nataliethedoula

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Amsterdam
nataliethedoula

Supporting and empowering families through pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

16/03/2023

Beautiful examples of a hospital birth where mom remained active, utilised gravity, and kept her pelvis nice and open. She remained in control and created the safe, peaceful environment she had imagined with her partner, mom 🥰 and doula (me!)

Whether you plan to give birth at the hospital or your pregnancy or labour takes a medical route, hospitals in the Netherlands provide some wonderful props to support active birth; a birth ball, adjustable bed which can be raised or lowered according to your height, birthing stools, and a birthing pool (to name a few). Yoga mat and partner providing counter-pressure, double hip squeeze and light touch massage, are client’s own 😉.

Nice tip: You can also mention your desire to remain upright, active, and following the lead of your body (I truly believe the body knows the best position to take in labour) in your birth plan/preferences.

06/03/2023

🏊‍♀️Swimming in pregnancy🏊‍♀️

During pregnancy, swimming can:
- reduce backaches, constipation, bloating and swelling
- boost your mood & energy levels
- help you sleep better
- promote muscle tone, strength and endurance
- improve circulation & boost oxygen levels in your blood
- improve cardiovascular health & flexibility

Swimming is one of my favourite pregnancy exercises. It is low impact, gentle on the body, and works both of your major muscles groups (arms & legs), plus the water prevents you from overheating. Nothing like the water to create some buoyancy and alleviate that heavy feeling towards the end of pregnancy 😅.

Other possible benefits include:
- a lower risk of gestational diabetes
- shortened duration of labor
- a reduced risk of having a C-section

* always good to get the 👍 from your care provider if you have a medical condition

Where is your favourite place to swim while pregnant? Mine is .mercator 🌊

15/12/2022

She is not a friend. She is not a healthcare provider. She is a reassuring presence who will always listen to you and support you in your chosen path. She will remind you of those choices, and the reason you made them, when you are in doubt, are anxious or are afraid. ⭐️She sees you; the real you ⭐️. Her understanding of your journey supports your self-confidence. She eases pain with a touch, a word, a look, her presence…She is a doula.

23/11/2022

A beautiful transition in labour. And a gorgeous transition from day to night. So beautiful when our bodies and Mother Nature are aligned 🌅

01/09/2022

Unwinding and processing after a beautiful & empowered epidural birth. Every time I attend a birth I’m in awe of the strength and resilience of women, and their ability to birth on their terms ✌️. This incredible instinct and intuition to listen to our bodies, and to know what we need to relax, open and let our unique birth journey unfold. As a birth worker, I’m also learning how to take care of myself; energetically and physically. How do I settle that tidal wave of energy, love and support, and give it back to myself? So far, this is what feels best for me:

🌼 a warm bath with essential oils or cbd bath bomb to help relax tired muscles and an hyper sensitive nervous system
🌼 sleep (enough said)
🌼 fresh air and vitamin D
🌼 talk therapy - to a doula friend, mentor or close friend with an open heart

Fellow doulas, care professionals, artists, and others, what rituals nourish you physically and emotionally?

04/08/2022

Happy World Breastfeeding Week 💞 Coming up to 24 months of breastfeeding this little man. Breastfeeding can be the most challenging, yet most beautiful, connecting and highly emotional experience. For all those mamas wishing to breastfeed, as always, follow your intuition, and don’t be afraid to ask for support. A lactation consultant or a breastfeeding course can make a huge difference in your knowledge and confidence 🙏.

06/07/2022

Summer isn’t a season, it’s a feeling ✌️

27/06/2022

To all women carrying life, wanting to carry life someday, and anyone else holding the torch of empowerment for women. This is a love letter to you 💗:
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Your body is wise. Your body has been sending messages to you and through you your whole entire life. In fact, your body is a message in and of itself. The rest it desires when pushed to the brink, the drink of water it craves after too long parched. Your body tells you. It always has.
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Then you become pregnant and you have two bodies speaking through one. Your body tells you and so does your baby’s. It’s time to rest, it’s time to dance, it’s time to stop giving two flips about the size of your waist. All the messages are there.
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The thing is though that after a lifetime in a culture that devalues the body’s wisdom, it can be hard to understand those inner callings. Furthermore, it can be hard to heed the call of the inner knowing when there’s so much to get done.
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That’s when the calls of the body and your baby transmute into other frequencies.
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It is never to late to call on your inner power. To pause and breathe into your every cell. To look within and learn the mother tongue of your body — a language that you were born with that’s been too long forgotten

21/06/2022

The job of the first is no small task. They must arrive in this world ready to tear down all the walls their parents possess.
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In a sense, the first child breaks the parents. They take these once autonomous beings and show them what it is to no longer be solo in this world. It is a mammoth job for anyone, let alone a tiny human. That’s why these little fireballs, these first kids, have such determination. They need it. They arrive here with it ready to take us human adults from living it up to living a life of service.
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She is a trailblazer, the first of her kind in our family unit. I continue to remind myself of her task, of her strength, and that her character (bubbly, compassionate, empathetic, responsible, creative, stubborn) is precisely perfect. All of her “first child” traits are exactly what it took to transform me from non-mother to mother 💜.
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Four years of you, sweet Alma . My first love. My light. My soul. Thank you for making me a momma. Words by the forever inspiring

13/06/2022

Moments like this. Morning cuddles and breastfeeding with my 22 month old. Didn’t expect to be breastfeeding him for this long but it still means so much to him (and me 💜). Breastfeeding is more than just feeding. It’s about comfort. Connection. Vulnerability. Coming home to a safe place for both of us.

And of course, it’s still very nutritious. Breastfeeding in the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breast milk provides:

* 29% energy requirements
* 43% protein requirements
* 36% calcium requirements
* 75% vitamin A requirements
* 76% folate requirements
* 94% vitamin B12 requirements
* 60% vitamin C requirements

Grainy, dark photo because it was 5.30am 😴. Source

05/06/2022

Postpartum is forever. “The most difficult part of birth is the first year afterwards. It is the year of travail - when the soul of a woman must birth the mother inside her. The emotional labour pains of becoming a mother are far greater than the physical pangs of birth; these are the growing surges of your heart as it pushes out selfishness and fear and makes room for sacrifice and love. It is a private and silent birth of the soul, but it is no less holy than the event of childbirth, perhaps it is even more sacred” - Joy Kusek
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03/06/2022

🌫 VERNIX 🌫

I was at a birth recently and the baby was born with a thick layer of creamy white, sticky vernix. It was incredible 😍. It helps protect the baby’s skin from amniotic fluid, but it’s also incredibly beneficial and nourishing post birth for baby’s skin. I like to think of it as nature’s moisturiser as it contains lipids, amino acids, proteins, antibacterial, and antimicrobial compounds. So don’t be in a hurry to wipe or wash it off 😉.

How much vernix a baby has at birth usually depends on the maturity of the baby when he or she is born. The greater the gestational age, the less vernix (usually).

Vernix is also…

“A germ fighting superhero”. One of the primary purposes of vernix is to protect the baby from unwanted pathogens, both in the womb, and out of it. The mucus plug, and amniotic sac both help protect baby from harmful bacteria, but the vernix is truly the last line of defense.
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“A temperature regulator.” Its thick, waxy coating, helps to insulate the baby.
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“The breastmilk connection.” The immune proteins found in the vernix and amniotic fluid are very similar to the ones found in breastmilk. During the end of pregnancy, vernix thins and some of it sheds into the amniotic fluid that baby is now breathing. This antimicrobial, peptide-rich mixture enters the baby’s lungs and digestive tract, and helps prepare it for the similar peptides found in breastmilk. This helps prepare the baby’s body for the transition to the outside world by prepping, and nourishing their digestive systems.

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Kanaalstraat 37h
Amsterdam
1054WZ

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+31621366879

Website

http://www.nataliethedoula.nl/

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