WOW - what a weekend.  Fresh from a Spinning Babies workshop and I have to get these thoughts out of my head.  I wanted to attend the workshop to put all the pieces together from their intense website.  I wanted to see how much were we already using, maybe simply not calling it the same thing, how much we needed refined, and how much was new.  It was a great workshop.  It was fun and educational.  Much of it was techniques that have been around for ages simply pulled together.  But, overall it was creating a larger network of people we can ask questions to and discuss.  It was intriguing in ways I didn't expect because I found the networking more valuable than anything else.  However, mostly it empowered my perspective of birth that there is still soooooo much of a medical mindset in even the birth advocacy world that needs to melt away.  We have to support our women now in their situations now, absolutely, but we have to continue striving to bring birth back to the basics whenever possible - especially in the way we share knowledge.

If the information isn't there to support your idea of birth, the techniques won't make a difference.  A doula can't save a birth choice that doesn't support biology.  A birth class can give you the information, but unless you make the choices that support your body, the information isn't going to help you.  We can physically support your baby and body, but without the understanding of a quiet, calm, and dark birth space AND the choice to allow you to birth in a space like that - your body may have a hard time moving from physically laboring to emotionally birthing.  We need to reduce that fear and reduce too much in the birth space.  ALL of these techniques need to work together.  ALL of these ideas need to be pieced logically into place for YOU and YOUR BIRTH.

For too long, women have been hiring support for labor - separating that roll of educational support and labor support and expecting the hard work to be done during the birth.  While taking it easy during pregnancy and enjoying this beautiful emotional time is a goal we need to work towards - ideally we want all this education and physical work to be done prior to the oxytocin-heightening time of labor.

This focus of what a doula is and does needs to change. They are so much more than "labor support."

Want a smoother birth?  Do the work NOW.  Whatever now looks like to you - whether you're 16, just married, TTC, early pregnancy, or 37 weeks - NOW is the time to start reducing the amount of work your body needs to do when baby is ready and your mind is ready to bring baby earth side.

What does this work look like?  Well, it is different for everyone.  It is a lot of birth industry navigating.  It is independent perinatal education - not just a "what to expect in birth" or "what to expect in the hospital" sort of crash course.  It is a lot of wellness counseling, birth trauma processing, relationship building, and likely optimal fetal positioning.  It is navigating the birth industry.  It is discovering what YOU want and what YOU expect from your birth team and birth location.  When you discover your options, you learn how to make choices that support those options.

Want to know more?  Schedule a session with me and let's get started with mentoring sessions that go far beyond "labor and delivery."  Let's get to the root of your previous birth experience.  Let's get to the root of your fear or misunderstanding of your biology and how a previous birth doesn't have to be this birth - even if you "did it all right."  Let's figure out how your baby is working with YOUR body.  Let's talk about your health and your relationship.  Let's talk about your birth location and your care provider and how that is playing into something like muscle tension, birth pain, and a smooth birth.  Let's talk about how all of this influences breastfeeding, PPH, and depression.

Let's talk about how amazing this time can be!  Get in touch!   You're never too far away!