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How to Listen to a Birth Story with Compassion
Parents often share birth stories with one another in parenting groups, on playgrounds, or on coffee dates. Without guidance or modeling on how to deeply listen to another person’s story of transformation, many people will fall back on ingrained patterns of attempting to placate the parent, telling them to “let it go,” sharing their own…
Read MoreCreating a Village – The Challenge for Modern Parents
In the colonial United States, women in a community would attend to a mother during birth, and take turns caring for and feeding her family during the first 40 days postpartum. At the end of the initial postpartum period, a “groaning party” would be held to celebrate and thank those who came together on behalf…
Read MoreNon-Inclusive Birth Preparation Causes Birth Trauma
Many people believe that medical interventions cause birth trauma. More often than not, that is incorrect. What causes trauma is expectations…expectations about the pain, how a birthing parent is supported, how they respond to the intensity of labor, and about their labor environment. It’s a seductive thought to think that we can simply release expectations…
Read MoreWhy Birthing from Within is Important for a VBAC
How to Find Healing and Move Forward As a VBAC mom and a doula who has attended many VBACs (vaginal births after cesarean) and CBACs (cesarean births after cesarean), I have a unique perspective about what parents needs when they are seeking a vaginal birth after giving birth by cesarean. For many parents seeking a…
Read MoreThe Trouble With "At Least"
Ahhh…at least. The Fruit Cake of human communication: endlessly doled out with the best of intentions, and absolutely horrible. “But what’s so bad about saying at least?” you may wonder. ‘I’m just trying to help people see the bright side.” The thing is, unless someone is asking for advice or cheering up, they don’t want…
Read MoreYour Birth Story is 30 Years Long
…Or 41 years or 16 years or however long you’ve been a resident of Planet Earth. And you thought your cousin’s 24 hour long birth story was brutal! 😉 In all seriousness, though…your birth is not an isolated event. It is the culmination of a lifetime full of stories, experiences, lessons, and beliefs. Have you…
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