A Stress Strategy That Actually Helps
Adrenal deficiency is a very real effect of the modern life weβre living, and the consequences include symptoms that are now rampant among my midwifery clients, such as disrupted sleep, anxiety, racing thoughts, heart palpitations, allergies, elevated blood pressure, depression, headaches, and decreased tolerance to stress, just to name a few. The very good news is that real change can be felt quickly through precise supplementation and small changes made with awareness. The first step is to have a new understanding about the scope of stress that is our life - letβs start with this fascinating βstress inventoryβ that you can take right here!
Easing the Misery of Thrush and Yeast
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 βseriousβ problem, it can cause a very serious level of discomfort and pain for mothers and babies both. The infantβs digestion may be disrupted over the long term, and if they are being breastfed, mamaβs commitment to breastfeed may also erode.
How To Use the Postpartum Herbal Bath as a Healing βDo-Overβ
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 βThe Do-Over Bath.β 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.
Using Cleavers the Herb To Clean Up Your Lymph
Cleavers also known as Ladyβs Bedstraw, has a long history of use in folk medicine. Cleavers ability to assist in moving lymph and breaking up fibrous tissue makes it a wonderful herb to be considered when there are fibrocystic breasts with cysts or other congestion in the lymphatic system. It is mild, entirely non-toxic, easy to harvest, and is actually very valuable plant medicine. Cleavers are considered very helpful for mastitis or other swollen lymph in the breast.
When Midwives βCatchβ the Sillies
A midwifeβs tongue-in-cheek poem, a Dr. Seuss take-off of all the places and ways she helped moms deliver their babies (or catch, as midwives say.)
How to Really Do the Kick Count in Pregnancy
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 motherβs 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.
Relieving the Burn of Heartburn
Heartburn is such a pain! Itβs caused when hydrochloric acid (HCL), which is used by the stomach to digest food, backs up into the esophagus and irritates sensitive tissues. This creates a burning sensation in the stomach or chest, and pain behind the breastbone. Itβs certainly not fun for any of the 60+ million Americans that suffer with it, but as midwives hear from our clients every day, itβs the absolute bane of pregnancy.
Pregnant mamas have two complicating factors that make them more likely to suffer from heartburn.
What's the Difference between Doulas and Midwives?
Doulas are professional, sensitive, labor-support persons; they are privately hired by families to be with them during the labor and birth of their babies in a supportive way. Overall, well-trained doulas will be capable medical advocates, knowledgeable on the normal process of labor and birth, and full of ideas to ease and facilitate the mother/babyβs birth process. The exact nature of what skills and ideas doulas might bring to the birth depend on many factorsβ¦..
Recovering from a Shocking Hemorrhage, Part 1/4
PART 1/4: This is a frank discussion to teach homebirth midwives and other birth professionals about effective naturopathic responses to excessive blood loss in childbirth. In addition to the obvious physical improvement in momβs immediate recovery, unusually rapid long-term postpartum improvements have been confirmed with labwork. Here I discuss which remedies and why - homeopathics, essential oils, flower remedies, liquid iron supplementation, food as medicine, and the power of including visualization as an emergency technique. βHer hemoglobin five hours later was 7 g/dl, something quizzically deemed βimpossibleβ by the medical staff.β Early nutritional and remedy-based intervention does make a significant difference in recovery!
Recovering from a Shocking Hemorrhage, Part 2/4
This is a frank discussion to teach homebirth midwives and other birth professionals about effective naturopathic responses to excessive blood loss in childbirth. In addition to the obvious physical improvement in momβs immediate recovery, unusually rapid long-term postpartum improvements have been confirmed with labwork. Here I discuss which remedies and why - homeopathics, essential oils, flower remedies, liquid iron supplementation, food as medicine, and the power of including visualization as an emergency technique. βHer hemoglobin five hours later was 7 g/dl, something quizzically deemed βimpossibleβ by the medical staff.β Early nutritional and remedy-based intervention does make a significant difference in recovery!