Through the winter holidays, it's fairly common for breastfeeding mamas to call with a whole string of nursing concerns because they feel their milk supply has gone down. Temporary circumstances can lead to a minor and temporary dip in milk supply. Here are some basics that can guide you to sorting out what might be going on in your case.

Time is a frequently unnamed and unacknowledged medical complication plaguing most births currently taking place in hospitals and even birth centers. Considering the fast-paced nature of modern culture, perhaps it follows that the issue of time is having a never-before-seen, and increasingly disastrous effect, on pregnancy, birth and postpartum recovery.

There are many things that you can do in the immediate postpartum to help your newborn maintain their birth weight or start gaining. This is the information I make sure every one of my birth clients have received over my 40+ years in midwifery as a midwife and family natural health coach, and the majority of their babies GAINED weight by their one week check-up!

Midwives are highly skilled professionals in the realm of normal birth. Although it’s common for current generations to think that all babies are born in a hospital with obstetricians (OB’s), the preferred attendant around the world for normal birth is still the midwife. So how does one go about finding a homebirth midwife, if you're the first in your circle to consider such a thing? Depending on the health care politics of your area, it could be super easy, or a big challenge!

Mothers & babies sometimes struggle with yeast or thrush infections after birth. These fungal overgrowths are much more common now than even in the last decade, due in large part to the routine use of antibiotics at birth at least 30% of the time. While yeast is not usually a ‘serious’ problem, it can cause a very serious level of discomfort and pain for mothers and babies both. The infant’s digestion may be disrupted over the long term, and if they are being breastfed, mama’s commitment to breastfeed may also erode.

Herbal baths have traditionally been used by midwives to help mothers and babies soothe and heal after birth. Sometimes however, birth does not go as hoped and planned. There may be grief about small details, or tremendous pain from difficult circumstances. It was in response to these challenging times that mothers and I came up with “The Do-Over Bath.” In this case, the herbal bath is also used as a ceremonial time to honor the closing of a chapter, and to make room for an emotional reset.

One of the best ways to keep track of a healthy baby is to notice its movements, as pregnant mothers tend to do naturally. Understanding kick counts can enhance a mother’s confidence, empower her to independently monitor the well-being of her baby, reduce anxiety, and improve outcomes. These are the directions I give my midwife clients, including the extra details for the most accurate kick test which are commonly missed in most directions to pregnant mothers.