MindBodyBirth

05/01/2024

Perinatal Mental Health is on my mind today. Give a read of this wonderful interview with my friend Elizabeth Bretz.

Recognizing World Maternal Mental Health Month with Elizabeth Bretz LCAT, LCSW, PMH-C Apr 30, 2024 Today marks the beginning of World Maternal Mental Health Month. In many countries, as many as 1 in 5 mothers experience some type of perinatal mental health disorder (PMHD). These illnesses frequently...

01/14/2024

Haven’t posted here in ages. If you want to follow my birthy content come to my IG page: doularo_mbb

Xoxo

12/14/2022

One of the new words you learn while pregnant.

10/22/2022

The human body is truly remarkable!

💗 BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH 💗

October is and we are so very privileged to share Jo’s amazing story with you. Jo participated in the campaign and is one of the most amazingly confident, strong and beautiful women we have met. Thank you for sharing your story Jo.

“I wanted to share my story and this very personal image because I hope it will inspire others who are going through a similar situation and for them to know that you should never give up on your dreams, and that you are never too young to check your b***s.

Being diagnosed with at the age of 26, we knew that having a healthy baby might not have been possible but we never gave up hope. After years of chemo, radiotherapy and hormone treatment, my body clearly never gave up because only a month after my first cycle, I was actually . The feeling when we saw our sons heartbeat at 6 weeks old is indescribable. All of our dreams had actually come true but I knew the next 9 months were not going to be easy. I was constantly on edge and questioning if my body was actually going to be able to provide and grow a healthy baby. I felt unbelievably of myself and my body the first time I held my son in my arms.

Due to a mastectomy, only one of my breasts produced milk and therefore is more than double the size of the other one. At first, I was self-conscious about this as it’s pretty obvious. However, when I look at my son , I am reminded of how my body is. My one ‘working’ b**b has been able to produce enough milk for me to exclusively breastfeed Javi since the day he was born, which I think is just incredible. For me, there is no better feeling in the world, than when I am breastfeeding my son, knowing that I never gave up hope that one day I would be holding him in my arms. Our journey has not been an easy one and we have both struggled but for me it shows that with a bit of determination and patience, anything is possible.’’

(📸: ✍️: )

09/27/2022

A beautiful example of how a provider can turn a baby from breech to vertex.

09/01/2022

07/25/2022

✨What if we told women the truth about birth✨

We’d have to tell them that contractions will probably be more than “surges” or “sensations.”

That they’ll probably rock your f✨cking world and leave you begging for salvation as you clutch the edge of the tub or the hospital linens

That your gentle breathing exercises and your Spotify soundtrack will be left in the dust as you sweat and pant and sway and swear your way through it

That you’ll trip harder than any mushroom you ever did in college and vomit with the same ferocity and travel to places deep within yourself that you didn’t know existed. That you’ll float above your body and simultaneously be trapped in it with an intensity you’ve never tasted

And in that intensity, in the sweating and the swearing and the swaying and the vomiting and the endless hours of contractions crashing down upon you
You’ll find your strength
You’ll find a resilience you’ve never known
You’ll find the power you need for the journey of motherhood ahead

In the messy humanity of it all
You’ll find that you are holy
A portal to the divine
Capable of indescribable miracles
A vessel of sacred life

What if we told women the truth about birth?
We’d have to tell them they are capable of anything
Worthy of being treated like goddesses
Made to walk through the flames
Surf the tidal waves
Dive into the underworld
And come out alive

Not unscathed
Not unchanged
But whole
And healed
And ready to take on the world

If we told women the truth about birth
We’d have to admit that we’ve lied about everything else
And that they are more powerful
More fierce
More capable
More beautiful
Than we’ve ever let on.

If we told the truth about birth?
We’d shatter the world.”

~ Words and Art by Catie Atkinson
Spirit Y Sol
www.linktr.ee/spiritysol

01/25/2022

Trigger Warning

Pregnancy and Infant loss is something that no one wants to ever experience and yet for so many it becomes their reality. For those of you trying to understand someone else’s grief or figuring out how to navigate your own, Inhighly recommend listening to this podcast. The guest is one of my mommas - Diana Germano Reinkraut - and she shares her pregnancy and loss journey so openly. I am in awe of her in every way, shape and form.

01/07/2022

absolutely extraordinary

What do you say to a sister
who is about to
enter the sea
when you don’t know if she will be met
with storms or calm water
when you don’t know what
journey awaits and
how she’ll make it to shore

What do you say to a sister
when you see her scan the horizon
hesitant and unsure
when you know her fear
and the work that lays ahead
when you know she’ll come out the other side
Changed

Softer perhaps. Or maybe scarred.
But stronger, too, no doubt.

You walk with her as deep as you can into those waters
and you hold her close, as long as you can
and then you let go
and let her dive deep
knowing there are parts of this journey
she must make alone
knowing there are storms that she must face on her own

And you stand, a lighthouse, the shore
as she becomes one with the sea

~ Words and Art by Catie Atkinson
Spirit Y Sol
www.linktr.ee/spiritysol

12/11/2021

Great info for those of you thinking about a VBAC!

While trial of labor after cesarean delivery (TOLAC) may be considered after previous cesarean delivery, it is critical that a thorough review of risks and benefits be undertaken. Decision making should incorporate a woman's preferences and desires.