Woodlands Birth & Baby

01/22/2023

SUPPORT is best!

“Don’t worry! Fed is best anyways!” A doctor at the hospital tells a mother who just birthed her baby who won’t latch.

“Don’t worry, they all grow up to eat chicken nuggets anyways!” Laughs the nurse at a babies 3rd well visit, he isn’t gaining weight the way they want.

“Don’t worry! It hurt me to nurse too so I stopped!” Says a woman to her friend over lunch as she watches her cringe in pain.

“Don’t worry! A bottle will help her sleep through the night.” Says a husband to his wife when the alarm goes off to feed.

“Don’t worry! He’ll never remember you stopped!” Says a coworker to his friend who’s freezer supply is dwindling and she’s struggling to get more then an ounce.

Don’t worry they all said. Fed is best anyways.

She cried for help.
She sobbed in that office.
She called her friend exhausted.
She went to anyone she could.
She begged. She pleaded.

But fed is best anyways.

A phrase we started to help moms know it’s okay if it just simply “doesn’t work out” Is crippling thousands of woman.

Choosing formula over breastfeeding is a choice. Yet the mothers choosing breast are having that choice ripped from them - before they ever stood a chance.

So I encourage you, next time a mom is begging for support, don’t turn to her and say “Well fed is best anyways!”

Ask her what you can do.
Help her read the books.
Help her search on google.
Help her find an IBCLC.
Help her get the help she needs.

The western world has the lowest and shortest breastfeeding terms globally. I’ll let you do the math on why you think that is.

If you are a mother who struggled and had your journey end before you were ready, I stand with you. My heart hurts for you.

Just know there are woman like me, doing everything we can to make sure the next generation doesn’t have to beg and plead for the help they need.

And for those in the thick of it, Remember: Breastfeeding is NOT all or nothing. Every teaspoon of has 3,000,000 germ-killing cells in it.

✍🏼Caption written by:
Simply Sacred Birth on Facebook 💖

12/02/2022

This is an important discussion to have. Not to shame, but to educate and to help inform expecting mothers that any and all labor interventions have risks and may impact breastfeeding.

09/20/2022

Birth matters. Your birth story matters. Your birth trauma matters. Your mental and physical health matters.

09/02/2022

Controversial topic, but I have heard this from both lactation consultants and chiropractors. Food for thought 💜

I know some of y’all just LOVE your swaddles, this is not an attack. 🚨

Babies need their arms to feed well. I know their scratchy nails and little hands can be annoying and get in the way. But they use their hands and arms for balance and stability at the breast and to find the ni**le.

Wrapping up babies in blanket burritos dampens their feeding cues and can cause missed feedings.

This is ESPECIALLY worrisome in the early days and weeks when frequent milk removal is required to create your milk supply.

Your breasts are literally calibrating the milk volumes and when you miss feeding cues, it means LESS milk is going to be made.

Frequent/long swaddle sessions can cause babies to be underfed.

Babies should be gaining 1oz/day.

Babies who can’t use their startle reflexes as designed aren’t able to reduce their risk of SIDS.

They are literally designed to startle as a way to keep them alive.

Reconsider the swaddle.

Other ideas for ways ways to ensure your baby is safe and sleeping well can be found at Biologically Normal Infant & Toddler Sleep. 🖤🖤🖤

Let them use those arms! 😍

08/27/2022

08/25/2022

This is a free event for expecting fathers in the area!

You're going to be a dad. Get ready for the most exciting and exhausting adventure of your life.

08/23/2022

I have supported many successful & healing VBA2C’s ✨

Good news! ✨ If you've had two Cesareans, you can still be a great candidate for a VBAC! A lot of people think it's riskier to have a VBA2C, but here are some interesting facts you can consider while weighing your options.

See link for more details: thevbaclink.com/vba2c/

08/12/2022

One of the many myths surrounding homebirth is that giving birth outside of the hospital is equivalent to choosing a low or no resource environment.

Many families don't realize that home birth providers are prepared with many of the same equipment, supplies, and medications that would be found in the hospital.
They can handle most obstetrical and neonatal emergencies at home--and in the majority of cases, the mother and baby can be stabilized at home and don't need to transfer to the hospital. ⁣⠀

Here, is administering pitocin to a woman whose placenta took its time coming out. Because she wasn't bleeding, they were able to patiently wait for her placenta, and with a couple shots of pitocin and some position changes (squatting next to the bed), they were able to encourage it out.⁣⠀
⁣⠀
📷 ⁣⠀

08/06/2022

Amazing ✨

07/20/2022

❤🌡 BREASTFEEDING FACT 🌡❤
Your Breasts Are Able to Detect Even a One Degree Drop in Your Baby's Temperature and Warm Up.

You are the best incubator/warmer there is. Period.

Wrapping that baby up like a little burrito is only necessary if he/she will be away from you. But the best way to keep her warm in the early hours, days, and weeks is to cuddle with them skin-to-skin with a blanket over the two of you.

Your skin contact means that baby will have to expend fewer calories regulating her own temperature.

AND...Dads can do it as well! ❤️

📸:

07/12/2022

YES 👏🏼 It’s hard but so beneficial and those babies know what they need. Sincerely, a tired mama who nursed all 3 of her babies throughout the night for 18+ months!

I'm not for one second suggested night feeds are easy. They can absolutely suck sometimes (or often, even!)
But they are normal, and important. Please don't let anyone try and tell you they're not.
Not to 'improve' sleep, not to get them eating more solids, not for anything.

07/06/2022

Incredible home birth of twins 😍
GRAPHIC CONTENT

05/15/2022

A bit of science for you today...

There are two mechanisms at work in a full breast which slow down milk production:

One is that there is a whey protein in breastmilk called Feedback Inhibitor of Lactation (FIL for short!) This protein slows milk production. So the higher the volume of milk in the breast, the higher the level of FIL and the more milk production is slowed.

The other is that when a breast is full, the walls of the milk producing cells get stretched. These cell walls contain receptor sites that prolactin (the milk making hormone) enter and trigger milk production. However, when stretched, prolactin can't enter and milk production slows down.

So keeping breasts 'empty' is the best way to speed up milk production. This can be done by ensuring that baby has an effective latch and is fed responsively (not to a set schedule or for set lengths of time). If for any reason baby is unable to be fed, expressing can help to ensure that breasts are kept 'empty'.

Note the use of inverted commas in the last paragraph - the breast is never fully emptied during a feed or pumping session and will be continually making more milk.

05/02/2022

❤️

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 & Image

04/28/2022

“I’d love to have a homebirth but I’m going to deliver at a hospital… just in case.”

1) Homebirth midwives are medically trained professionals, highly qualified and equipped with the skills needed to handle an emergency and knowing when to transfer.

2) The homebirth midwife that you’re scared of being under-qualified has probably seen more natural, physiological births in a one month timeframe than the typical OB has in their entire career.

3) The emergencies and trauma you’re trying to avoid are more likely to happen within a hospital setting because they have such a high rate of medically unnecessary interventions, leading to the cascade of interventions.

*Women should birth where they feel the most comfortable but we also need to remove the fear and stigma from homebirth because it’s a safe and valid option*

Reposted from

04/11/2022

I've spoken out against this so many times. It's brought a lot of backlash from my own community. I continue to speak out despite that because I know we can do better.

Reposted from Matru-Prema Doula Services

It is easy to turn practitioners into the villains of the birth world (and yes, there are some who are), but many of them are at the mercy of a paternalistic, litigation-driven system that ties their hands. If they have a desire to provide truly evidence-based care (and yes, there are some who do) that happens to go against hospital or birthplace policy, they are at real risk of having disciplinary action taken against their license, losing privileges at a given birthplace, or even losing their license and livelihood altogether. They practice from a place of fear, so their care, in turn, is often fear-driven and fear-based.

I think it’s fair to say that the current state of the maternity system is a reflection of the current state of society. Fear-based practice or fear-based governance both yield the same result: limiting choices and restricting freedoms in an effort to maintain control while still presenting the illusion of consent. The self-protective mantra of these systems becomes “the fewer choices they have, the less risk we have.” In birth, women are told they have choices and are presented with a distorted version of consent and “shared decision making” as long as it conforms to the system’s acceptable levels of risk and benefit. If it doesn’t, then the default is to hide behind the seemingly-altruistic shield of safety.

“I want to have my twins at home.”
“You can’t, it isn’t safe.”

“I want to have a vaginal breech birth.”
“You can’t, it isn’t safe.”

“I want to have a vaginal birth, even though I’ve had X number of cesareans.”
“You can’t, it isn’t safe.”

And so the mainstream medical model continues to contract in on itself, limiting mothers’ choices, limiting midwifery scope, limiting practitioner skill, all in the name of risk reduction masquerading solely as safety. If we don’t let them do it, it can’t hurt us. If we don’t let them learn it, soon it won’t even be an option.

Here’s the only safe bet I know: the current system is so infused and infected with fear that any number of alterations, exceptions, policies, procedures, laws…any attempt to “fix” it is futile. It is unrecognizable as a safe space for true physiological birth. That safe space is a space entirely separate, one that, with enough outcry, can become the new way to birth.

A new way and a return to the old way. A way built on trust, autonomy, and freedom. This is the way I want. If you want it too, don’t stay silent any longer.

04/05/2022

Birth is hard....but women are strong! 💚💚💚
Looking back on all those raw, beautiful, challenging, emotional, life-changing moments that happened almost a year ago as I prepare to celebrate the first birthday of our sweet Cate!

03/28/2022

How much did your baby weigh??
5 tips to getting that big baby out without a

1. Know the Facts About Macrosomia (big baby) Less than 10% of babies worldwide are born weighing more than 8 lbs 13 oz

2. Hire a Doula. Studies show that having a doula improves just about every aspect of your birth, and delivering a large baby is no exception.

3. Move, Move, Move! Being on your back can close your pelvic opening up to 30%.

4. Ditch the Epidural to allow you to labor and birth in upright positions

5. Believe in Your Body!