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Shining Light

Building empowerment, self-confidence and connection through candid education and compassionate advocacy for all families before, during and after pregnancy.

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Shaping our lives: In the Womb, at Birth and Beyond

March 22, 2013 By Deena Leave a Comment

What we do and how we feel during pregnancy and birth shapes our baby’s future. This is why we eat healthy foods, come to prenatal yoga, get a massage, and learn to relax. Gurmukh says, that as pregnant women, we ought not to watch scary movies, or subject ourselves to fearful or stressful situations. She […]

Filed Under: Into the Light, Main Blog Page Tagged With: Birth, birth story, C-section, Emotional State, Epigenetics, Fear, Newborn, Pregnancy, yoga

Since you asked: Birth Plan Template

February 25, 2013 By Deena 5 Comments

You all have been asking for it, so here it is – Deena’s ever  fabulous birth plan template! This is a bit longer than I usually suggest. Your birth plan should be one page, chronological, bullet points. It should cover the most important points to you. These are *my* important points. So, if you are […]

Filed Under: Into the Light, Main Blog Page Tagged With: Baby, Birth, Birth Plan, Brains, breastfeeding, C-section, Childbirth, Childbirth Education Classes, Communication, Decision making, Epidural, Expectations, Ideal Birth, Infant, Interventions, Labor, Midwife, Newborn, OB, Pittsburgh, Pregnancy, Valid Medical Reason

Day 2, morning – Lamaze Innovative Learning Forum 2012 – Redux

November 13, 2012 By Deena 4 Comments

After finally getting 7 hours of sleep it was my turn to teach. Yours truly, “Morning exercise session – Prenatal Yoga: Learning proper alignment and taking it into your childbirth classes.” Teaching at 7:30 am is not my best time of day… especially on mediocre hotel room coffee and no breakfast.  However, I think I […]

Filed Under: Into the Light, Main Blog Page Tagged With: Baby, Birth, Breastcrawl, breastfeeding, C-section, Childbirth, Childbirth Education Classes, Communication, Decision making, Dr. Jack Newman, Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM), Epidural, Gestational Diabetes, Infant, Interventions, IV Fluids, Labor, Lamaze, Lamaze Conference, Newborn, Pain, Pitocin, Pittsburgh, Pregnancy, Skin to skin, yoga

Day 1 – Lamaze Innovative Learning Forum 2012 – Redux

November 1, 2012 By Deena Leave a Comment

I’ve broken up this post into three parts.  There’s a lot of information and a lot that happened at the conference this year.  Here’s Part 1 for you! 2012 was the year of country music.  We were in Nashville, TN for this year’s conference.  The conference was shorter by a full day due to the […]

Filed Under: Into the Light, Main Blog Page Tagged With: ACOG, Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, Birth, breastfeeding, C-section, Childbirth, Childbirth Education Classes, Decision making, Henci Goer, history, Homebirth, Hospital, Ina May Gaskin, Interventions, Lamaze, Lamaze Conference, Motherhood, Mothers, OB, Pain, Pittsburgh, Pregnancy, Valid Medical Reason, VBAC

Birth is a Human Rights issue.

September 21, 2012 By Deena 5 Comments

Last night, we screened Freedom for Birth.  We had a nice turn out and good discussion afterwards. It got me thinking (no big surprise there). Birth is a Human Rights issue.  So why is it that women are often treated as if they are incompetent to make their own decisions regarding their own bodies and […]

Filed Under: Into the Light, Main Blog Page Tagged With: Birth, C-section, Childbirth, Communication, Decision making, Fear, Homebirth, Human Rights, Interventions, Labor, Media, Midwife, Motherhood, Mothers, OB, Pittsburgh, Pregnancy, Traumatic Birth, Valid Medical Reason

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Building empowerment, self-confidence and connection through candid education and compassionate advocacy for all families before, during and after pregnancy since 2012.

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