Back in July, I was invited to be interviewed for a new podcast, The Parentcast, with Abby Krizner of 105.9 The X and Bill Crawford of WDVE. We spent an hour discussing pregnancy, childbirth, doulas, birth plans and more. You can subscribe and listen on iHeartRadio, iTunes, or Google Play. We also filmed it, so if you want […]
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 […]
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 […]
Pushing while Seated, Using the Squat Bar
This is one of my go to pushing positions for mothers in a hospital setting. It’s a position that can be used both with or without an epidural and that’s what makes it so wonderful. Josh is sitting in the chair so that when Amy pulls on the scarf, she doesn’t tip the chair over […]