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Monday 9am - 8pm Tuesday 9am - 8pm Wednesday 9am - 8pm Thursday 9am - 8pm Friday 9am - 8pm Saturday 9am - 8pm

Original Imprint Birth, Malibu, CA (2026)

02/18/2026

If you’d like to learn more about my virtual prenatal and postpartum support packages, I recently wrapped up a series of sessions with Nenah. You can read about her experience here!

You may book sessions or a free clarity call through my website www.DanaCusato.com and I can’t wait to connect!

08/23/2025

This space began as a business page, but over time it’s grown into something deeper. So many of my clients have become friends who feel like family. Sharing snippets of the beauty of new motherhood here has been so special.

This new chapter feels like the culmination of years of study and practice, and yet it humbles me daily with how much there is still to learn!

Right now, I’m prioritizing presence with my daughter as we adjust to new parenthood and settle into life on California’s Central Coast. While I no longer have a studio or the closeness of my previous community, I continue to support clients virtually, as I always have.

My work weaves together somatic experiencing, inner child work, birth imprint + trauma healing, and subconscious repair, alongside prenatal counseling and local birth support.

I’m opening my calendar for a limited number of clients this season. If you feel called to connect, send me a message or reach out through my website: www.DanaCusato.com

Thank you for being here! ❤️🙏🏻

06/07/2025

My favorite adventure buddies 🌿

Thank you 💗💗

05/29/2025

✨ 9 Months In ~ 9 Months Out ✨

Today marks a beautiful milestone: Summer has now been in our arms for as long as she grew in my belly. As we’ve developed into our roles as newborn parents, she’s been gently adjusting to life in the world with us.

Human babies, much like little kangaroos, are born quite underdeveloped. For the first 9-12 months, we experience a period called “exo-gestation”—a time when our little ones still deeply depend on us for nourishment, warmth, mobility, and emotional regulation.

Here are some nurturing practices I have been loving to honor this transition:

🌿 Babywearing
🌿 Contact naps
🌿 Skin-to-skin cuddles
🌿 Breastfeeding on demand

Of course, every family’s journey is unique, and not everyone can do all of these. What matters most is honoring this tender season in a way that feels right for you and your baby. Mindfully embracing this time helps create a strong foundation of security and trust.

I’ve found that by making myself available in these ways for Summer’s needs, she’s blossomed into such a brave, joyful, and independent little soul during her playtime. This secure bond gives her the confidence to explore, knowing she can always return to a place of love and safety.

May you find your own rhythm in this precious time of bonding. These early days are so sweet and go way too fast 🥰.

05/11/2025

I thank God everyday that I get to be your Mama. I’m so grateful to have had wonderful mothers before me and that surround me. ❤️🙏🏻💐

03/18/2025

Our Summer girl is 6 1/2 months old already! She has had quite the adventure in her short time here and we have had a wild initiation into parenthood. Just 3 months ago, we left our carefully curated nest during the Franklin fire with only a few essentials and no idea we would never return.

4 moves and second fire later, we are able to slowly process, grieve and heal. We are finally settling into our home and rhythm for the next year in Cayucos. My mom lost everything in the Palisades fire and is with us as well. We are enjoying the peace and beauty here. The pace is slower and people are so nice.

We certainly envisioned Summer growing up with the friends and family we’ve grown close with back in LA and we are grieving that loss. Please stay in touch with us and come visit! We are the perfect distance for a little weekend getaway.

Thank you to everyone who has kept in touch and has held us in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you to those in the central coast who have welcomed us with open arms and to our family for allowing us to stay here for awhile ❤️❤️.

Summer is doing amazing. She is perfectly healthy, vibrant and resilient. We wake up everyday to her smiles and giggles and she pushes us to get fully present in the midst of it all. She says mama and a silent “papa” with her lips. She is rolling all over the living room, sitting up on her own, and beginning to crawl. We have started her adventures in food and it is all very exciting!

I have to add, as a birth worker, it is my understanding that because we had a very intentional, undisturbed physiological birth and a thoughtful, nourishing 3 month postpartum period, we had such a solid foundation and a resilience. What we went through pushed us and stretched us, but it did not break us and I am forever grateful we got to have that beautiful time in our birth bubble as a new family. 🥰

01/03/2025

Sorry for the cliff hanger! Our home did survive, although there is smoke damage and the full repair is too big of a task. We will need to move and get rid of most of our belongings.

The fire has blessed us with the opportunity to let go of excess and focus on what we really need going forward. Having grown up in Southern California, one thing I know for sure is that the best blooms come after the fire. We feel overwhelmed at times, but hopeful.

Nick and I have been so blown away by the friends and family who have shown up for us during this period of uncertainty.

This Christmas turned out even more special because of the way our community supported us. We found new traditions out of the imperfect circumstances.

Last year, my early Christmas present was finding out I was pregnant and it was the greatest gift to have her in our arms this year.

We don’t know what this next chapter will look like exactly, but 2025 is bringing us the fresh start we have been needing. We are on our way to living in a safe home that is contributing to our thriving. 🙏🏻🥰👼🐈

01/02/2025

In 2024, my greatest joy was growing and birthing a baby in our beloved home of 3 years.

In 2025, we will be letting go of that home.

Two days after I celebrated my first birthday as a mother, we woke up to a power outage and fire just a few minutes down the highway.

I said to sweet little Summer, “We’re going on an adventure today.” She gave me a big, squeaky smile of excitement. We packed some essentials, the safe, and what we would need for a few days. I ran to the car with my precious baby in my arms as ash flew through the air. Phoenix, our kitty was at my feet in his carrier.

Text messages from family were coming through telling us to head north or south to either home. We couldn’t send any outgoing messages for a while to let them know we were okay. It can get backed up leaving north, so Nick headed south on PCH. We saw many of our favorite local spots surrounded by smoke and embers. Pieces of our life these past few years, up in smoke.

We got ourselves situated at my dad’s house in the Palisades and it looked like the fire was spreading the other direction.

It remained at 0% contained for *days*. The second night, I was awake checking multiple times on the satellite map. The fire had spread rapidly through the nature preserve behind our house. Our home was surrounded by fire on three sides. I had to find surrender, not knowing if we’d wake up with our home and belongings completely destroyed. It quickly put into perspective what really mattered:

We were safe.

We had each other.

Stuff is just stuff.

It is my belief that if we can walk through the fire of birth, undisturbed, it wakes up parts of us that will be necessary as parents. We stayed connected, surrendered and the path forward was revealed.

12/09/2024

We closed out our fourth trimester just over a week ago and there are a few things I’m so grateful that we did:

•On demand breastfeeding - in the first 2 1/2 months, if Summer was awake, she was nursing, until she went back to sleep again. Occasionally this would be paused for a diaper change, but if she really still needed to nurse, we figured out how to change her while nursing.

Now, when she feeds, I can tell when she’s done and has had enough. She has more play and social time between then and her next nap. These first few months established a supply that exactly meets her needs.

•Skin to skin with dad whenever he had time holding her.
It was challenging to go to the bathroom or shower while hearing her cries for me. The crying is definitely a learning curve as a new mom. Although, what was most important to me was that she was communicating and that she was always in loving arms if she was crying. I know that because she had that contact and special time with her dad, he is now able to soothe her into naps too.

•Contact naps and bed sharing

I know this time with her is temporary and I love the snuggles. We are both most settled when we are resting together. All of this co regulation is setting a strong foundation in her nervous system for life. I know there is a lot of fear mongering out there. Although, honestly when I’ve heard first hand accounts in bed sharing groups, I often hear that a mother caught an emergency situation that saved baby’s life *because* she was sleeping by their side.

Meal prep and a big freezer-
At the end of my pregnancy, I prepared and froze 40 meals for my husband and me. These were specialty soups and stews to nourish my body, supporting milk production and recovery. Now, we cook a big batch meal once or twice a week and always have good quality food on hand.

While being a newborn mother is an existential metamorphosis, I put my trust into God’s design of our physiology. We are a dyad and her needs are my needs too. Sometimes it can feel like I don’t know who I am anymore, but I can also see this new version of me emerging, guided by her, by God and by my perfectly made motherly instincts. 💞

11/01/2024

Lotus Birth

Besides being a vital organ to baby in gestation, the placenta is considered by some to be “the first mother.” Baby has an energetic and emotional bond to it. I have heard stories of children jumping when their placenta was dropped, toddlers seeking it out in the freezer without being told it was there, and little one’s whose cord was cut saying later that they felt something was taken from them.

Having spent many years working with adults and mothers through the psycho-spiritual lens of birth, I was drawn to ways I could honor this transition. I loved the idea of the process being led by my baby’s emotional and physiological readiness.

Inspired by ‘s experiences in her book “Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering,” we decided to do a “lotus birth.”

This process allows the cord to never be cut. Of course, one benefit is that baby gets all of their cord blood. Midwives have taught me that there can even be more blood than the initial supply, so it allows for that. When there is a sever without crushing or cauterizing the vessels (as with rubbing stones together or cord burning), there is greater risk of infection for the baby.

In a lotus birth, however, the cord and placenta detach at the bellybutton when the vessels seal up and the components are physically and emotionally ready.

I got a beautiful kit from .revival and intuitively made my own blend of sea salt and lovely smelling, calming herbs. Shortly after Summer was born, we relocated to the bed and the placenta followed. After a couple hours of bonding and nursing, we patted it dry, packed the placenta to be preserved and cured with the salt herb mixture. We wrapped it in muslin and a waterproof layer, then sealed it in the pouch.

We were in bed through those early days getting skin-to-skin time, so it was not much of an inconvenience to us or her. It seemed like she was used to having it accompany her. We called it her little baby throne and it naturally detached on her 4th day. ✨

10/13/2024

Part 4/5

It was about 7am. I said, “Nick, call Johanna . I’m in transition.” He got her on the phone and if I was in a different head space I would have wanted to smack him. Although, my sense of humor was intact and I thought it was hilarious how he downplayed what was happening. “Hi Johanna. Yeah, we’re having fun. She’s in the bath. Just checking in. Oh, yeah, she thinks she’s in transition.” She was on her way, but wasn’t going to arrive until closer to 9am.

My sweet friend and talented photographer arrived around 8am. It brought me comfort to see her smiling face and have another mama friend who loves birth holding space. She quietly witnessed, taking photos from the hallway.

When Johanna got here, I felt immediately calmed and grounded. I loved the time I had with just Nick, but at that point was really craving sisterhood and her wise woman presence. All I needed was for her to hold my hand for a bit. Nick went to try and fill the birth pool, but it ultimately wasn’t filling fast enough and we knew she would be born in the bathtub. Nick came back to be by my side and I had Johanna bring in the beeswax candles I had placed in the bookshelves. We lined the bathtub with their warm glow as Summer made her way through.

10/11/2024

Part 2:

I had spent the month leading up to her special day preparing food for our postpartum time. I had just completed the Innate Postpartum training, so I was excited to finally put things to the test on myself. Something took over me and I wasn’t sure if it was OCD, but soon realized it was my joyful inner child who was always making recipes, potions and concoctions.

I love that there are many rich cultures to draw inspiration from. I found it fun incorporating herbalism and medicinal foods. Everyday, I was dreaming up about 3 new recipes to try. My mind was very focused on that so I wasn’t too preoccupied with when the birth would occur. It was probably the worst time to be on my feet in front of the stove with the late summer heat and the swollen achey feet I’d begun to have. Although, I got some compression socks and soon wasn’t too bothered.

I had finished making a couple of porridge recipes and herbal marshmallows on Wednesday. That evening at about 5:45, while soaking in the bath, I saw my belly tighten. I got a little giddy with excitement at my first contraction! Another one came about an hour later. With all the complex stews and food prep we’d been doing, we opted for an easy dinner of ancestral blend bison burgers. We watched the first episode of the new season of Only Murders in the Building, which is one of our favorites.

I felt mild contractions every hour, then half hour. We did a little tidying up and made some finishing touches to the birth space. We had packed the treatment table away in my studio and replaced it with a birth pool I borrowed from a friend. We adorned the space with twinkle lights, candles, a little altar with sentimental items and strung affirmations along the wall.

I told Nick, “It’s early. We have time, but let’s use it to set up the space and get a good night of sleep.” By 10pm, the contractions were about 15 minutes apart and a little stronger. We notified our midwife and all agreed with this being early labor and my first birth, I could still have another day to rest or take a walk. She was scheduled to come at 10:30am anyway the next morning.

Original Imprint Birth

02/18/2026

08/23/2025

06/07/2025

05/29/2025

05/11/2025

03/18/2025

01/03/2025

01/02/2025

12/09/2024

11/01/2024

10/13/2024

10/11/2024

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Monday	9am - 8pm
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