Yet again, I read about it. A baby born in the car, on the way to the hospital, and the 911 operator coached the father to tie off the umbilical cord with his dirty shoelace. We should NEVER be tying off an umbilical cord with non-sterile items. Why not? In a word, bacteria. There are […]
Standing in Labor to Manage Contractions
Standing labor postures keep you active and moving, which helps to facilitate baby’s decent and rotation though the pelvis. These postures also help you to manage pain. In all phases of labor, before pushing, it’s generally better to be active and upright during contractions. Standing and leaning over something, in this case a chair, allows […]
Seated and Moving with a Birth Ball
Continuing our series with Josh and Amy, I wanted to offer up something simple, but extremely useful for laboring moms. Sometimes, the basics are the best. (I suppose this should have been a video instead of a still photo, but you’ll get the idea of appropriate movements here.) Amy has a couple of choices as […]
Babywearing in the Great Outdoors
This is a guest post by our babywearing expert, Laura McCarthy, MSW, LSW. Laura teaches our Babywearing 101 and 102 classes. She also works one on one with families to help them wear their babies successfully and parent with greater ease. I just returned from a 3 week road trip involving lots of camping and many national parks […]
A doula softens a mother’s fears about her upcoming birth.
When a first birth doesn’t go as planned and a mother feels hurt, lost and afraid, she turns to her doula, Anneliese, for mentoring and support. Through her compassion and attentiveness, Anneliese lights this mother’s path so her fears are dissolved and she can move forward with grace and confidence to her upcoming birth with […]