doula:
Active Labor
• Contractions have gotten longer, stronger and closer together (shorter breaks)
• Coping strategies might include movement, comfort from others, and less disruptions during squeezes.
• Resting in between, eating and drinking, can be helpful to keep your body energized for the work it is doing.
📸:
Counter pressure by:
Early Labor
• Often the longest phase and also usually has the longest breaks.
• It’s a great time to build your energy resource - sleep, rest, eat & hydrate!
• With inductions, you might want to bring along some cards, or other forms of entertainment to make your time in early labor more pleasurable.
📸: me ;)
World Doula Week is fast approaching. Celebrate with us and help Cape Fear Area Doulas fund our scholarship account to provide free birth and postpartum doula support to pregnant folks and families who need it.
Make your donation today!
📸: Allie Weaver Photography
I used to work in an office. It was flexible, which was great with small kids. It was also so unfulfilling on many levels.
I thrive on connecting with others and am definitely not a 9-5’er.
I really do enjoy those middle of the night “I’m in labor” calls!!
This work brings me so much joy, connection and love. It is SO fulfilling.
And when I read words like this and reflect on that person’s story - I am just overwhelmed with gratitude to be here, doing this thing.
💗💗💗
When we think about advocacy, we imagine big, scary confrontations…This is what it can look like.
Advocacy puts the focus on you ✨
• what is important to you?
• how do you want to feel?
• are you being listened to?
Advocacy does not equal animosity!
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📸:
•Protein in pregnancy•
Aiming for 75-100g/daily can help reduce your risk of things like preeclampsia. It also helps with your baby’s growth and development.
My favorite snack right now is crispy sourdough with whole milk ricotta, arugula (a bitter that helps with sugar cravings!), roasted tomatoes, and a balsamic glaze. I like a little heat so there’s some crushed red pepper on there too.
How do you want to feel in those first moments, holding your new babe?
What do you want your environment to look, sound and feel like?
📸: me!
Do you want to feel held and nourished in your postpartum? Sign up for this class now!!
I want you to feel loved, and deeply nurtured after your baby is born.💕
Too often in our society, women are entering the postpartum, oblivious as to what to expect.
So much focus is put on the birth, that women tend to forget one very important fact.
You are not just giving birth. You are becoming a mother.
Whether this is your first or fourth, this online,interactive group class, will help you plan and prepare for the transition from maiden, to mother.
In this class, we will discuss the following topics...
🩵What you might experience physically and emotionally in the days following birth
🩵The importance of oxytocin in the postpartum period
🩵The pillars on which traditional postpartum care is built upon
🩵Rest strategies
🩵Village building tips
🩵Food planning
To learn more about this class, click on the link below in the comments.
Mark your calendar!!
Prepare for a positive and empowering postpartum experience!
Stay tuned. More details coming soon.
Snuck away for a few days in between babes to do a little snow tubing and ice skating.
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Movement in pregnancy can be so helpful and support you in managing mental and emotional well-being, not to mention the benefits to the body in building endurance and enjoying those post workout endorphins.
The more I learn about the pelvic floor and how our culture focuses so intensely on strengthening and tightening the core, the more I know how important modifications to exercise can be.
Give this post a read and share what modifications you made, if you want to.
For me - I dropped the faster, more intense yoga vinyasa that I was used to and took prenatal classes with Heather Till Yoga. I walked daily, most often 3 miles a day.
Mighty Ones, let's talk 💬
Finding a way to move your body that you enjoy and that contributes to your wellbeing is very important. Some people can't miss their 5 a.m. WOD at the box, others do everything they can to get their two-a-days in on the spin bike. Whatever your *thing* is— roller derby, rock climbing, stand up paddle boarding, salsa dancing— the idea that you can carry on without modifying your practice during the perinatal period is tempting.
As Deb Flashenberg of shared: "If someone has identified with their yoga practice or their dancing, and now they have to give it up, it's really emotionally hard. So try to find a way to accept, surrender, and find people that are gonna support that surrender. 'Cause I can't tell you how many people congratulated me in spin class, like, 'You're doing great!’ y'know, 'You're still on that bike!' It would've actually been helpful for someone to be like, 'Hey, what you doing? It's okay to let it go. It's gonna be there after.'”
We learned this week how, in fact, exercise can sometimes make labor harder or prolong our recovery postpartum (seriously, if you're going to run anywhere, hurry to catch up on this week's episode), despite our best intentions. For birth, you want to balance strength and flexibility, to support your body and your baby to do their jobs. When you change your exercise practice to be responsive to your current transformative period of life, it doesn't make you weak; actually, it shows just how strong and flexible you are.
So let us know... How did you modify your exercise habits during pregnancy? Did you need to give up anything?
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The Dilation Station. We love to hate it. Contractions are INTENSE when there is no support on your perineum. They’re also so much more effective because when you “go” you are forced to relax everything in the perineal area. Also - gravity. Gravity is a key component here!
It’s the season of gratitude and I’m just so thankful for all of it✨
The clients I’ve gotten to know, the babies I’ve met, and all the stories that have unfolded in all the many ways.
This work I do is powerful, humbling, and incredible. I am so grateful to be here.
Sending out my wishes for a sweet season of connection, joy, and ease to all of you 💗💗💗
When you're burned out, taking care of yourself (or your family) can feel nearly impossible. Therapist KC Davis gets it, and she's got a message for anyone s...
I’m in 💕
Also in for doing whatever it is YOU choose to do 🙌
💭I dream of the day 💭
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Due dates are guess. An estimate. A guesstimate. A window of opportunity. Based on varying menstrual cycles. Going before your due date is a variation of normal. Going past your due date is a variation of normal. Giving birth ON your due date is as well, but only 3-5% of babies come on their due date!
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Because I've wanted to repost this for a couple weeks now. To the mama who needs to hear this tonight.
Reposted from @3:23 Photography & Birth Services
To the woman who read the books, took the classes, put her body into every bendable spinning position babies position there is, moved and swayed, planned and prayed. I know when you see the posts of women who hummed their babies earth side in hours, in a warm tub, looking blissful, it feels laughable. Not for you. It didn’t happen for you. To the woman who lays in postpartum, aching from her cesarean, listening to the woman in the room next to you roaring her child into her arms, sounds of birth followed by a fresh baby cry, but not for you. It’s important to remember we follow the labor that our body allows. Do I attend primarily natural births? I sure do. Have you ever looked into the face of a woman, sweat on her brow, pleading for her baby to rotate its head just right? Hours of non stop contractions, no break. Exhaustion. Every labor is not the same. In a world where I feel SO passionately about a birth plan, doulas and midwifery, I feel just as much passion for the women who simply gave it everything. Every bit of their being.
Birth is not always bliss. With the right tools and listening to our bodies can we make it that way MOST of the time? Yes. To speak on medicinal help in times of dire exhaustion or life threatening emergencies is simply ignorant. You won’t find it here. If the situation wasn’t what you wanted it to be, it’s okay to grieve it. Don’t hold yourself to the standard of an “uneventful” labor and feel that you failed. You didn’t. I promise you didn’t.
When the uterus is working on going back down in size, you may experience afterpains, or contractions. These often feel more intense the more pregnancies you have. You may notice them when your babe is nursing.
A heating pad across the belly can feel extra nice.
Posted • INVOLUTION OF THE UTERUS⠀⠀⠀⠀
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One Week Postpartum⠀⠀⠀
Your uterus weighs around one pound, which is half of its weight just after giving birth.⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Two Weeks Postpartum⠀⠀⠀⠀
Your uterus weighs around 11oz and is within your pelvis.⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Four Weeks Postpartum⠀⠀⠀
Your uterus weighs around 3.5oz, which is close to pre-pregnancy weight.⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It takes about 6 weeks - a year for our bodies/stomach to get back to pre-pregnancy weight and size. Our bodies transform during pregnancy that it seems only natural for our bodies to need this much time to recover, heal, and to gain strength again.⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Learning to accept and love my body throughout pregnancy and postpartum was a challenge at times, but a wonderful lesson in acceptance and self-love. We try to tell ourselves it doesn’t matter, but we are only human and sometimes feel sad or feel challenged to accept permanent changes to our new body.⠀⠀⠀
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We not only experience pressure from society to get back to pre-pregnancy weight and have our body back to what it once was, but we also put this pressure on ourselves. Instead we should be kind to ourselves and treat our body with the same love, kindness, and nurturing behavior that we practiced when our little one was growing in our womb.⠀
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Celebrating September continues…spent half the week in CO last week being loved OB by some of my favorite people 💗💗💗
Got to see one of my fav bands too!
If you’re curious about my availability, there are two ways to find that info - the Contact Me page on my website is a great place to check as it’s updated regularly. For those of you that don’t want to adventure over there, I am booked through February 2023 and looking forward to meeting my spring 2023 and beyond clients 💕
has a bunch of really incredible doulas too!
Find the things that bring you joy and feel good to YOU and sprinkle them all over the end of pregnancy ✨
Pregnancy is temporary! You can choose how you want to spend your time AND how you want to feel 💕
Consider:
• asking friends and family to send texts of encouragement
• making special plans to celebrate your due date
• scheduling massage, acupuncture, or other bodywork
• continuing to move your body everyday (in nature or AC)
• connecting with the people that make you laugh and feel like your best self
Take care of you and know you’re getting closer everyday to meeting that sweet babe
💗💗💗
My happy place - anywhere cooler than in the summer. 🤣
This year we hit the and loved our WA trip.
Wilmington, NC
28409
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Posted @withregram • @theirthapp Last week the NYTimes reported on a new study that only confirmed what we already knew. The pandemic only exacerbated the maternal mortality crisis and Black women died the most. These numbers are infuriating. Whenever you apply pressure to something that is already broken it will only shatter and harm more people. Every day we are working to better our digital platform so we can help save ourselves by driving transparency and public accountability with Irth reviews and ratings and keeping each other informed. The work continues! •••• “Irth Birth, but we dropped the B for Bias. The only app where you can find prenatal, birthing, postpartum and pediatric reviews of care from other Black and brown women. The #1 “Yelp-like” platform for the pregnancy and new motherhood journey, made by and for people of color. Search doctor and hospital reviews from your community! Leave a review today to help inform and protect others!” www.irthapp.com
Millimeters matter when we’re talking about making space for baby! What a wonderful animation that shows how, when pushing, you can make space where baby is by bringing the knees in, ankles out. This positioning is also beneficial in reducing the risk of tearing. Posted @withregram • @clitt_worship I've been wanting to do this animation since I saw some posts from @rayvilelafisio a few months ago. Is not perfect yet but I wanted to post it anyway. If I had this knowledge before I gave birth, I'm pretty sure that my experience would have been so much easier. . . Enjoy. It took me long time finding the models, reading about the difference between the male and the female pelvis and the rigging of the skeleton to be able to move it. Unfortunately the majority of the anatomy models out there are males :'(. . 📍It is completely ok to share the animation. I appreciate if you also tag 🏷. I try to answer to everyone who ask, but sometimes the comments don’t upload. . . #anatomy #blender#birth #animation
💗💗💗 Posted @withregram • @mamastefit How can we approach recovering from a cesarean birth?? A C-section is birth, but it’s also major abdominal surgery and requires a dedicated healing approach just like any other major surgery! Here’s how we approach C-section recovery: 1) Scar Mobilization A C-section cuts through 7 layers of skin, tissue, muscle, organs! We need each of these layers to move freely for optimal function. Scar mobilization is the standard care for most surgeries and should also be the standard here! 2) Cross Body Exercises We can reestablish a neuromuscular connection across your incision site by incorporating cross body exercises that focus on the anterior oblique sling (chest to opposite adductor). 3) Work w a PT (every other surgery gets a referral, why not you too??) Thanks to the current state of the world virtual physical therapy makes accessing a quality PT way more accessible! You can work w a PT in person or virtually to optimize your healing. Our in house PTs @alphatherapyllc offer in person and virtual sessions in both a 1:1 and group setting. Learn more about recovering from your birth in our upcoming C-section scar mobilization webinar! We also offer our scar mobilization course in a self paced format (with access to the live webinar with @caseybptyogi) + a 16-week C-section specific recovery fitness program. We have been focusing our efforts to enhance the recovery of our C-section clients because you all deserve it!!
First and foremost, go ahead and follow @mamastefit if you haven’t already 🔥🔥🔥 Now onto the discussion abt opening the pelvis - most of the hospital providers that I work with encourage birthing people to open the legs wide so they can open the pelvis and make space for baby. Did you know that opening your legs wide actually opens the TOP or brim of the pelvis and makes less space at the bottom/outlet?! This can lead to tears too. Here’s the proof! When focusing on getting baby out and looking to avoid tears, you want to open the outlet. Best way to do that is KNEES IN! Crazy, right? Posted @withregram • @mamastefit Did you know the white dots visual showing how knees in, ankles out opens the bottom of the pelvis was our first viral video back in Jan 2019?? Viral back then was 4000 views and 100 likes 😂, but we ended up w an extra 1000 followers by the end of the week! It was so exciting. Since then, I’ve seen so many folks use the visual to share how much space can be created!! We hope it’s helped so many! Opening the bottom of the pelvis while pushing can be done w internal rotation of the femur, or knees in and ankles out. The white dots on my booty are on my sitz bones, which are the two bony parts of the pelvis that influence the side to side space of the bottom of the pelvis. When my knees go wide, they get closer together. When my knees are in and ankles out, they get further apart! Millimeters matter!!! Learn more about pushing biomechanics in our online childbirth education courses + our upcoming pushing webinar tonight, September 28th at 730pm EST! Recording will be available for download.
Coastal Carolina Animal Hospital
Carolina Beach RoadMyrtle Grove Chiropractic & Acupuncture Cente
Carolina Beach Road
Novant Health Coastal OBGYN & Midwifery - New
S 17th Street
Inside Out Physical Therapy Pelvic Health & W
Judges Road
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