Heart To Heart Midwifery STL

03/15/2026

03/11/2026

03/10/2026

I’ve always known the strength of women, but witnessing the birth of our daughter intimately took that understanding to another level.
Being in the room, seeing .erbert in that primal, powerful, spiritual state as she brought Everley into this world, it was pure awe.
The intelligence of the body, the strength, the trust in something ancient, it left me enamored .
I feel so privileged to have witnessed her in that moment, to support her, and to realize the incredible power she has. Today, I honor her, and all women, for bringing life and for the love and strength they embody.
I am forever in awe.

03/07/2026

The American College of Nurse-Midwives has released its updated Clinical Bulletin "Midwifery Provision of Home Birth Services" it has been published in the current edition of the Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health. Full online access is included with your ACNM membership.

This bulletin reflects the rigorous scholarship, clinical expertise, and policy leadership that define ACNM. It synthesizes evolving U.S. and international evidence demonstrating that planned home birth, when attended by an educated, skilled clinician within well-integrated systems of care, can be a safe, satisfying, ecologically sound, and cost-effective option for appropriately selected pregnant people.

For members, this resource offers:
Evidence-based guidance to support clinical decision-making
Authoritative language for hospital integration discussions
Data to inform payer and policy conversations
Clear framing for counseling patients about birth setting options
A professionally vetted document to strengthen advocacy efforts

Authored by Michelle Palmer, CNM, PhD, CNE, Victoria Gordon, CNM, RN, MSN, Joanna Bronkema, CNM, RN, NP, Andrea Christianson, CNM, MS, Priscilla Hall, CNM, PhD, RN and Developed under the guidance of ACNM’s Research and Standards Committee, with leadership from Karen Jefferson, Director of Professional Practice and Policy, and Melissa Avery, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, this bulletin exemplifies the value of belonging to a national professional organization that invests in standards, scholarship, and the future of midwifery.

Your membership supports this work and gives you direct access to it.
Log in to your member portal to access JMWH and the full Clinical Bulletin.

03/03/2026

Denmark is taking a major step by moving to end the “cry it out” method for babies after a nationwide study revealed potential harms. Over 700 psychologists warned that this sleep training practice could negatively impact brain development and parent-child attachment. The findings emphasise the importance of responsive caregiving during the early stages of life for healthy emotional and cognitive growth.

The study examined the effects of letting babies cry for extended periods and found links to elevated stress levels and possible long-term impacts on brain function. While some parts of the U.S. continue to recommend the method, Denmark’s decision reflects growing concern among experts about the risks versus the benefits of this approach. Advocates of alternative sleep strategies stress nurturing and gradual methods to promote better sleep without compromising developmental outcomes.

This move is sparking viral attention globally among parenting and health communities. It highlights a shift in understanding early childhood care and the need for policies informed by psychological research. Parents and caregivers are now encouraged to explore safer, evidence-based sleep strategies that support both healthy brain development and secure emotional bonds with their children.

02/28/2026

02/21/2026

02/09/2026

“So we’ll be doing a pap smear today” the nurse said to me at my first trimester OB visit.

I don’t think it was intended to be disrespectful. In fact, she seemed nice.

But it was evident she was just so used to the system and routine way of doing things by the way she stated what would be happening to me rather than offering or asking what I would like to do, (which is the only thing that is appropriate).

It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to me in a medical setting. So I had no problem speaking up for myself. After enough bad experiences, I’ve learned.

“Oh, no thanks. I won’t be doing that,” I responded.

My most recent was current enough so doing another would be unnecessary. And with my history of bleeding in pregnancy and recurrent miscarriages, I just do not mess with things ESPECIALLY in early pregnancy.

The nurse looked stunned and confused, which told me they were not used to a patient refusing a *routine* procedure.

Based on her reaction, I couldn’t help but think how scarcely she must have patients refuse what they *tell* them they will be doing to THEIR bodies.

And made me wonder how many women even realize they can say, “no” to anything that makes them uncomfortable in a setting like that.

It’s intimidating when a medical professional TELLS you what will be happening to you.

So I just wanted to let women everywhere know that if you find yourself in a medical setting being told that some *routine* thing will be happening to YOUR body, and you have even an ounce of hesitation or discomfort with that, you are allowed to say “no thank you, I won’t be doing that.”

You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone.
You don’t have to answer questions.

You can simply decline, or wait and take your time to research and decide. ♥️

12/14/2025

She thought she was studying milk.
What she found was a conversation.

In 2008, Katie Hinde was standing in a primate research lab in California, staring at data that refused to behave.

She was analyzing breast milk from rhesus macaque mothers—hundreds of samples, thousands of measurements. And a pattern kept appearing that made no sense under the old rules of science.

Mothers with sons produced milk richer in fat and protein.
Mothers with daughters produced more volume, with different nutrient ratios.

This wasn’t random.

It was customized.

Her male colleagues waved it off.
Measurement error.
Noise.
Coincidence.

But Katie trusted the numbers.

And the numbers were saying something radical:

Milk isn’t just food.
It’s information.

For decades, science treated breast milk like gasoline—calories in, growth out. Simple fuel. But if that were true, why would it change based on a baby’s s*x?

Katie kept digging.

She analyzed milk from 250+ mothers across 700+ sampling events. And the story deepened.

First-time, younger mothers produced milk with fewer calories—but much higher cortisol, the stress hormone. Babies who drank it grew faster… and became more vigilant, more anxious, less confident.

The milk wasn’t just building bodies.

It was shaping temperament.

Then came the discovery that stunned even skeptics.

When a baby nurses, tiny amounts of saliva travel backward through the ni**le into the mother’s breast tissue. That saliva carries signals about the baby’s immune status.

If the baby is getting sick, the mother’s body detects it.

Within hours, her milk changes.

White blood cells surge.
Macrophages multiply.
Targeted antibodies appear.

And when the baby recovers?

The milk returns to baseline.

It wasn’t coincidence.

It was call and response.

The baby’s spit tells the mother what’s wrong.
The mother’s body makes exactly the medicine needed.

A biological dialogue—ancient, precise, invisible to science for centuries.

In 2011, Katie joined Harvard and looked at the wider research landscape.

What she found was unsettling.

There were twice as many studies on erectile dysfunction as on breast milk composition.

The first food every human ever consumed—the substance that shaped our species—had been largely ignored.

So Katie did something bold.

She started a blog with a deliberately provocative name:
“Mammals Suck… Milk!”

Within a year, it had over a million readers. Parents. Doctors. Scientists. People asking questions research had skipped.

And the discoveries kept coming:

• Milk changes by time of day (fat peaks mid-morning)
• Foremilk differs from hindmilk (nursing longer delivers richer milk)
• Human milk contains 200+ oligosaccharides babies can’t digest—because they exist to feed beneficial gut bacteria
• Every mother’s milk is as unique as a fingerprint

In 2017, Katie brought the story to a TED stage, watched by millions.
In 2020, she explained it to the world in Netflix’s Babies.

Today, at Arizona State University’s Comparative Lactation Lab, Dr. Katie Hinde continues uncovering how milk shapes human development from the very first hours of life—informing NICU care, improving formula design, and reshaping public health policy worldwide.

The implications are staggering.

Milk has been evolving for 200 million years—longer than dinosaurs walked the Earth.

What science dismissed as “simple nutrition” is actually one of the most sophisticated communication systems biology has ever produced.

Katie Hinde didn’t just study milk.

She revealed that the most ancient form of nourishment is also the most intelligent—
a living, responsive conversation between two bodies, shaping who we become before we ever speak.

All because one scientist refused to accept that half the story was “measurement error.”

Sometimes the biggest revolutions begin by listening to what everyone else ignores.

10/30/2025

09/05/2025

07/24/2025