A Spectrum of Pregnancy, Birth & Parenting Services to Meet Your Needs

After working with San Luis Obispo families for over 20 years I am more strongly committed than ever to helping families find what feels right to them for pregnancy, birth and parenting. I have a broad perspective and a depth of knowledge which is grounded in the work I have done with families making a wide variety of choices. As a doula I have been blessed to be part of over 100 births. Working beside doctors and midwives I have witnessed inspiring births both in and out of the hospital. As a birth educator I have impacted the births of several hundred babies and through my work with the Birth & Baby Resource Network, La Leche League, and the International Cesarean Awareness Network I have touched the lives of countless families in our community and beyond.

I offer a variety of support/education options to match your unique needs. Our journey together may start at any point along the spectrum. Please feel free to mix and match and make the exact support and education package that meets your needs. All classes are offered both as group or private experiences with flexible schedules.


Before You are Pregnant

Private consultations over tea: learn about options & resources in our community or review and process a past birth and discuss possible effects on future births. We can meet in the privacy of your home or at a coffee shop.                              

 

Early in Your Pregnancy

Classes: learn how to nurture your body, your baby and your relationships in my Healthy Beginnings/Healthy Choices classes.

                                                        

Preparing for Your Birth

Classes: My small group classes held, in the privacy of a home, foster a sense of belonging as we eat, laugh, learn and share together this amazing adventure. My Heart, Mind & Body series empowers and inspires you to create the birth you want.

For each class group I create a private on-line community for extended sharing of ideas, inspiration, connection and support which continues until your baby is sleeping blissfully in your arms.

Labor Land Practice: My Birth Connection Date Nights are serene spaces where all learning is experiential through relaxation, guided imagery and touch. The focus is encouraging oxytocin, the “love hormone”, to flow between you, your partner and your baby, and to teach you how to move through labor land together. These “practice” sessions are ideal for experienced birthers, homebirthers, or as an expansion of more intellectual birth classes.

Private Classes in Your Home: Every family has different needs; bed resting moms, changing schedules, or simply a desire for privacy. I try to be as flexible as possible to let you create your unique education package. Let my Class Outline be your guide. I am happy to create a series just for you!



Doula Service: I am happy to join your birth team no matter where you are planning to birth; home, birth center or hospital. We start building a trust relationship with prenatal visits in your home. Through listening I learn what you need and want to feel confident about your coming birth. I facilitate thinking and dialogue between partners to help clarify and prioritize what is important to them and help craft a birth plan which reflects these values while being well received by your care provider and staff.

I am available via phone, email or Facebook to answer questions and lend support throughout the pregnancy.

                    Once labor begins. . .

 I will stay continuously by your side
 where ever you are laboring until. . .

your baby has arrived. . .

and is blissfully breastfeeding for the first time!

I will visit your home a few days after your birth to ensure breastfeeding is going well, check on your postpartum recovery, and help you process your experience with tears, talking and laughter. I will answer questions, clarify and enlighten you on issues you may not have understood. I want you to have a thorough grasp of what happened, why, and how necessary it was, to empower you for future births.

After Your Birth

Private consultations over tea: When women suffer after a difficult birth experience it is very helpful to share your story to a listening heart who is knowledgeable enough to review your birth, answer your questions, and help you move forward in your process. I can connect you to resources for your recovery and discuss things you will need to think about for future births.

Private Postpartum Visits: I believe new mamas need to rest and adjust to motherhood in the comfort of their home. I am happy to travel to you. The first days and weeks of parenthood many new families need some additional guidance. A little hands-on help from an experienced mother/doula can give a new mama just the boost of confidence she needs.

Welcome to the parenting community!

Classes: My Fourth Trimester Parenting Support group meets every Tuesday from 10:30-12. I provide this free to the community because I believe deeply that women need support during this important transition in their lives to grow fully into confident motherhood.




Support Group: I lead a La Leche League Mothers’ Meeting once a month in the South County which is free and open to all mothers for breastfeeding advice and support.

 

Loving Guidance Workshops: These periodic workshops cover my Five Steps to Creating a Healthy, Happy, Whole Family empowering parents to move through the normal ups and downs of parenthood, take control of their own learning, and make their own decisions on how they wish to parent.

Support Group: I created “Whole”istic Mamas and Papas to provide community for families choosing to parent from an alternative point of view; attachment parenting, co-sleeping, extended nursing, baby wearing, individual vaccination choices, homeschooling, etc. It is a safe space; both in our face-to-face play day meet ups and private on-line group for asking questions, gathering information, sharing and learning from each other.













Parenting is much more fun when we share and play with others!

Let's connect! I am happy to answer questions and get you started on just the right path for you.            Call: 805.459.8145
jenniferstoverdoula@gmail.com

What's a Mother to Do?

Normally I take photos at births and write notes throughout the process. I think it is important to chronicle this important family event. I give them to my families and hope that they will treasure them forever. After two back-to-back high risk preemie births I felt these special stories needed to be shared. I had never experienced any births quite like these before. I learned an incredible amount and my hope in posting these stories is to educate future parents. Hopefully it will take some of the fear out of an incredibly fearful situation. 

Yesterday Ada Rose came into this world.
All 1 pound 10 ounces of feisty little girl. 

Thank you to Ada's parents for allowing me to share a part of their birth story. 

When babies come unexpectedly in the middle of pregnancy it is quite challenging for everyone involved. Suddenly needing to have a surgery to save your little one's life is scary as hell. Being separated from your new child fills a mother with fear and grief in every fiber of her being. Not being able to put her baby to her breast is an additional sorrow. Keeping it together under these conditions is heroic.

So what's a mother to do? Like every other mother she is going to do the best she can for her baby at that moment on that day. In this situation nothing helps a mother more than getting her colostrum to her baby. And of course the colostrum is VERY helpful to the baby. The colostrum of the mother who just gave birth to a premature baby is designed specifically for them. It has a special balance of nutrients to help their brains and bodies continue to grow outside the womb.

Getting the colostrum out of mom and into a teeny weeny baby who can't suck, swallow and breath yet is quite a trick. So what's a mother to do? Pump! Ada's mama was pumping by the time Ada was 2 hours old. The nurse at Sierra Vista tracked down a hospital grade pump. She brought it to mom's bedside and showed her all about it. I talked to her about tricks to help her let down her breastmilk to a pump.  We had just gotten started when dad got the word he could come be with their daughter in the NICU. I told dad to take photos and send them to mom. 

Poor mom looked devastated after he left the room. Of course she wanted him to go be with Ada. Of course she wanted him to not to leave her yet. After all she just went through major abdominal surgery; a really scary experience. Of course she felt it was totally wrong for him to be the first to touch and see her. Of course she felt horribly guilty for all of these conflicting thoughts. So what's a mother to do? Pump out way more colostrum than anyone expected!

Many mothers of preemies are able to only produce a few drops the first day or so. Vickie, the lactation consultant who came in said, "every flood begins with just a few drops. Don't worry how much you get. Just keep at it and your body will eventually respond." Wise words from a woman who works with breastfeeding moms every day.

While mom was pumping dad sent photos and a video back to the room of precious baby Ada. The photos were hard for mom to see; all the tubes and wires. Seeing her wiggle in protest weighed heavy on a mom's heart. I pointed out her perfection. That her color being so pink was a good sign. It meant she could get the oxygen they were giving her into her lungs, into her blood and circulate it through her body. How much better that she was trying to push them away than lying there limp. What a strong little girl she created. 

So what's a mom to do? Why pump out 3 whole milliliters of colostrum. That's what! It wouldn't all fit into the teeny weeny syringe the nurse had brought. They had to go get a larger one. The nurse exclaimed. The lactation consultant exclaimed. The NICU nurse exclaimed. They said, "Why that's about a week's worth of food for such a tiny little person." Yippee!

Mom sent the milk down the hall to her baby. They carefully put some on a swab and ran it around inside her mouth. Now mom's immune system is protecting her baby even though they are apart. Her colostrum is stuffed full of antibodies which can help give her the best chance on life. Right now she is too young to be able to suck, swallow and digest breastmilk. That day is coming though. It is just around the corner. Not to worry, mom will be ready. At 24 hours from birth she pumped out this much liquid gold. Priceless!

so the flood begins...

Every day in the nicu is a scary, hopeful, exhausting roller coaster ride for a family. Neonatal Intensive Care Units across the country are filled with babies and families every day. Please take a moment to hold them in your heart.

Read Eleanor and Caroline's premature twins story

Dear Anatomy & Physiology Professor

Yesterday I finished a 12 week anatomy and physiology 2 part course. At the end I posted my professor a note in the discussion area.

I have enjoyed both Anatomy classes and have learned lots of information valuable for the various things I do. I am a birth doula, birth educator, La Leache League Leader, parent educator and more. I do have some ideas about the labor and birth chapter which I meant to contact you about. I'll still try to do that before the discussion areas get closed. 

Thank you,

Jennifer

The professor responded, "I'm glad you enjoyed the course and look forward to your input!"

So I spent a considerable amount of time yesterday going carefully through her lectures and formulating my response. I posted it into the discussion area as I had no other way to connect with her. I found out this morning that she took it down and sent me this reply, 

"To Jennifer,

Thank you for the information.  I am not able to keep that type of post up in the Discussion Area, but I read it carefully and copied and pasted it into a Word document for further review.  I am looking forward to checking out the references you included.  I think the pendulum has swung some on medication during childbirth.  When I was having my children (my oldest is 33 and my youngest is 18), women were encouraged to avoid medication if possible, while women in my mother's generation were significantly medicated.  Now, it seems that epidurals are used almost routinely, rather than reserved for special situations.

http://americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/epidural.html

I think it's very important for women and their partners to learn as much as they can about pregnancy and childbirth, understand the pros and cons of different types of pain relief, think about their ideal situation for labor and delivery, and then discuss their wishes and concerns with a physician who comes highly recommended and who they trust.  

Thanks again for the info!"

I couldn't agree more. Women should learn all about the pros and cons, safety and risks of ALL medical procedures before they give birth but NOT in an anatomy and physiology class. In an anatomy and physiology class they should learn how a woman's body works without any outside interference. How her musculoskeletal, integumentary, sensory, hormonal, chemical and nervous systems work in concert to bring a baby into this world. 

Here is what I posted on the discussion board:

I have some thoughts about the sections in your lectures which cover normal vaginal birth. Let me explain my background. I have been a doula for over 20 years. In case you aren't familiar with this profession, a doula supports couples during the entire birth process and into the early postpartum period as well. I have been at over 100 births. Some have happened in homes and birth centers, but the majority of my clients have chosen to birth in a hospital setting. I have seen lots of babies come into this world vaginally and some via cesarean section. Along with this I am a birth educator and La Leche League Leader. La Leche League International has been educating and supporting breastfeeding women for over 50 years. They have the most up to date information and studies on lactation, breast milk, and breastfeeding. As a Leader I am trained to support mothers who desire to breastfeed through facilitating meetings and providing one-on-one support.

Throughout your classes I have been impressed with how well you explain the body's systems both anatomically and physiologically. The more I know about the human body the more amazing its abilities seem to me. I am very passionate about women, birth and families. It is very important to me that women are given accurate information about their body's birthing and breastfeeding abilities. Unfortunately in our culture women know very little about birth and what they are told is not at all from an anatomical and physiological stand point. Instead it is heavily mixed with cultural beliefs with no regard for science. Unfortunately I believe your section on birth is skewed in this manner. Women need to know how we were designed to give birth. If they then choose to use medical and pharmacological props or interventions that will be an educated cultural choice. As this is an anatomy and physiology course, I am hoping you will consider taking a more physiologic approach to how you present birth to women. Please understand I am NOT advocating women should birth without skilled help at the ready. How much they use or need that help will depend on their unique situation. I want them to learn what their bodies are capable of doing. 

Here is what I have learned from watching women, keeping up with the latest science, and opening my mind to see past our current birth culture. Women are designed anatomically to labor and birth in upright positions. Left to their own instincts it is very rare indeed for a woman to choose to lie down to birth, especially on her back. Imagine a woman choosing to lie flat on her back to defecate or urinate. Most un-medicated women will choose to stand, semi-squat, full squat or be on their hands and knees. Unfortunately all of your graphics clearly show the supine position. This position is brought about through the use of pain medication and for doctor and hospital convenience. It is considered normal only because of cultural influences on the physiologic birth process. Anatomically it flattens the pelvis and doesn't allow for the sacrum and coccyx to move out of the way of the descending head. It also immobilizes both of the illiac bones making it harder for them to spread laterally giving the additional space needed for the baby. You mention the doctor placing the woman in a semi upright position but as long as her bottom is against the surface of a bed she will be hampered in her abilities to birth unassisted, but unassisted is what we are anatomically and physiologically designed to do.

In your course you say the doctor will tell the mother when second stage has begun. But anatomically when a mother is un-medicated she does not need to be told when to begin pushing. When the baby descends to a certain point in the pelvis he naturally triggers the fetal ejection reflex in mom. Just as when you need to vomit you know you are about to vomit. No one needs to tell you it is time or how to do it. No one needs to say how long each vomiting session should last. This is exactly like the 2nd stage of labor. The mother, even a first time mother, will spontaneously begin to push with her diaphragm and abdominal muscles. She will not be able to help it. She will not be able to stop herself. She will naturally tend to push 3 times during each contraction for approximately 6 seconds. This amount of time works physiologically for the baby. When a mother is pushing she tends to hold her breath to bear down. This breath holding reduces the available oxygen to the baby. Six seconds is an amount of time that babies tolerate well. Longer than that can cause a drop in oxygenated blood with a corresponding rise in fetal heart rate as they physiologically struggle for homeostasis. 

The un-medicated mother will know when she is crowning from the burning sensations she will feel. Most mothers stop pushing and cry out. This releases the vaginal muscles and allows for the last stretching. I agree with you that it can be helpful for a provider to gently put counter pressure on the head to keep it from coming so quickly mom’s vaginal tissues tear but this is not how the system was designed. It was designed for the mother to birth like other mammals, without assistance. Further there have been many studies done that show that an episiotomy does not keep a woman from tearing. As a matter of fact they all agree that a woman is more likely to have a 3rd or 4th degree tear if she has an episiotomy. Currently most doctors only do an episiotomy if the baby's heart rate is dropping into the danger zone. In this situation it can be life-saving.  

When the baby's head appears the supine or semi-reclined position necessitates a care provider to hold the head so the head doesn't flop backward, hyper extending the baby's neck. When a mother births in a squat the head stays perfectly in line with the body as it hangs down. In your lecture you say the doctor will rotate the baby's shoulders but most babies rotate without any assistance. It is part of the anatomical fit between mother and baby that causes them to sort of cork screw out. It is only if their shoulder is stuck under the pubic bone that this doesn't happen. Finally rather than a doctor needing to catch the baby as you suggest, the mother is capable of reaching down and catching the baby as it pops out after the body rotates into position. I have witnessed this. 

As to the physiological process, you mentioned the hormones oxytocin and prostaglandin but equally important in the process are dopamine and endorphins. This combination of dopamine, endorphin and oxytocin is the same combo released during orgasm which causes intense pleasure and a feeling of floating. In labor this powerful chemical combination changes the laboring woman's perception of the pain allowing her to endure much more than she would otherwise. On top of that she is chemically driven to bond with her new baby as soon as he or she emerges. This is a very important feed-back loop which pitocin and an epidural disrupt. It has consequences for the next phase, mothering the baby outside the uterus.

The latest studies all show conclusively that immediate skin-to-skin contact is what we are physiologically designed for rather than taking the baby away even briefly and presenting it back to mother as a wrapped bundle. The mother and baby should continue to be considered one biologic unit. They share bacteria, hormones, body fluids, antibodies, fats and proteins. A neonate has no ability to self-regulate. He does this through his mother. Hearing the mother's heart beat and feeling the rise and fall of her breath regulates his heart rate and respiration. It keeps the levels of adrenalin and cortisol at their appropriate levels; enough to cause the baby to be hyper alert without causing him physical stress. Science has proven babies should not be taken away or wrapped in blankets. This is part of the WHO Baby Friendly Initiative. Their goal is to have all babies go immediately onto their mother’s abdomen or chest unless they need life saving measures. Normal suctioning doesn't count as life-saving. If needed this can be accomplished quite easily on the mother while baby remains skin-to-skin. They are to stay this way undisturbed for the first 2 hours of life so that all of the above sharing and regulation can occur. If you haven't watched a video on delivery self-attachment yet you will be amazed! We are much more like other mammals than we have given our babies credit. When un-medicated, undisturbed, and left skin-to-skin with mom they move themselves into position and find the nipple, latch on, and begin feeding. I just attended a conference where I was blown away by the latest info about epigenetics and breastfeeding. Breastmilk contains, histones, lepten, and microRNA, which all pass to the baby. They attach into their genes and change how the genes are expressed. This is an important further step in passing on genetic information from one generation to the next.  

The third stage is more easily accomplished if baby stays with mom. This triggers further oxytocin release, especially if the baby latches and begins to nurse, which stimulates the placenta to fully separate and then keeps blood flow to the amount which brings mom back to homeostasis. She loses the extra blood she created to maintain the pregnancy which she no longer needs. There is no need for "a little bit of pitocin" as you have taught unless the mom actually IS bleeding too much. Again our physiology is miraculously designed to take care of most contingencies. Only when it is not able to do its job successfully should we vary from this amazing design which you clearly have so much respect for.

Finally I want you to imagine what would physiologically occur if the mother and neonate were all alone immediately after birth. What would the mother do? Would she immediately clamp and cut the umbilical cord as you have stated the is done in our hospitals? Highly unlikely. Therefore what is supposed to occur? As you detailed so well, the baby's circulation and respiration have major changes that need to happen. These will generally take place quite peacefully without any gasping or stress to the baby. There is significant pressure around the baby's chest when it is squeezing through the vagina. When the baby is born there is therefore a significant drop in pressure which causes air to try to rush into the lungs. Also there are nerves in the skin of the neonates face which, when exposed to air for the first time, trigger him to breath in. This is why babies can be born under water and not drown. They do not attempt to breathe until their face is lifted out of the water. Further as long as the cord and placenta are intact and still pulsing the neonate continues to receive oxygenated blood from the mother through the placenta. The cord is covered with a substance called Warton's Jelly. When the air hits the cord it dries this out and triggers the cord to slowly stop pulsing. Meanwhile inside the baby his body is working to close the foramen ovale and reroute the blood. Most cords will pulse for 5 to 10 minutes after birth and placentas stay adhered to the wall for anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. This gives the baby buffer time. I don't believe in this scenario there is a fall in blood PH, but I could be wrong. This also gives the mother/baby system time to bring their blood exchange into homeostasis with the neonate receiving exactly the right amount of blood. If you clamp the cord too soon you will leave 1/3 of the fetal blood in the placenta. This blood is needed by the neonate for many reasons. They are discussed in one of the links below. 

Thank you for listening and thank you for expanding and deepening my knowledge of the human body. I'm very glad I took this class. If you wish to ask me further questions about labor, birth or breastfeeding please email me at jenniferstoverdoula@gmail.com.

A standing unassisted birth video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFMHB4RqpjI  

An MRI study of Pelvimetry in 3 positions:

http://www.ajronline.org/doi/pdf/10.2214/ajr.179.4.1791063

Further explanation about up right positions: http://www.givingbirthnaturally.com/birth-positions.html

Discussion of labor hormones and how catecholamines disrupt the natural hormonal cascade:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595201/  

Fetal Ejection Reflex: http://www.wombecology.com/?pg=fetusejection

Delayed cord clamping: http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=5730

The requirements for a hospital to become Baby Friendly certified:http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/about-us/baby-friendly-hospital-initiative/the-ten-steps

Importance of skin-to-skin contact: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/806325

Breast Crawl video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrwfIcPB1u4   

I hope dear reader you found this information helpful to you. Please feel free to share it with others. You can link to this blog or share it via Facebook. Even copy and paste it into an email or on your own web site. Please remember to attribute it to me.

A New Path Down an Old Road

Like many mothers, the road I started down after the birth of my son has taken me places I never expected. I have reinvented myself many times in the process or perhaps the road has reinvented me. Threads from my past lives weave together and my tapestry gets richer and deeper, mellowing with age.

Many years ago my body lay broken upon the jagged shores of my deepest passion, riding horses. Just as with the birth of my son I was once again confronted with the limits of the medical model. In this case if they couldn't visualize it with their many tests, quantify it, and label it, it didn't exist therefore they had nothing to offer me as a path back to health. They would happily prescribe pain medication for the rest of my life or refer me to a psychologist because the pain was obviously in my head not in my back. My search for a way out of pain led me to a deeper understanding of many modalities; acupuncture, chiropractic, watsu, myofascial release, spinal decompression, Feldenkrais body work, hormone balancing, and craniosacral therapy. All have been instrumental in my journey toward a pain free life.

Our lives lead us many places. Mine lead me to Cayucos to the door of CranioSacral Therapist, Celeste Varas de Valdes. The combination of her amazing ability to "read" my body, the gentleness of her touch, and the profound response of my body as I floated out of pain were incomprehensible to me. How could this be? I told my husband she was a wizard. How could she hardly touch me and have such an amazing healing effect?

Celeste encouraged me to read John Upledger's book "Your Inner Physician and You." Upledger is the founder of CranioSacral work. Actually I believe he may be a re-discoverer of a wisdom known through the centuries and across many cultures. I bought the book but consciously chose to never open it. I wanted to learn on an experiential level. It is easy for me to get in my head, to get caught up in intellectual learning. I wanted this to be clean unfettered learning through my own body's experience.

As my body began to heal I became more drawn to the how and whys of cranio work. Celeste patiently answered my questions. Next my path brought a chance to learn more at a California Midwifery Conference. I attended an all day workshop by Carol Gray introducing cranio work for pregnant moms and infants. After that I was convinced I wanted to learn more about how to incorporate this modality into my doula work. Time, expense and timing, i.e. life, kept this from happening.

A few years later I was offered an opportunity to watch at the hands-on part of an Obstetric 1 CranioSacral Training at Sukha Wellness Center in Avila. I was graciously allowed to try putting my hands on one of my pregnant clients who was there for demonstration purposes. I was astonished at all that I could "feel" going on inside her; the blockages and tensions. I put my hands on clients all the time, hugs, massages, counter pressure, or just holding a hand. This was completely different. It was tuning into a vibration and letting her body gently move me in a dance. The crazy part is she was lying completely still upon a massage table. No one else looking could see the swirling movement under my hands as her body gently unwound.

Interesting, but now what? I was busy going down a new path, working on earning my La Leche League
Leadership and learning as much as I could about breastfeeding. The more I immersed myself in the world of breastfeeding the more concerned I became. Listening to so many postpartum mothers who were struggling to breastfeed; to do what should have been a simple natural act. Something that every mare I helped foal never had a problem doing. Rarely, a mare will reject her foal completely, but no mare who allows her foal to latch has problems. Foals don't have latching or sucking issues. If you feed the mare right she has plenty of milk and the foal has no problems transferring that milk from the teat to his tummy. So why were so many of our mothers caught up in the pumping, bottling, exhaustion merry-go-round?

I am a question asker. If something doesn't add up for me I ask people I trust, who have more knowledge than I, why this doesn't add up. Lactation Consultant, Julie Merrill, kindly loaned me the book "The Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding" by Kroeger and Smith. I read that book cover to cover and in its pages I discovered all the research explaining why. I immediately incorporated what I learned into educating my class and doula clients. I was inspired to try harder than ever to support pregnant mamas in ways that would keep them off the self defeating merry-go-round. That didn't feel like enough to me. More moms needed to know. So I helped create and present the community event, Beating the Booby Traps.

Wait! This is supposed to be about cranio right? Took you right down the path with me didn't I? With an out of work husband there was no time or money to think about cranio. Then last May, with the financial help of LLL and labor and delivery nurse, Janell Todd, I attended La Leche League Conference. One lecture I chose to attend was given by Alison Hazelbaker assessing Tongue-tie, a condition which wrecks havoc on breastfeeding. It was presented over 2 days. The first day all the SLO Leaders went. The second day I think I was the only one who continued. I don't know why I went. She said she was going to present how to tell the difference between a real tie and a "faux" one. I thought it would just be more assessment tools. Well her assessment tool was to do CRANIO work on the infants and after several sessions re-assess for tongue function. Turns out she was a CranioSacral Therapist as well as a Lactation Consultant. An incredibly high percentage of tongue-ties were fixed with this gentle non-surgical technique. The pieces all slid into place for me. Now I knew what I wanted to do. It isn't enough to try to help moms say no to procedures which can impact their births and their breastfeeding. It isn't enough to give technical and emotional support to moms struggling unsuccessfully to feed their little ones. I want to actually help the babies and now I know how. I need to become trained in CranioSacral Therapy for infants. These babies are literally crying out for this kind of work.

Again money and time were blocking my path. Thank you to David and Mary Sage Sennewald of Sukha who gifted me a partial scholarship so I could attend CranioSacral I last month. Thank you to Alyssa Nixon and baby Finley for birthing before October 17th!

So now what? Well this path looks fairly long and I'm already finding roadblocks but I am determined. I've attended 2 study groups since the 4 day training. I ordered my books on-line yesterday. I think I have found a used massage table so I can practice on my family and friends. I can't even begin the Obstetric or Pediatric training until I have passed Cranio II and Somato Emotional Release. I'm trying to find a way to get my anatomy studies done without having massage therapists "in training" practice on me. This is something I know my body can not handle. Then there is the legal stuff about setting up a business which involves touching people. Yesterday I was so depressed. All I could see were the roadblocks. Today I'm cracking open the pages of "Your Inner Physician and You".

Celeste's Keep In Touch: http://www.craniosacralthpy.com/

David and Mary Sage's Sukha Wellness Center: http://sukhawellnesscenter.com/

Re-framing Birth

The typical first time mother forgets that birth is about so much more than just her labor and birth experience. It is about her baby's experience too. She gets so caught up in "planning" her birth, practicing her labor "tools" and focusing on all the people and things she thinks she needs to travel this incredible, transformational journey. She forgets about her most intimate traveling partner; the baby she carries inside her. Birth is not an isolated day of importance. It is part of a continuum which started from conception and will continue a lifetime. The mother/baby dance of love and learning begins at the beginning; in utero. Labor and birth is a unique opportunity to teach your baby about how to handle stress and fear through the power of love and connection which should flow seamlessly into those first golden hours and days immediately following birth.

Think about your baby during your birth. Send him or her waves of love and reassurance. This is your first act of motherhood. Listen to Dr. Nils Bergman on how to proceed once your baby is in your arms.

Nils Bergman, MD, MB, MPH, CHB, DCH on the Social and Emotional Intelligence of Infants

"Babies are brilliant, inexperienced people."

Diane West co-author of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and Making More Milk.

"Whole"istic Mamas Support for After Your Baby Arrives

You are invited to join my "Whole"istic Mama and Papas parenting support and social group! 

For the last twenty years I have been asked by moms who had attended my birth classes if  I would please start a mom support group after their babies came. Unfortunately I was too busy raising my son, being a wife, birth educator, doula, foreign exchange student teacher/coordinator and horse trainer and community birth advocate to say yes. In 2012 I finished my La Leache League leadership training and finally decided they were right. Moms who were choosing to parent from an attached perspective needed more support in our community. 

Because I have always viewed parenting as a dynamic constantly evolving experience I purposely chose to not call the group "attachment parenting". I wanted to encourage a broader spectrum of mamas to feel welcome. So I created the term "Whole"istic Parenting which I felt better reflected my views of parenting the whole child. At our meet ups and in our face book group I encourage mamas to make conscious choices for their child's physical, intellectual and emotional health. Research shows these are not distinct areas but are forever inseparably intertwined. 

The group offers mama-to-mama support and information sharing, as well as a social outlet with several park or play dates a month. The conversation is free flowing, covering whatever is on the minds of the attending mamas from sleep issues, balancing family needs, extended family, nutrition, traditional and alternative health providers, education, communication and more. As a veteran working mom, past home and public schooling parent, and La Leche League leader I gently offer guidance and resources. I ultimately believe mamas know the right path to choose for their unique family situation when given a small amount of nonjudgmental information and encouragement to listen to their heart. To receive invitations to our Blanket Babies & Toddler Time meet ups and join the on-line group feel free to friend me on face book and request to join.

I am a Community Lactivist

I believe in breastfeeding both for the healthy growth of a child and the healthy growth of a mother. When a new mother breastfeeds she learns to watch and listen to her child's cues. These simple facial expressions, body movements and vocalizations which trigger our innate response to nurture are the start of a life long conversation...

See community lactivism in action and read more about why as a doula and La Leche League leader I support breastfeeding women.Here. 

What My Husband Didn't Do

Months ago I was asked the question how did my husband show his support of my choice to breastfeed our son? I am ashamed to admit that I couldn’t think of a single thing my husband had done or said. Recently I turned this question inside out and took another look. What had my husband not done? When viewed this way it became blindingly clear all the ways my quiet husband had been my mainstay throughout my breastfeeding experience and parenting. Read about it here.

I am a Community Lactivist

I believe in breastfeeding both for the healthy growth of a child and the healthy growth of a mother. When a new mother breastfeeds she learns to watch and listen to her child's cues. These simple facial expressions, body movements and vocalizations which trigger our innate response to nurture are the start of a life long conversation.With support the new mother comes to trust her baby's ability to know when they have a need and what it is they need. As she learns she can meet these needs through breastfeeding she gains confidence both in her mothering abilities and her baby's abilities. As she learns to let go of the need to quantify these abilities through weighing, measuring or lines on a chart she starts down the path of mothering wisdom. This path can teach her to relax. It can teach her to rely more on her child's wisdom than on professional experts. It can teach her she is more a witness to her child's life unfolding than a director. She is more an access to the resources needed  for her child to play their unique heart song than the leader of the band. Breastfeeding can be the key to a new way of parenting for life.

It is because I believe this in my heart that I am a Community Lactivist. I express my commitment to all the breastfeeding mothers out there by being an active member of several organizations that support breastfeeding in our community; La Leche League, Birth & Baby Resource Network and Central Coast Breastfeeding Coalition. I am proud to say San Luis Obispo has a very high breastfeeding initiation rate. Unfortunately like most of the country there is a steep drop off from the second week to two months. We have lots of support groups and resources in our community and yet women still can't seem to make it through the challenging first six to eight weeks and into the months of breastfeeding bliss. As Lactation Consultant Julie Merrill said at Thursday's Farmer's Market, "It breaks my heart to see so many babies in strollers with bottles." The Coalition has just printed a new breastfeeding resource brochure full of places, people, books and web sites mothers can turn to for guidance and encouragement. Look for their green and white cover around town, at your doctor or midwife's office and baby stores. 

This baby wants all new mommies to have this brochure!

Stepping out of the shadows

Breastfeeding mothers need our support. We need to step out of the shadows and take a stand that breastfeeding is normal; formula feeding is abnormal. Babies need to feed when they need to feed and mothers need to feel comfortable attending to those needs; even in public. This is a national health issue. By continuing to pay money to formula companies we are draining our economic resources, environmental resources and our nations future health. Don't be blinded by the "Well I was formula fed and I turned out ok", way of thinking. Look around you we have an obesity epidemic, while cancer, diabetes, and heart disease run rampant in our nation. We are overly dependent on antibiotics and medications. While these may not be the direct result of formula feeding the studies clearly indicate that all of these could be lessened if we only chose to breastfeed for the first few years of our children's lives. I firmly believe some day we will look back on these years of our nation suckling at the teat of the Nestle Corporation and compare it to the time of America's romance with cigarettes.

Our bodies grow smarter healthier babies.

August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month. If you see a mom nursing her child, give her a thumbs up and a friendly smile. Each day she chooses to breastfeed she is giving her child a wonderful gift and performing a patriotic duty.

We gave a new meaning to "flash" mob at SLO's popular Thursday night Farmer's Market.An special thank you to Robyn Berry Photography.

Lactivistas come in all ages.

Educating the public on the benefits of breastmilk.

Demonstrating the miraculous work our breasts were perfectly designed to do.

Every baby deserves a booby!

Learning one generation to the next.

 Thank you to the mamas who chose to bare it all last night to demonstrate what breasts were actually designed to do.

Inspiring a new mommy.                BREASTFEEDING It Rocks!

 

Read about how I managed to juggle working and breastfeeding here.

This month's La Leche League meetings:

Monday, August 13th at 10 am:

Santa Lucia Birth Center 4251 S. Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo
Topic: Nutrition and Weaning

Monday, August 27th at 7 pm:
Santa Lucia Birth Center
Topic: Baby Arrives

Look for Los Osos meetings to start back in September!

Baby's First Bath: rethinking a tradition in light of the latest research.

(Ricky Martin gives his baby his first bath)

One hour old. One hour of holding and gazing. One hour of nuzzling, smelling, latching and sucking. One hour of “she has my ears” and “she definitely has your mother’s nose.” One hour of the most precious time in a new family’s life. Time stands still; generations collide; the universe contracts down to be held in the grasp of her impossibly tiny fingers wrapped around your hand and heart.

The pleasant nurse asks, “Would it be alright if I weigh and measure your baby now?” The young mother elated and tired from the birth relinquishes her vulnerable newborn to the waiting nurse’s capable hands. She is as anxious as everyone else to begin these next steps in the rituals of birth.

“Eight pounds 8 ounces,” announces the nurse. “My, she is a big girl!” The doula snaps a photo of the digital reading on the scale for the baby’s memory book. The brand new father excitedly posts the vital statistics on face book for the world to see what he has created.

After measuring her length and head size, the nurse carefully places her feet down on the paper, gently pressing each of her tiny toes to the page to capture her foot prints for the birth records; one set for the birth certificate and another set for the memory book.

Then she turns to the father and says, “Well it is time for her first bath. Would you like to help?” She fills the clear plastic isolette tub with warm water and gets out a bar of hospital antibacterial soap. She makes sure the warmer is heated up just right so the baby will have a warm dry place to go to as soon as the bath is over. She knows it puts a baby at risk to let them get chilled.

“Okay Dad, can you bring your daughter over here?” instructs the nurse. She confidently guides him through the process as he gingerly picks his daughter up for the first time; painfully aware of how fragile her tiny, perfect body feels in his suddenly over large hands. The experienced nurse talks him through what has become an important bonding ritual between fathers and their babies all over the U.S. She encourages him to not be afraid as together they gently scrub the baby all over with soap and water, cleaning away germs and bacteria. She teaches him how to lather her hair with shampoo and rinse it while protecting her face and eyes. When all traces of the birth have been cleaned from her baby soft skin she is laid on the warmer, dried, diapered and carefully dressed in the tiniest white t-shirt the dad has ever seen. Finally the nurse shows him how to swaddle the baby and puts her into his waiting arms.

This washing of the baby bonding ritual is repeated in hospitals everyday all across America. Sometimes siblings or grandparents are included in this sweet experience. But the time has come to take a closer more critical look at this tradition. Numerous studies show us that when it comes to intestinal bacteria babies are a clean slate immediately after birth. Within a very short time their gut has been colonized with the right bacteria for living a healthy life. Where do these bacteria come from? There are two main sources; the mother’s vaginal passage and her skin, especially around her nipples.

As the baby passes through the birth canal she is bathed in her mother’s bacteria. This starts an important process for life-long gut health. If she doesn’t pass through the canal, due to a surgical birth, the bacteria the baby first comes in contact with is from the surrounding environment; the air, other infants, doctors and the nursing staff. Studies show it may take up to 6 months for the cesarean baby to attain the correct balance of flora in her gut.

The next way bacteria are introduced to the baby is by latching onto mother’s breast for her first feeding. The bacteria present on the mother’s skin are swallowed and starts the process which will create vitamin K in the baby’s system. Vitamin K is critical for appropriate blood clotting.

On top of all this there are special properties in the mother’s colostrum which help the good bacteria to thrive in the baby and bad bacteria to suffer.

Although we have been trained to think of bacteria as bad the truth is there are many microbes which are beneficially for our health. We are meant to live in a state of balanced symbiosis with these beneficial bacteria. That process is meant to start during the birth and continue during the hours immediately after birth; just as the squeezing of the birth canal prepares the baby for the adjustment of breathing air into her lungs to oxygenate her own blood. If we think of bacteria as bad and the baby as “dirty” then of course we feel a need to wash her. What happens if we think of the baby as being in an important microbial transition time which may impact her overall future health?

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Since I wrote this more research has come out. Click here to read what the latest science says about our relationship with bacteria.