Category Archives: parenting

How Prenatal Yoga prepares you for Birth

Posted by Feb 25, 2019 Birth, Burlington, Burlington Doula, Doula, fitness, health, motherhood, Oakville, Oakville Doula, parenthood, parenting, passion, Pregnancy, Prenatal Yoga, workout, yoga , , , , Leave a Comment
How Prenatal Yoga prepares you for Birth

There is a reason I am so passionate about teaching prenatal yoga. Actually, there are many reasons and I can talk for hours about the benefits to birthing persons, partners and families. Through my own birth experiences and my experiences as a yoga teacher and birth doula, I can say without a doubt that practicing prenatal yoga regularly (one or more times per week) is great for preparing yourself for birth. Many will say that labour is called labour for a reason, it’s hard work! You may also hear that you need to train yourself for birth like you might for an intense athletic event. I am not just referring to the physical demands of labour but also the energetic and emotional demands. Yoga may seem to be simply be a type of workout focusing on stretching to some, but those who dedicate themselves to a consistent practice know that it is much more than that. Yoga can be an hour long asana practice, a 15 minute meditation, a few restorative poses, a mindful strength practice etc. All forms of yoga will benefit you during pregnancy, labour, birth and beyond. Here are some ways;

How yoga prepares the physical body for birth:
Labour and birth requires the soft tissues around the pelvis to lengthen, stretch and relax. Most of us sit for lengthy periods of time during the day causing our hips and back to be restricted. Prenatal yoga poses focus on stretching these areas and when performed throughout pregnancy and labour can have significant positive effects on how quickly labour progresses and a shorter second phase (pushing). Deep breathing and proper cues for breathing in yoga can help one to become more aware of their pelvic floor muscles. This awareness is also key when yielding to the downward pressure of baby’s head crowing and work with contractions instead of being tight and pressing back against baby. When we practice poses repeatedly our bodies get used to them and our nervous system responds favorably. A pose like a squat is very helpful in labour for pain relief and getting baby in a good position but if a woman has not performed a squat in many months she may tense up and be uncomfortable. Gentle inversions, open twists, concave-back forward folds and subtle back bends can all contribute to optimal baby positioning when the time is right for baby to move, resulting in baby being head down and occiput anterior (ideal position for a vaginal birth).

How yoga breathing prepares you for birth:
A prenatal yoga class should contain some pranayama (breath exercises) that are safe for pregnancy. When we regularly practice breathing that is full and focused it gives us a tool to find peace and comfort. Between contractions there is time to use your breathing to release tension and conserve energy for the next wave. When your birth support team reminds you to breathe deeply you can be reminded of all those yoga classes that you did and you can find the same calm feeling, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Some times in a yoga practice we do a movement or stretch that is difficult for you and you might be cued to breathe into the space where you feel restriction. You can do this also in labour! Imagine your back feels tight and sore and when you take a deep inhale you send it there and exhale to let some of that tension go. We obviously breathe all the time but right breathing takes practice. Find a teacher who teaches pranayama then give it a go at home or any where else that works for you, like a birthing suite 😉

How yoga prepares you emotionally for birth:
Labour and birth are intense, awesome and amazing. Full of sensations and feelings that are unfamiliar and overpowering. The thoughts can go in many different ways. Fear, doubt, sadness, anger are all common emotions that come up during birth. Regular yoga and meditation are practices that allow us to notice our thought patterns and habits and learn to observe them rather than react to them or create a story around them. Maybe during your formal seated meditation you notice that you are still thinking about a heated argument you had with your partner. You acknowledge that thought and then you let it pass. Maybe it comes again and you find yourself clinging to it so you let it go again, and again. This practice will serve you well when each wave rises and you feel like it is a part of you, then you detach from the sensation, take a breath and feel it go. This is not easy to do. It’s best if non-attachment is practiced often in pregnancy to prepare you. Yoga teaches us how to surrender. How to be in the present moment, not the past, not anticipating the future. That is birth! Visualization can happen in many ways during a yoga practice. For example, I often lead my students through a meditation where they visualize their baby wrapped in white light energy which offers warmth, nurturing, protection and love. This would be wonderful to do in labour if there is any concern or fear for the baby’s well being. Allowing the birthing person to minimize her fears and allow her body and her baby to work together

I often tell my yoga students to think about their yoga practice when they are in labour. Allow yourself to be intuitive and tap into the self-discovery you have been working on as part of your practice.
There are definitely more ways that yoga prepares you for birth. I would love to hear how it helped you!

5 things to do before labour begins

Posted by Feb 15, 2019 Birth, Burlington, Burlington Doula, dance, Doula, motherhood, Oakville, Oakville Doula, parenthood, parenting, Pregnancy, Prenatal Yoga , , Leave a Comment
5 things to do before labour begins

Those last few weeks of pregnancy are tough. Physically, your belly has grown larger than you ever thought imaginable. Isn’t it amazing that your child has been growing in there, and your body supporting him? Emotionally most women are just done and want labour to start. Endless questions from family, friends and strangers asking “when is the baby due” have got you feeling like this pregnancy is never going to end. Remember that your due date is called an estimated due date and babies sometime need more time. So, here are some things you can do to enjoy and cherish these precious days before life gets a bit more chaotic with a newborn!

  1. Plan lunch, dinner, or coffee dates with friends. It might be a while before you will have time to do this again so relish these moments to connect with the people you love. Their conversation and company will surely keep your mind off of due dates and labour and the enjoyment might just get some oxytocin moving through your body!
  2. Pamper yourself! Book a massage, pedicure, hair cut, whatever suits you and let yourself relax and enjoy. It’s unlikely you will have a chance to do any of this type of self-care once baby is here and why not start labour rested and refreshed.
  3. Speaking of refreshed….TAKE NAPS! Take many naps, lots of naps! The better rested you are when labour starts the more energy you will have to bring baby earth side.
  4. DANCE! Put on your favourite booty-shaking songs and dance away. This movement will help you relax all of your muscles around your pelvis and get baby into an optimal position. Plus dancing just makes you feel good!
  5. Make love! There I said it. Sexual intercourse is known to help soften your cervix as semen contains prostaglandins and the uterine contractions during an orgasm release oxytocin which help during labour. If this sounds like the furthest thing from what you would enjoy this late in your pregnancy how about a snuggle and some smooching. That would also be beneficial in getting labour going and a great way for you and your partner to connect before most of your attention is needed to care for your baby.

I know this is a difficult stage but remember that you will soon be staring into the eyes of your new baby!

Dear Motherless Mom-to-be, I SEE YOU. Love, a Birth and Postpartum Doula

Posted by Jan 17, 2019 Birth, Doula, Happiness, health, kids, motherhood, parenthood, parenting, passion, Pregnancy , , , , , Leave a Comment
Dear Motherless Mom-to-be, I SEE YOU. Love, a Birth and Postpartum Doula

At the age of 26 I was in a committed relationship, living abroad with a stable career and dreaming about someday soon becoming a mother. Then I lost my own mother to cancer. All of a sudden the thought of navigating the unchartered territory of parenting seemed much less appealing. Like many other women, my mom was the one I reached out to when I doubted myself, when I needed reassurance and advice or just someone to listen to my nonsense. I knew raising a child without my mother around was going to be tough but I thought it was going to be tough mostly because she wouldn’t be there to enjoy her grandchild. It was so much harder than I imagined.

In her book “Motherless Daughters”, Hope Edelmen writes:
“A husband can offer emotional support and a father a sense of family, but birthing is the business of women….This verbal legacy that passes from mother to daughter, and which daughters rely on for comparison and guidance. When the mother-daughter relationship is going well, the daughter depends on her mother to help her build self-confidence, asking for stories about her birth and early childhood and seeking encouragement that she can handle motherhood’s demands.”

Before I became pregnant I never thought to ask my mother about her pregnancy with me or what my birth was like. I remember the odd mention of it around my birthday but once I was having my own experience I had so many questions that only she would have been able to answer. I struggled with that emptiness. I was fortunate to have a really great pregnancy with no complications and very little discomforts but I can imagine that other motherless daughters who are experiencing difficulties might struggle with this even more. Perhaps it was my easy pregnancy pay-back when I had a colicky newborn for eight weeks. The early challenges with breastfeeding, a bout of thrush and a baby that needed constant holding, rocking and nursing meant that I had a difficult time not knowing what to do and felt it I had to really work hard at trusting my own instincts without my mom to consult.

Edelmen writes; “Pregnancy and the postpartum period can be bittersweet times for the motherless daughter, who feels closer to her mother as she becomes one but also feels an intense sadness as she confronts her loss again. As a milestone event in a woman’s life, childbirth-particularly with a first child-commonly triggers a new cycle of mourning for the lost mother, involving intense feelings of grief, sadness, anger or despair. The woman mourns not only the loss of her mother’s advice and support but also the loss of a grandmother for her child.”

Virtually no one can replace the emptiness of not having your mother during the prenatal and postpartum experience. I do believe that having a doula is key to making this transition a beautiful time when one can honour their mother and feel her closeness again. Perhaps grief can be felt in a more peaceful way with fond memories. It is my opinion that no one needs a doula more than a motherless daughter. If this is you PLEASE reach out to me. I feel your pain and I want you to know that you are not alone….I SEE YOU! xo

Oh Baby it’s cold outside! – How to entertain a toddler at home.

Posted by Jan 10, 2019 adventure, Burlington, Doula, fitness, Happiness, health, kids, motherhood, Oakville, parenthood, parenting, workout, yoga Leave a Comment

Well, what can we expect from a Canadian winter right?! Truth is we have been lucky this season so far with some mild temps and now the cold, frigid winter wind is here. When my kids were much younger there were definitely cold days when I didn’t want to take them far. We would hunker down and make the best of our time together indoors. Don’t get me wrong…I am all for bundling up and heading outside for some outdoor adventures but when the cold gets to you and those cheeks turn rosy red it’s time to head back in to the warmth.

Here are my 5 favourite things to do with the kiddos at home on a frosty day;

  1. Play dress up! Kind of like a ‘Choose your own adventure’. If you don’t already have a Tickle trunk of your own choose some items from their closets and let their imaginations do the rest. Then you can play pretend on where you are going. This was always one of our go-to’s.
  2. Build a couch fort. Grab those cushions and blankets and build away! Then maybe you can do some reading or colouring inside your fort. My kids would some times even take a nap in there because it felt cozy and safe and they made it themselves.
  3. Do a craft, make some art. Let their creative minds roam. Pinterest is always a great resource if you need some ideas.
  4. Do some exercise together! I like Cosmic kids on Youtube for some storytelling yoga time. You don’t need any fancy equipment and you can even do it in your jammies!
  5. Take a nap! We used to love family naps in my bed. I’m not going to lie, it some times took over an hour to get everyone to sleep but when it happened it felt amazing! Cold outside and warm in bed..perfect time to catch up on sleep.

So bundle up and head out to the park for some playtime fun and when the shivers get you then head home with no guilt and have some fun with your littles. That cold, brisk air is sure to tire out even the most energetic one. These moments are fleeting so enjoy!