Nicky Langley Doula and The Wise Hippo Birthing Programme Instructor

22/07/2023

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10230859201562713&id=1207047685

26/03/2022

Have you tried this labour hack??⁣
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Yep a simple comb can help you through contractions and many women swear by it. ⁣
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𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤? ⁣
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Well it is all to do with the Pain Gate Control Theory of pain. This theory suggests that non-painful input closes the nerve “gates” to painful input, which prevents pain sensation from traveling to the central nervous system. ⁣
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So the comb works on the Pain Gate Control Theory by distracting the brain which allows more of your attention to focus on the sensation of the comb in your hand and away from the contractions. ⁣
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𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭?⁣
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Grip the comb in the palm of your hand, close your hand around it and squeeze the teeth at the base of your fingers where it joins the palm. (See the picture for hand placement). ⁣
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The teeth of the comb can put pressure onto specific acupressure points. These points lie along the creases of the hands where the fingers join the palm. ⁣
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This is usually more useful when the intensity has increased and you need to concentrate on getting through each contraction. They also help release endorphins into the body. ⁣
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Give it a try!

12/11/2021

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reprosoc.com%2Fblog%2F2021%2F11%2F10%2Fmarch-with-midwives&h=AT1TXUAbo7iyu6pO02KCuXvfjDmaHUzk2GlwQ8UtWKml0G9r57RoORRPx03vi2PqF9ezv74gZkl7b2A-bBVa4UNjxvA5KbTH_Q7L-kBIj3osAk2bKIEvGKr9nti9S6lC0F_Fkxo&s=1

Victoria Keenan, November 2021 “The last birth I was a part of was a day of no breaks (now just standard) and when the father offered me a Percy pig I cried (thank you, mask).  I was so hungry, tired, thirsty, my back was killing me and it was his kindness to think about me in that momen

14/08/2021

Have you been ever heard squatting is not safe in pregnancy? ⁣⁣
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Well, let’s get one thing straight right now. It is perfectly safe to do squats whilst pregnant.⁣⁣
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Squatting is a natural movement pattern that you should be able to do at all stages of life. You squat when you sit down, when you pick your kids up off the floor, when you use the toilet. It really is unavoidable. ⁣⁣
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So what are the benefits? ⁣⁣
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🍑 Squatting requires you to open your hips to perform the movement. In pregnancy we encourage this to improve your hip mobility. It also encourages widening of the pelvic inlet (how baby goes in) and pelvic outlet (how baby comes out). ⁣⁣
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🍑 They help you maintain your movement patterns, squats are a weight bearing exercise and performing them you are training the muscles in your quadriceps, hamstrings, ab/adductors and glutes to name a few. ⁣⁣
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🍑 This in turn helps prevent lower back pain. A strong lower body prevents an excessive anterior tilt of your pelvis and can prevent that baby bump pulling you forward in to poor posture. ⁣⁣
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🍑 It optimises baby’s position. Squatting allows you to maintain a neutral pelvis, prevents poor posture and perhaps most importantly encourages baby to go with gravity in to the pelvis. ⁣⁣
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🍑 Squatting is an amazing, tried and tested position to birth your baby in. Remember the pelvic inlets and outlets, and the gravity. It has even been proven to shorten labour! So get practicing. ⁣⁣
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🍑 Squatting is great for the pelvic floor. Not just alone, but when we combine it with breathing exercises and other movements it becomes an amazing prehab and rehab tool! ⁣⁣
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Always make sure you are squatting with a qualified trainer who understands the physiology of pregnancy and its effect on exercise. And if you have been advised you have a complication that could be exacerbated by squatting then please listen to your doctors advice! ⁣⁣
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If you ever experience pain, contractions, vaginal bleeding or dizziness STOP your exercise and consult your OBGYN/Midwife. ⁣⁣
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Happy Squatting! ⁣⁣
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14/08/2021

Did you know physiotherapy and osteopathy can assist you during pregnancy ?

And did you know that we can even help you and your baby into a natural labour?

My baby was breech (as many of you may know) and 5 different doctors were telling me to do c-section but I knew that my baby has choose the best position for him to come to the world.

Then doctor number 6 I visited totally agreed on trying natural first and thanks to God it was a super amazing, quick, drugs free natural delivery.

I had physio, osteo ( and Lauren), chiro ( and Dr Jack), I had acupuncture all to make sure it would be my body working to its optimum level.

Dr Geoff actually adjust me on the morning and when I left him my labour started.

I had an amazing doula as an angel by my side helping with hypnobirthing.

All that to say, make sure you know that there are many ways to help

23/07/2021

Not all heroes wear capes!
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Did you know that pregnant women live nearly at the limit of human endurance??⁣⁣
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Yep, researchers from Duke University studied athletes such as elite runners (we’re talking 3000km +…. not sure who those nutters are though) and cyclists in the Tour De France in a bid to identify the absolute limit of human endurance! ⁣⁣
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Their research showed that the human body can cope with a maximum energy expenditure of 2.5 times its’s resting metabolic rate (which is on average around 4000 cals). ⁣⁣
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What is so interesting about this is that when it comes to pregnant women, at their peak their energy expenditure is around 2.2 times their metabolic rate. ⁣⁣
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So in a nutshell, growing tiny humans means your body is pushing the boundaries of your human capabilities in a way only otherwise experienced by exceptionally elite athletes! ⁣⁣
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What’s that? Superheroes? Why yes, I do believe we are 😉 ⁣
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14/07/2021

08/06/2021

❤️🙌💯 🙌❤️

Posted • Yes to this !! Women and baby’s health should always be top priority

Yet we have forgotten that -

❤️ Birth could also be ❤️
✨ Ecstatic
✨ Powerful
✨ Or****ic
✨ Precious
✨ Fearless
✨ Spiritual
✨ Undisturbed

We need to Remember

𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔀𝓮 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱, 𝔀𝓮 𝓭𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓫𝓪𝓫𝓲𝓮𝓼.

𝓦𝓮 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓼, 𝔀𝓮 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓮 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓼.
❤️

05/06/2021

Does this sound familiar??

Don’t allow anyone in to your 4th trimester support system if they don’t add value, bring peace, calm and support.

And just in case no one told you today..... you are great you know😘

03/06/2021

🥰

Bit by bit, I can see the layers of early motherhood stripping from my friends. Like a heap of clothes on the floor, we have let layers slip from us – and have somehow emerged lighter. Little things catch my eye. The handbag slung over a shoulder in the softest pale mushroom leather. A question batted over a picnic rug on a warm summer’s day; “did you bring a pack of wipes?” and the shake of a head in reply. The eldest children absent from meet-ups for football matches, or tennis lessons, or sleepovers with friends; the dynamic between the remaining children shifting around the space they leave. A new confidence that nights out will be tough, but probably not accentuated by the torture of broken nights and early feeds – and the freedom that somehow brings. The jigsaw puzzle of arranging a weekend away with girlfriends suddenly not quite so difficult to piece together. Hands not held on stairs, carparks navigated without panic, seatbelts done up on their own, clothes climbed into, and food cut up on plates. It only seems like yesterday that we had to clench our teeth when a stranger told us to hold on - to just hold on - and it would eventually get easier. They promised. Yet we couldn’t imagine a lounge without plastic toys scattered over the carpet, a kitchen without bottles drying on the side, a boot without a buggy, the strap of a giant baby bag digging into the skin of our shoulders on every day out. Yet here we are. It’s happened without us even noticing. Layer by layer. And it was true all along.