2023 & Look Ahead to 2024

At the end of the year I choose a word of the year and take time lay out some goals for the new year. Sometimes that word comes later in the year like in 2023, I landed on Joyful sometime around February or March. After loosing my dad in 2021 to cancer I wanted to really focus on the joy that my life had and start picking up the pieces after his death and honoring where I was in the grief process. I think I did a decent job of it and have found joy through the year. I spent some time traveling to the pacific NW, the outer banks (Hatteras NC) and made it to Cleveland and Cincinnati a few times. I went to some amazing concerts (Lizzo, Ani Difranco, Nelsonville music festival along with a few others). I haven’t come up with my 2024 word yet, it seems like somehow we are this far into December and closer to the end of the year than I realized. I have however been thinking about my goals for 2024 and what I want to accomplish in my business.

I have space available for 4 virtual coaching clients a month either with my virtual midwifery program or parent coaching. If you have a rough patch you are working through with your kiddo or you as a parent are feeling stretched and could use support, this is for you! Let me midwife you through parenting. If you’ve worked with me and know the benefit I’ve brought to you I would love for you to share with friends who could gain insight from either program. Everyone should have access to help and support during their entry into parenting!

Continue helping my amazing clients have babies at home! I’ve had the pleasure of attending 238 births and had a number of families with me for childbirth education. Each family I’ve worked with has brought me immense joy and fulfillment, one of my favorite things is watching each family grow. I know I’ve told many people along the way that it’s an honor to witness them become parents, that isn’t just lip service.

Continue mentoring new midwives and birth workers as they launch or grow their businesses.

Internal Family Systems training. This one is huge for me and feels really big. It is going to be such a great resource to offer for my clients across the board. It is a method that my therapist introduced me to years ago and I’ve been shouting from the rooftop about it ever since. I’ve been searching for providers that offer IFS locally and there are very few and most aren’t accepting new clients. I’ve been researching how to integrate it into my practice for year now and decided to take the step to take level 1 training in 2024-2025 depending on when I can snag a spot. They are offered on an ongoing basis but fill up fast.

And an oddball one, I want to learn to do a loud whistle with my fingers! I like random talents and could use another one to add into my repertoire. I learned how to raise one eyebrow the summer between 7th and 8th grade because my friends mom would give us THAT look.

I’m looking forward to the new year and planning some more travel (I have the best travel companion) spending time with my family and friends. My life feels very full and balanced in a way that seemed impossible just a few years ago. I’m fortunate in a lot of ways to have my life be where it is now and lucky to have the time to put into focusing on how I want it to be.

Finally, I want to share stats for the year. Since reducing the amount of clients I take on for home birth stats have been skewed, a transfer or two within a year can seem like my transfer rate is unusually high. Breastfeeding rates this year aren’t 100% for the first time, partially fueled by parental choice to not breastfeed. Last year stats were eerily perfect with a 0% transfer rate. This year… not so much and that is ok, the goal isn’t a home birth at all costs. The goal is that we have the best outcomes for clients and babies. The vast majority of my clients who birthed at home birthed in water. 1 client had a precipitous birth (less than 2 hours) and one client got out of the water and didn’t get back in. These types of years make me reflect on how I operate within my practice and how I honor the client experience. I come back to this: my role is to give excellent care while honoring the experience of my client, the baby and the family. Basically, I will continue giving good care to optimize chances of a healthy of pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

Story share!

A recent client, Annie shared her birth story on the Orgasmic Birth podcast. Here are the links to listen to her experience with a very long labor (68 hours!!) and how she managed to stay strong through the whole thing. Hint, it was with good preparation in a solid hypnobirthing class, an amazing doula (Aly Romot) and me as a midwife! I love connecting with my clients in a way that is more than a just surface level. By the time the birth comes around we have built up a huge amount of trust so that when I reassure the client that things are ok they not only trust that it is the case but they trust their body to see them through. Annie and her family were no exception. I carry a little piece of every person I have touched in my midwifery career, this birth story will have a special place among the myriad of experiences I’ve witnessed along the way.

Photo by Aly Romot https://www.mindbodybabycolumbus.com

Photo by Aly Romot https://www.mindbodybabycolumbus.com

If you have an interest in working with me for your birth you can reach out here:

If you want more support during the last trimester and first 6 months of parenting I offer new parent coaching that walks you through this huge transition in your life! More information can be found here:

But Why?

I wanted to share more in depth about why I created a coaching program and how it will work for you.  I have been in the birth world since shortly after my oldest kiddo was born in 2007.  I’ve heard so many stories of people who walk away from their births having a range of experiences, from feeling dissatisfied to traumatized to deciding they want a different experience with subsequent births.  No matter what, because of its nature birth leaves you raw and open.  Expectations don’t always align with experiences.  I became a childbirth educator with Birthing From Within in 2008 because I loved the philosophy of it.  BFW didn’t shy away from talking about pain as a part of birth and focused on birth as a right of passage.  It’s a way of guiding those who are about to become a parent that focuses on the life changing process that is pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

When you are pregnant for the first time there are a lot of unknowns.  You don’t know what birth is going to be like.  It could be long or short, the intensity may make it difficult to cope with the sensations that are happening in your body.  When labor will start is up in the air.  How can you possibly plan for something this large without a date in front of you??  I get it, it often brings up a lot of anxiety at a time where you also feel excited to meet this new person.   

Some people will do allll the preparation, reading everything they can and watching all the videos.  Some people read some materials but won’t go down the rabbit hole on all the ways birth can look.  There isn’t a right or wrong way to prepare to give birth and parent, I want you to feel supported and want to honor your process to become a parent.  It is a HUGE deal, one of if not the biggest things you will do in your life.

In recent years many of us have become aware of generational trauma.  This is the idea that we all carry the traumas of our ancestors whether it is repeating patterns we have modeled for us, traumas that a generation experienced or a a demographic has faced trauma can all be imprinted onto us.  We want things to be better for our children and that starts from the beginning, from pregnancy and postpartum.  This takes a huge amount of work and the ability to look at the issues that arise and decide that they stop with you.  It also takes a huge amount of self reflection and the will to want to change things and the steps to change what is imprinted within us aren’t easy ones.

In prenatal appointments we aren’t only touching on the upcoming birth but often processing past experiences, working through anxieties, asking questions that come up and talking through shifts that are about to happen.  Postpartum we are digging into sleep, spit up, recovery, nipple issues and breast tenderness.  Once some of those things are settled we move into talking about the shift to parenting, what is and isn’t normal and strategies as you move into this new phase of life.  Perinatal mood disorders can come up during the postpartum including anxiety, depression, anger and baby blues.  While I’m not a licensed therapist I can offer tips to manage and remind you of goals made prior to your baby’s arrival.

I want to offer this type of care to a wider audience than just my home birth clients.  It’s part coaching, part childbirth education and an expert in the field guiding you along the way.  I’m excited to work with you!

22 Interview Questions for a Homebirth Midwife

I have been in the birth community since 2008 and started apprenticing in 2014. As midwives working within the same area we generally know our colleagues. I do believe the vast majority of us practice in ways that provide excellent care of our clients despite not holding a license. Currently Ohio does not offer licensure to CPMs. 37 (as of 2023) states DO offer licensure, a map can be found here. I’m a staunch advocate for licensure. I was lobbying for licensure within the first year of my daughters birth in 2007 and in 2020 I put out a call for emergency CPM licensure. I’ve been working on the issue for many years at this point.

Currently it is up to each midwife to run their practice in a way that is ethical, safe and professional. We have our own practice guidelines and take careful considerations of our clients health to keep our clients safe. Because there are no options for licensure requirements there is no board to take issues to (ie like a dental, nursing or medical board where you can file a complaint about a provider) if issues with a midwife arrises. It also means that occasionally someone will do part of an apprenticeship and feel like they are ready to take on clients as a primary midwife without supervision. There are no guidelines to who can call themselves a midwife. Because of this we will occasionally have people pop up who have no experience learning under a midwife nor any background or training that would lend themselves to having the skills required to be a midwife. My own training took years, many hours in direct client care and many more hours in studying.

I have created this guide to share what questions to ask in an interview to help you feel more confident that you are hiring a midwife that meets your needs as a consumer. Most midwives want you to be with the midwife that you connect best with. We have some amazing midwives in our community, happy birthing!

Midwife 2.0

I posted this on Instagram along with my stats for the 2022 year. Partially as an explanation for such good statistics because they are so unusual and partially as a way to communicate with the variety of folks who follow me, from local birth professionals and clients and to those on the national level what has shifted in my career over the last year. I recorded a podcast on how I have shifted my business model to better support myself and family. You can listen here:

A note on stats this year. My transfer rate and cesarean for the year aren’t the typical, a lot of it is because I attended half the amount of births in 2022 as I have in years past. As midwives we plan our lives out 10 months in advance and 2021 was a hard year for me. Like a lot of midwives, I was edging into burn out after working as a homebirth provider during a pandemic. I was going back and forth on whether to close my practice. I started interviewing for jobs while trying to figure out if I could work for a company and still take on clients. It’s in my heart to be a midwife and I love what I do but the on call lifestyle and the toll on my family is a lot. In the fall of 2021 I also lost my dad and my mom had the first of two heart attacks. After all of this and a lot of back and forth I dedicated myself to keeping my practice going but on a reduced client load. Which brings us into 2022. It’s been an amazing year with amazing clients and colleagues. Whether you know it or not every single birth was healing for me. I feel like I have way more balance in my life and am a lot less stressed. I have started training a student to build better, more sustainable midwifery. I started mentoring other midwives in how to run their practices in better, sustainable ways. I’m stepping into a new, fuller role in midwifery in 2023 and I’m so glad to still be here.

Because I have shifted my practice to a smaller model and take a couple months off I do fill up fast. If you’re a repeat client or hoping to work with me please reach out as soon as you know you’re pregnant. That doesn’t mean I won’t have space if you are looking to switch providers later in care, sometimes due dates line up just right that I can fit people in. I hope each of you have a great 2023!

3 Desperately Needed Items for Postpartum

This is a guest post by Hunter Hickman. Please join along as she shares her experiences in pregnancy birth and postpartum.

Postpartum is messy, raw and real. 

Your uterus begins shrinking, you may leak milk and your hormones begin to shift. This can result in a new experience in the physical and emotional realm that you have never encountered before. 

Despite all of these changes you have a new baby and a myriad of resources to ease you into your new journey.

3 items you NEED for postpartum

1. Depends

Adult diapers?! I know, it sounds strange but hear me out. Postpartum bleeding is very heavy; you just birthed a new life and have a wound the size of your placenta (which is dinner plate sized). It will shed blood as it heals over the next 4-6 weeks.

Considering this bleeding is so intense, overnight pads are not cut out for the job and hospital pads can slip around. The solution? Depends.

They are absorbent, stay in place, wick moisture away quickly and can be THROWN AWAY. Depends will help you avoid bleeding on your underwear, bedsheets and more.

2. WishGarden Herbs After Ease Tincture

We know that there will be bleeding, but did you know there will be cramps as well? Your uterus is still hard at work clamping down to shrink back to it's normal size.

Your uterus shrinking can cause some intense cramping. Some women, myself included would say the afterpains are worse than the birth itself. If you don't like taking OTC pain killers or they aren't strong enough to alleviate your pain, WishGarden AfterEase should save the day!

You can mix this into your water you drink throughout the day to keep the pain at bay and add a few drops under your tongue as needed.

I used WishGarden AfterEase without any other pain relievers after giving birth to my third. The results? My afterpains were less painful than after my first and second births!

3. Belly/Back Support

Considering we already gave birth and our uterus is now shrinking, pain can be present in your back, ribs and neck. This can be caused by the relaxin that is still present in your body. How can we fix this? Add some support!

Most moms that have previously given birth have done some form of belly binding. Belly binding provides support for your back and stomach! It also can eliminate slouching that can happen so easily as your body is healing. 

My preference for belly binding is the bellefit girdle! The bellefit girdle is designed to be used after both a vaginal delivery and a c-section. I own three sizes and it is so comfortable I wear it up to 6 months postpartum.

Postpartum is new, but using these tools you can navigate it more comfortably and ideally a little bit easier!

Good luck and Congratulations!

- Hunter

Call for Emergency CPM Licensure

Ohio Certified Professional Midwives Request Emergency Licensure due to COVID-19 

Ohio Homebirth Midwives are seeing a spike in the request from healthy pregnant women to birth at home due to COVID-19. 

Advocates for women’s and newborn health along with the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives asks the State of Ohio to immediately offer emergency state licenses to CPMs to allow these professionals to care for more pregnant people in the safety of their own homes.

Here’s how the licensure of CPMs benefits pregnant people in Ohio:

• Licensing of CPMs at this time will allow CPMs in the state who haven't been comfortable practicing in an a-legal state to begin practicing keeping more low risk pregnant people out of the hospital.  

• Licensing gives the midwife the ability to continue doing visits for clients in their final weeks of pregnancy in the case of shelter in place.  

• It will allow midwives to accept insurance and Medicaid. 48% of births are paid for by Medicaid.  

• Midwives and out of hospital birth is a lower cost than hospital births.  CPMs can fill a huge hole in the healthcare system if our healthcare providers become ill. 

The rapid spread of COVID-19, as well as subsequent quarantine measures, may well lead to the unwillingness or inability of healthy pregnant people to give birth in hospitals. 

Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) are the only health care professionals trained specifically in the management of out-of-hospital patients for their certification.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends pregnant people be considered an at-risk population for COVID-19. 

The two following scenarios are likely to intersect: 

1) Healthy pregnant individuals wish to avoid hospitals in order to minimize risk COVID-19 exposure to themselves and their newborns, and 

2) Hospitals’ diminished capacity to care for labor and delivery patients in the face of vastly increased admissions due to COVID-19. 

Policymakers must ask themselves which health care providers will assume care of these families in this scenario?

The 35 states that legally authorize CPM practice are better prepared for the imminent need to attend out-of-hospital mothers in their states. Indeed, the District of Columbia’s decision this past week to license CPMs may have been influenced by the threat of COVID-19.

Ohio does not currently grant licenses to CPMs. 

This in spite of the fact that 35 other states legally authorize CPM practice. It is worth noting that the CPM exam is administered by the North American Registry of Midwives and is properly accredited and recently approved by US-MERA 

(http://www.usmera.org/). US-MERA is an agreement on educational standards by the seven U.S. midwifery organizations, that is itself based on standards from the International Confederation of Midwives (https://www.internationalmidwives.org/).

Healthy pregnant people (in defined risk categories) are as safe, if not safer, giving birth at home compared to equivalent cohorts giving birth in hospitals (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15961814). 

The safety of out-of-hospital birth is increased by state regulation of CPMs and their integration with hospital-based providers. 

Women’s health advocates are therefore calling for the issue of an IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY ORDER granting licensure to Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) and any other necessary steps to bring their practice under the umbrella of state public health efforts to fight COVID-19. 

written by April Kline with edits from myself and Aly Romot. Thanks for all your work on this!

Corona Virus and [Home]birth

Edit: 3/14 to include this information from the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine and this link from Stephen Harrod Buhner which has some information on herbs. NOTE: there are herbs in his protocols that ARE NOT SAFE FOR PREGNANCY and may not be safe for children. Please consult your local herbalists (whose incomes are likely severely effected by this virus) in what you can take while pregnant. They are good for those you share a house with so partners, adult family members, friends and coworkers have at it!

I’ve written this over 3/12 and 3/13, information is quickly changing and I will try to update it as I can but please double check the links provided for the most up to date information.
I know there is a lot of information floating around online about the Corona virus, Covid-19. I wanted to share Dr Aviva Romm’s link here where she shares a great amount of information about covid-19. I also like Dr Jack Newman’s info he shares about feeding as well as separating birthing parent and baby if the parent is sick. As with any recommendation you should understand risks, benefits and alternatives. The CDC has some good information and also had a call to discuss updates.

Resources for Covid-19 and birth

The following is from a call from the CDC on 3/12/2019:

This is based on 34 cases reported out in China so a small amount of cases but it’s what we know.
• Pregnancy is a risk factor for COVID-19 that is likely similar to H1N1 and SARS. So, symptoms “could” be worse if one is expecting.

• 1 stillborn but not known if it was caused by COVID-19 or just coincidence. (Remember we have a small sample size, this could easily be related to other factors).
• Labors tend to start in early term (37 weeks to 38 weeks 6 days) for those with active COVID-19.

• Babies will not catch COVID-19 in the womb, but can right after birth. (Please see Dr Newman’s info on this)

• Elevated C-section rates are seen due to upper respiratory infection symptoms (but could be due to providers being overly cautious).

• Quarantining newborns away from active COVID-19 parents is recommended, but there are other protocols to help if this is not possible.

• The best practice suggested are the separation of the dyad with healthy parent/family member maintaining good hygiene and caring for the newborn until the birthing parent is cleared of COVID-19.

• Breastmilk from an active COVID-19 parent is safe to feed a newborn.

• Exclusive breast-pumping is the recommendation to avoid contact between the active COVID-19 birthing parent and the heathy newborn.

https://emergency.cdc.gov/coca/calls/2020/callinfo_031220.asp Lots of great information during this call. Please go listen to the recording!

It looks like pregnant people aren’t at a super increased risk of complications from the virus but it is good to limit contact to reduce exposure. If you’re in contact with someone who is immune compromised or someone who is over 60 it’s ideal to limit contact with them and to practice good hygiene when around them with hand washing and avoiding touching. In Ohio we are being asked to limit going into crowded places, limit gatherings of more than 100 and to prepare to isolate as much as possible. Schools in Ohio are canceled for 3 weeks. I’ve seen on social media parents working to help each other with childcare and I’ve seen offers for grocery runs in my local groups for at risk populations. Community is even more important now that this is community spread.

For me, I went to the store to stock up on supplies and favorite snacks for the kiddos. Side note: whyyyy do my children always eat way more when they’re home vs when they are at school??? Double checked my TP stock and got extra vitamins and probiotics for my children. I included multivitamins (Smarty Pants), vitamin D and an Zarbees elderberry/immune supplement (my youngest kiddos classroom had the flu, there is some info about elderberry being ineffective or causing issues with covid) that includes vitamin C and Zinc.

How we are trying to help

Myself and my midwifery partners over at Well Rounded Midwifery and Ohio Hills Midwifery talked and will be offering lower cost spots for those of you who are late transfers into care. This offer is a smaller package that is mainly birth focused and the first week postpartum. An additional postpartum package can be purchased if you would want to have more postpartum visits in your home. As is with any birth we would plan at home we would like to have copies of previous medical records and you would need to be low risk at the onset of birth. We will be taking steps to keep ourselves healthy with additional supplements, healthy foods and as much sleep as midwives can get. We each only have the capacity for a certain number of clients and can’t over extend ourselves and still be great primary care providers so this offer is limited.

Homebirth Supplies

HOMEBIRTH SUPPLIES LIST

One of the questions I am asked in the inquiry process is what supplies do I need for a homebirth? I wanted to share it openly so people could get a glimpse of what supplies you need to gather to give birth at home.
Unfortunately there isn’t a Columbus homebirth store where you can find all of the homebirth supplies together. Sometimes you can find some of them at stores like Meijer, Crosby’s or the chain drug stores. If you want more simplicity in purchasing my birth kit can be purchased here: https://www.radiantbelly.com/elizakay.html

I’m always really flexible with what you buy and you may have some things on hand.

Midwife Provided Items

• 30- chux underpads

• Cold packs

• Peri bottles

• Sterile gauze, 4x4 2 pack

• Birth tub and liner

Clients Collected Items

• 2- Ziploc gallon size

• 2- Trash bags, 33 gallon

• 1- Laundry basket

• 5 large towels

• 4 washcloths

• 8 Receiving blankets for baby

• 1 hand towel

• 2 sets of sheets

• 12 Depends*

• 2 straws

• Baby hat

• Plastic mattress cover to protect your mattress (a cheap plastic shower curtain works great, check the dollar store)

• Plastic bowl or container or metal bowl for placenta (about 1/2 gallon size)

• Digital thermometer

• Heating pad

• Cookie sheet (can be old)

• Duct tape

• Light scented cooking oil for perineal massage

• Peroxide

• Drinking water safe hose and adaptor (for water birth only)

*Depends works really well for the first days of postpartum bleeding. Then you’ll switch to heavy and light pads. These can be purchased on the website or locally. If you want the mesh undies and pads purchase through the website where you get the kit. Avoid Always brand.

Optional how to set up: When you are in labor, have someone put one of the fitted sheets on the bed. Lay the plastic sheet on whichever side of the bed you will be laying in, letting the edge hang down over the side of the mattress and box springs. Tape in place with duct tape. Lay a large towel on top, which will keep you from slipping around or feeling sweaty on the plastic. Place the other fitted sheet on top of all of this. Another method (if you have a regular cloth mattress pad you don’t mind getting stained) is to put the plastic sheet on the mattress under the mattress pad, mattress pad, and fitted sheet on top.

Food: Have foods in the house that you like and that are light and easy to digest, such as fruit, granola bars, hummus, cheese, applesauce, eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, popsicles, smoothies, toast, crackers, cereal, and peanut butter. Please have enough food available for the midwife and assistant. We are not picky and mostly aren’t there to eat your food but sometimes we get calls right as we sit down to eat or have been laboring with you for a while.

Drinks: It is very important to stay hydrated during labor. Suggestions include juice, bone broth, electrolyte drinks (look online for healthy homemade recipes), herbal teas, and coconut water.  Have something for after baby is here like juice or electrolyte drink.

Optional other items:

• Birth ball

• Soothing music playlist, unscented candles, essential oils, massage oil, etc.

• Crock pot with water. It is used to keep warm wash cloths to be wrung out and placed on stomach and back for pain relief or perineum as baby is emerging

• Lansinoh (lanolin nipple cream for sore, cracked nipples)

• Extra strength acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen for after birth cramping

• After Pain tincture (available as a birth kit add on)

• Herbal sitz bath (available as a birth kit add on) or Epsom salts for healing baths

• For soothing perineum: witch hazel (in hydrogen peroxide isle at drugstores)

• Tuck’s Pads (pads soaked in witch hazel), or cold perineal packs

• Homemade frozen maxi pads. Mix 1 teaspoon witch hazel and 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel, lay flat to freeze

• Teas: Mother’s Milk Tea or nettle, alfalfa, and oatstraw teas

How to get blood out of fabric:

 Carpet: if wet, sprinkle salt on it, let it dry, then vacuum up. If dry, pour on some

hydrogen peroxide and blot with cloth. Repeat until stain is gone.

 Sheets/clothing: spot treat same as above with hydrogen peroxide. Then put in

washer to soak with lukewarm (not hot) water and 1 cup salt (no detergent). After

soaking, drain water and run normal cycle with detergent.

Holiday Planning With a New Baby

Over the years I’ve seen new parents move through the holidays with varying degrees of success. Some sail through with very little issue while some parents and their babies have difficulty with a disrupted routine and the bustle of people and activities that come with holidays. Sometimes understanding of when things need to shift and when to move forward with your plans. I’m a big fan of the idea that you know your child best and how best to plan around them. Please take into consideration where you are at in recovery from birth and it’s my hope that you can plan your holidays accordingly.

Disrupted Schedules?

Try to keep children on their regular schedule as much as possible.  Some children do a-ok with flipping nap schedules around while other children struggle.  Some children nap anywhere while some need to be in their own surroundings. I trust that you know your child best (aka you are the expert on YOUR child) and know if they can push naps around or if baby will nap in unfamiliar places.

Bring the Holidays to You
Bring the holidays to you!  Some children do better in their natural environment.  While this may put more work on your immediate family sometimes it’s easier to be the host and have people come to you.   It is completely acceptable to ask people to bring certain foods so you don’t have to do all the work.  In fact, there are places where you can order a meal completely made Lucky’s market locally does, as does Whole Foods, Hello Fresh offers delivery boxes with all the things to make a meal.  I’m sure there are more I’m missing.  These things don’t need to be super difficult to plan and make.  Please take into consideration what part of the postpartum journey you are in and only host if you have a lot of support to do so.  

New Traditions

It’s ok to start your own traditions with your nuclear family.  Often once new baby arrive families decide that it’s time to start their own traditions.  Sometimes extended families can be invited into these times or they sometimes celebrate at different times.  There are many ways people celebrate various holidays during this time, it’s ok to research and find what works for your family.

Baby Baby Baby

If visiting with family it’s ok to take your baby back from relatives.  New moms often feel like their heart is outside of their bodies attached to their babies. If you are feeling the longing to have babe back in your arms it’s a good bet that your baby feels the same. Remember, you are the best advocate for your child and know them better than anyone.  You know what they need and when they need to reconnect with you. Remind relatives that with RSV season upon us kissing baby isn’t ideal since people can be contagious before they feel really sick.

Cutting Time Short

Family is so important in helping families settle into new parenting roles and parents want to share their baby with relatives. If you and baby are freshly postpartum or if you have a fussy older baby it’s perfectly acceptable to spend less time at family get togethers.

Feeding Baby

Not all relatives will be aware of early feeding cues, you may need to watch and feed baby before they get to later feeding cue signs (ie frantically crying).  You can nurse your baby wherever you are or in a quiet space, especially if your baby is easily distracted or seems to need a quieter place to reconnect with you.   

Can I Have a Drink?

A final note on consuming alcohol during this time.  While it used to be suggested if you are breastfeeding then you need to pump milk off and dump it out.  We now know that alcohol leaves breastmilk the same rate as it leaves your body.  If you are ok to drive (aka actually ok to drive, not heeeeyyyyy, I’m good to drive) then you are ok to nurse your baby.  For specifics and amounts follow this link to Kelly Mom and the CDC for more information.

Hope your holiday season is a great one full of meaningful time spent with family and loved ones.  

A Healthy Framework for Pregnancy

Tips for a healthy foundation in pregnancy and for birth.

There are a lot of things during pregnancy that your body does on its own without direction from you. It will grow a whole new body including heart, lungs, hair and fingernails. It will prepare for birth in the last weeks of pregnancy. Your body will go into labor and birth your baby. One main way you can help these processes along is by how you take care of yourself, what you eat and how you reduce stress. Here are some tips I’ve been sharing with clients and wanted to share it with you.

Drink half your weight in ounces of water or non caffeinated fluids.

Protein: 80-100 grams of protein per day. This can come from all types of protein including plant and animal sources.

Fruits and vegetables: Go for the rainbow of options, focus on greens (lettuces, kale, spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts), purples (blueberries, purple cabbage, beets, eggplant), yellows (winter squashes, bell pepper, pumpkin, ) as those are often the ones that are lacking.

Supplements:

These aren't exhaustive lists of all whole foods vitamins. If you would prefer to take a different brand let’s talk!

Whole food prenatal: Garden of Life, Megafoods, Pink Stork (liquid), Smarty Pants (gummy) and Throne.

Calcium/Magnesium: Aim for a daily total of 1200/600, your body can only absorb roughly 500/250 mg at a time so you'll want to take it multiple times a day. Because calcium can be hard to absorb and has interference with iron you will want to take it separate from other vitamins. I like Natures Sunshine SynerPro Calcium-Magnesium.

Probiotics- these help to keep the digestive tract in good balance for optimal health. This is especially important if you have had antibiotics in your pregnancy. Garden of Life raw vaginal care is designed for women but any probiotic will give you benefit. A probiotic food or drink can be used in place of a supplement. The key is to be consistent with whatever you use.

Vitamin C with bioflavonoids (525mg of bioflavanoids) or an orange with a lot of the white pithy part eaten. This helps strengthen blood vessels (reduces hemorrhoids, varicose veins) and helps prevent water from breaking before labor starts. Natures Sunshine brand has Citrus Bioflavanoids have the required amount.

Stress reduction:

Yoga- There are quite a few prenatal yoga classes around town. I teach childbirth education at beYoga and have found they have a good amount of prenatal yoga and barre classes.

Meditation- This can be done through Youtube videos, podcasts, or using hypnosis tracks (Hypnobirth, Hypnobabies etc).

Exercise- Aim for 20 minutes of low impact exercise 3-4 times a week. It can be a walk at a brisk pace or a more formal program. Check with your provider about starting a new exercise routine during pregnancy and if your current routine is safe for pregnancy.

Slow Labors & What to do

Sometimes labor is slow and pokey or it starts and stops multiple times with prodromal labor.  I occasionally see this in my practice.  If baby and birthing parent are fine, water is intact and there are no risk factors the best thing to do is just roll with it.  

When you are in the middle of a slow labor the end can sometimes feel a long way away.  Often you’re impatient to have baby in your arms or be done.  Sometimes labor has happened overnight and slowed again, now you are feeling tired and feeling worn out.  Rest while you can, if you can manage the cycle of rest-hydrate-contractions you can last it out.  As long as your water isn’t broken (and you should check with your provider if it is) and there are no other concerns you can wait it out.  Our bodies are way wiser than our brains.  Sometimes what you need in labor is to honor that, eat a good meal, stay hydrated and rest when you can.  It’s a good idea to pace yourself so that when active labor does kick back in you have the endurance to keep going.  

Something to consider is if there are any emotional blockages.  Sometimes things you’ve been worried about through your pregnancy need to be processed during labor.  Sometimes worries come up in labor you’ve not had during pregnancy that may need to be worked out.  Talk these things out with your partner, midwife, doula or other support person.  Voicing those concerns can be enough to help your body go into labor again.  

Occasionally babies, along with your body, are trying to get  into an ideal position for birth.  Bodies are really smart and know how to best birth babies, sometimes contractions come along like this to help move baby’s position into a better spot.  We need to allow ourselves that time to do those finite changes that allow a smoother birth when labor kicks in again.  Using techniques such as Spinning Babies, chiropractic, Rebozo and certain movements of your body help encourage babies into a good position for birth.  Check in with your care provider so she can offer tips and advice for ideal positioning of your baby.  

Sometimes labor is just like this and we don’t really know why.  Resting while you can, eating a good meal and staying hydrated will help you manage a slow or on/off again labor.  If there are other children in the home sending them out of the house can be helpful.  Going for a walk can help bring contractions closer together as can intimacy with your partner.  Touches and kissing help naturally raise oxytocin levels which helps bring contractions closer together.  Overall though, taking care of yourself, surrendering to the process and allowing labor to unfold as it will is the best way to manage these types of labor for most people.  Birth is a process of rest, surrender, work and strength.  Striking a balance between those things can help you to last through it.  

More Milk Cookies

A dear friend who was also a lactation consultant shared this recipe when my youngest was born. She said it wasn’t necessarily going to help with milk production but would help nourish me in the postpartum. Now as a midwife this is my favorite cookie recipe. It’s flexible to sub things in/out of it and can be made vegan but subbing in a flax egg and subbing dairy free butter.

More Milk Cookies

1 1/4 sticks butter OR 4T butter and 1 cup peanut butter (or almond, sunbutter etc)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups rolled oats

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup almond meal or whole wheat flour (or 3/4 cup GF sub flour )

1 cup dark choc chips or chopped walnuts or sundrops (whatever!)

Cream together sugars and fats.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in oats (i sometimes pause here for an hour or more so the oats can soften), flour/meal, and baking soda.  Stir in add-ins.  375 oven, one-inch balls on ungreased sheet to bake 8-10 minutes (until golden brown).  They will be a bit soft as you transfer to cooling rack, then firm up. Can also roll into log, freeze, and cut off slices to bake as needed. 

I'm a Certified Birthing From Within Mentor!

Eliza standing at the center of a labyrinth at the Chadwick Arboretum on Ohio State’s Campus

In late 2009 I attended a Birthing From Within training in Austin. I was just dipping my toes into the birth world and loved everything I read in Pam England’s book, Birthing From Within and wanted to dig deeper into birth preparation using this method. I was interested in learning the process of birth as a heroes journey, labyrinths, storytelling and pain coping techniques. When my youngest kiddo came along a couple years later I spent time focused on meeting his needs and knitting our new family of 4 together. A year ago I started a mentorship program with Birthing From Within to finish my certification and am proud to say I’m a Certified Birthing From Within mentor!

Walking the labyrinth at Gantz Park in Grove City

30 Inspirational Birth Quotes

I collected these a few years ago and have found them helpful for clients who are needing positive mantras during their pregnancy. Some people will write them on paper to hang around their birth space. Some will put them on their mirror as a reminder in preparation for their upcoming birth. Some will make art to go with each. Hope you enjoy! Would love to see any you would like to have added.

are you looking for support? Virtually I support pregnant folks through the end of pregnancy through the first 6 months postpartum.

Babies know how to be born.

This is worth it! My little one is almost here!

My body is made for this!

Focus on power not pain!

Labor pain is purposeful and temporary.  

My body knows how to birth my baby.

Loose lips, loose hips!

My body is open...my mind is strong....my body is strong...my mind is open...

It’s a wave, it’s a wave…. Let it flow.

I can do this, I am strong!

This is an interesting sensation that requires my full attention.

I trust my instincts to know what I need in labor.

I accept this labor as my labor and believe it is the right one for me.

I love and accept my body completely.

I accept all my feelings as part of myself.

I feel the love of others around me.

My heart knows what my baby needs, my mind is learning.

Good strong contractions help my baby come into the world.

My body contains all the knowledge necessary to give birth to my baby.

My baby will be born healthy and at the perfect time.

I will have an uncomplicated, peaceful, joyous and pleasurable birth.

I will breathe deeply and slowly to relax my muscles making it easier for my uterus

to work.

All I need to do is relax and breathe- nothing else.

My body knows how to grow this baby as it knows how to birth this baby.

I love my baby and am doing all that is necessary to bring about a healthy birth.

The power and intensity of my contractions cannot be stronger than me, because it

is me.

My job is to simply relax and allow the birth to happen.

300,000 women will be giving birth with you today. Relax and breathe and do

nothing else. Labor is hard work and you can do it.

Soften around the pain, relax into it.

I am ready and prepared to welcome my baby