Indigo Forest

11/18/2025

“Charley horses” and leg cramps are agonizing in pregnancy; luckily they are preventable and treatable! They are most often linked to low mineral levels, and low sodium diet are especially linked to cramping!

Here are the suggestions that have my clients breathing sighs of relief THE SAME DAY:

1. MORE unrefined salt, Celtic or Redmonds. NOT others like Morton’s Table Salt. (See my reel on salt if this freaks you out.)
2. MORE magnesium - it’s the mineral responsible for relaxation (including of individual muscles), and it’s depleted during dehydration and high stress. Whatever magnesium you prefer is fine - or can try Magnesium Theonate, lactate, or even citrate (citrate will loosen stools at higher doses.)
3. Epson salt bath or foot soak.
4. Mag Phos 6X tissue or cell salt - a homeopathic magnesium mineral blend; this is micro-dosing and helps the body pick up and use magnesium. It helps prevent, and also helps to quickly resolve a cramp in action.
5. 20 minute daily brisk walk to improve circulation in legs and body.
6. Jin Shin Jitsu - an energy system to access with your hands. While seated, place your hands behind your knees and hold. Often bringing quick results, it’s a great resource to know (and share) because it can be used anywhere, anytime (on public transport, the airplane, waiting room etc.)

Do you have other ‘go-to’s’? What works for you?

                        -medicine

11/17/2025

Sometimes natural births are derailed when the amniotic bag of waters breaks around the due date but labor does not begin within the time window the health care provider or medical facility prefers. This often brings concern for infection and pressure to induce labor, and may bring an unanticipated series of interventions as well.

Here are four common sense approaches that help protect the bag until it releases on its own (usually in active labor or during birth). This also helps keeps the baby cushioned, with plenty of fluid to adjust their position, and protected from the outside world until they’re ready.

This time window to labor/birth is a moving target, and a hot topic. Yes, preborn babies can be at greater risk for infection once they’re no longer sealed in the amniotic bag. Also yes, there ARE practical approaches that help to minimize risk of infection. I’ve had women safely go 5 weeks (yes, dripping all the time) before their baby was safely and swiftly born. NO - I’M NOT RECOMMENDING THIS TO YOU, AND NO, WE WERE NOT CASUAL. I have a protocol and she followed it to the letter, and yes, everyone’s health was monitored. I’m not suggesting this is the right approach for everyone, I am suggesting there are options beyond routine, immediate, fearful, and aggressive action.

PS. My natural birth program where all of my protocols are covered in detail will (finally ) be out at the beginning of the year! Comment BIRTH and I’ll personally send you the clickable link for the waitlist info. Looking forward to seeing you there!

                       

11/14/2025

🍃Have you had an herbal bath? Once you’ve even seen it and especially once you’ve had the sublime pleasure of soaking in one, you’ll never be without an herbal bath! So here you go- this video is from the actual bath a dad and I prepared for a postpartum mom and their baby.

🛁The clean tub, medicinal herbs, and SALT make it antiseptic, safe, and wonderfully healing for mom’s sore, postpartum tissues and newborn’s stinky cord. (And skin healing of any kind, scrapes, post-surgery, etc). If you are not using my baths (recipe I evolved over my career and hand make for you), then MAKE SURE YOU ADD SALT to the baths you use to keep it safe! (Often missed in the cute Etsy options.)

💙Running the herbal bath (FOR the pp mom, not BY the pp mom!!)

1. The tub is freshly cleaned with chemical-free products.
2. Make the herbal “tea” with a big pot of water + whole bag of Indigo Forest herbal bath (loose). Simmer for 1 hour or soak overnight.
3. Draw a shallow bath, STRAIN “tea” into the bath.
4. Mom and baby can BOTH enjoy!
5. Yes it is SAFE for postpartum mom or newborn, because of a good amount of both medicinal herbs and antiseptic salt.
6. Soothing, immediately pain-relieving, dries cord, smells fabulous.
7. FULL DIRECTIONS and ordering at www.IndigoForest.com, link in bio, or comment ‘BATH’ here and I DM you the easy link directly.

PS. BLACK FRIDAY SALE IS ON AND INCLUDES BATHS FOR THE FIRST TIME!!

                           shealthylives

11/12/2025

This is only the start of conversation, not the punchline. In this modern age, the postpartum window tends to be seen as a time to be moved through as briskly as possible. “Get back to real life“. And there’s so much to do, right?

Unfortunately, this modern age has also normalized lingering problems, bleeding for many weeks or months after the birth, and debilitating depression, anxiety, exhaustion, fatigue, and all the rest that is epidemic.

There’s a lot of shaping healthy, satisfying and beautiful postpartum. It includes help lining up and finding support, it involves nourishing foods that are warming and easy to digest, it includes honoring the slower pace of newborn babies and recovering mothers.

How was YOUR postpartum? Doulas and Midwives, what is the main postpartum advice you find most helps your clients?

11/11/2025

I know, it’s exciting to FINALLY be in labor! However, IGNORE LABOR UNTIL YOU CAN’T IGNORE IT! (Honest!)

The most common mistake made by first time parents is to intensely and enthusiastically lean in to labor at its very first sign. However, labor is very rarely like TV with babies flying out by the next commercial!

Early labor can last a few minutes, or even a few days! It’s not usually super strenuous, though it can seem physically overwhelming, especially if it’s not understood. Keep a great attitude, and prioritize rest. Respecting the work of early labor makes things more fun, more efficient, and more safe!

The length of labor is measured from this Active labor/~ 5 cm threshold. Until then, staying cheerful and doing what you would normally be doing is the way to go. Eat/walk/rest/bath or shower/laugh at a funny movie/make cookies with the kids/make memories. AND GO TO SLEEP OR AT LEAST REST if it’s dark! Strategize for needing to conserve your energy, said no parent ever, “I was too rested.”

Respecting the work of early labor makes things more fun, more efficient, and more safe! So do not ramp up in early labor, REST!

If it does seem like the contractions might find their rhythm if the baby was a in better position - try the Reset Position. IT’s AMAZING. Can be done in every setting, anytime.

Comment ‘RESET’ and I’ll DM you the clickable link directly or see it below (www.IndigoForest.com/blog/Reset)

                           

11/10/2025

Labor is a NORMAL BIOLOGICAL PROCESS, and most women in an unmedicated labor will eat and drink to the degree that works for her.

Of course everyone feels better and our body‘s work better when we are normally hydrated and nourished. Dehydration in labor is best prevented, as it can drain the strength and pace of labor and negatively affect the baby as well.

Routine IV’s are effective tools for hydrating someone who is in a vulnerable medical state, but their use disrupts the sensitive balance of the body if they are not actually needed. Birth is not in itself a medical event.

According to Penny Simkin wrote in her book, The Birth Partner;
“A laboring mom’s hydration needs are around ¼ cup of fluid replacement/hour, or a bit more if she’s sweating a lot or doing mostly light breathing.”

Normal hydration can be maintained through everyday fluids such as water, pregnancy tea, juice, electrolyte or sports additives, unrefined salt in lemon water, or coconut water. Both moms and babies are both better off when IV’s are saved for the occasional genuine need.

                 

11/09/2025

BETH MESSAGE: You may be seeing invites to my new business page, YES, PLEASE FOLLOW ME THERE (too)! A year+ ago, this page was hacked and we lost interactions with over 60K enthusiastic mamas. New page will run parallel to this one for now, but that's the fresh start and looking forward to collecting us all up together there. WELCOME! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583256014823

Sharing 40+ years of holistic midwifery and family care

11/09/2025

🍃Postpartum herbal baths feel AMAZING!!! They reduce pain, speed healing, and are completely safe for both mother and baby. I’ve been making these baths for a couple generations now (literally), and we’ve not had one infection from it!

🍃YES!!! IT’s TRUE that mothers and babies should ‘not’ generally soak in water until everything is healed. BUT a PROPERLY DONE herbal bath is different. We use it to help resolve infections, they will not cause them. But the ingredients matter, the prep matters, and the clean tub matters.

Not too complex, just not casual. Here you see how ridiculously simple it is to get going. This is the perfect postpartum gift, and easy for your mom, MIL, auntie, sister, friend or partner to brew up for you in the early days after having your baby.

Comment ‘BATH’ below and I’ll text you the Indigo Forest page with all the ingredients, details, pictures, and instructions. Easy ordering there too, I ship them from our guest room 🤣

Happy healing!

11/05/2025

The Microbirth Summit of 2025 has phenomenal presenters. Katri is one of the researchers studying the infant gut microbiota restoration. Here’s a few of her take-home messages from this present:

1. Microbial influences all aspects of the infant physiology and development, and thus has lifelong effects on the health of a child.
2. Infants receive their most important gut microbes, mainly bacterium species, from the mother’s gut during bachelor birth, and their growth are supported by breastmilk.

3. Cesarean delivery or exposure to intrapartum antibiotics reduces or eliminate bacterial transfer from the mother, which ultra a whole early development of the microbiota during a very sensitive development time window.

4. Bacteria – containing probiotics together with breast-feeding is the safest and easiest way to restore the gut microbiota of

5. if breast-feeding is not possible, the formula should contain a sufficient amount of oligosaccharides to support healthy gut microbiota.

I had no idea that the certain unique sugars and breastmilk are not actually digestible by the human body, only by the microbes in the infant got for the human body… Unbelievable impact!

How do we stem the tide of epidemic antibiotics at Birth? We must. There are part of routine US group B treatment and also all C-sections. We have to start discussing better options. …

11/03/2025

Have you had your membrane stripped or had a “stretch and sweep“? I’m curious, did your care provider sit quietly with you and explain WHILE YOU HAD YOUR CLOTHES ON what the process entailed, what the possible benefits and risks were, and what your options around it that day or future day could be? Did they tell you what could happen if it didn’t work, or if it did work?

i’m interested in even one person responding has seen # or experienced this? That would be fully informed consent, and it’s required medically, ethically, and legally in medical care… But it can be kind of rare in maternity.
#
Having your membrane strip sweep might be a wonderful option and you might have been so glad it happened. All good. Informed consent is a critical aspect of empowered mothers and safe and satisfying healthcare.

How do you feel about the level of informed consent you’ve been getting?

11/01/2025

⏰The time change this weekend is “the easy one”… That blessed extra hour where we shift out of daylight savings time back to standard time.. Still, families often have to do a bit of adjusting.

🌊Although you may not be familiar with the Chinese five elements, I think you’ll find that intuitively as a parent, you’ve already been there. Using these elements can help rebalance our whole families, nervous system and circadian rhythms. Easy and fun. Suds anyone?

⏳Some other time I’ll get into the data of why bodies, not surprisingly, function so much better on standard time. Which is essentially having time (high) noon be when the sun is directly overhead, instead of trying to play with our time pieces and have manipulating our human rhythms as a consequence.

☀️i’ve been fighting the health imperiling chaos of daylight savings time my whole career. Hoping this is our last shift! 🤞

11/01/2025

🎃 I love to honor the wonderful midwives who have come before with “Miss Beth’s Good Witch“ costume for the big kids that have always come to prenatals on Halloween decked out in their costumes. It became a tradition to meet them with playful razzle dazzle.

🧡Throughout history, midwives have been accused of being witches. Along with so many other healers, they were at risk for having skills and showing up in service to women and families. They suffered through the accusations in Western Europe from the 15th to the 18th century. Those holding the reins of religion in those times could be very suspicious of the “magic“ of loving hands or natural remedies for relieving pain and suffering! Some say that the general distrust of independent healers can be traced back to these times.

This is my tribute and appreciation for the healers, teachers, and those who passed their botanical and other healing crafts on thru time. 🧡