As you may have noticed, Shining Light has undergone some transitions since mid-March. I’ll take you through the past few months and into an exciting and broader-scope future.
What do dads do during labor, anyway?
Dads /Partners often come into my childbirth classes or doula consultations with a feeling of unease when I ask them, “What do you want your role to be during birth?”. Beyond “support her”, they often don’t have a clear picture of what options they have, what she might need (or not need), how to express […]
No Dirty Shoelaces for the Umbilical Cord, Ever!
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 […]
Birthing Class with Ice Cubes and Clothespins?
In many childbirth classes, and sometimes, in a doula’s prenatal visit with a client, there are ice cubes. I saw ice cubes in my training when I became a Lamaze educator and ice cubes in various professional development workshops. So what gives? The ice is given to pregnant people and their partners to simulate the […]
Pushing side lying OR, how to turn a squat on its side!
Amy might look slightly awkward here, but this pushing position in bed is one of the best I’ve found. Let’s break it down. If you look at this image sideways, you can see that Amy is actually squatting. Brilliant, I say! As we know, squats can open the pelvis 1 – 2 cm to make […]