Arranging your own kind of postpartum care

If you aren't sure if hiring a postpartum doula is for you, consider reaching out to your friends and neighbors with a list of things you would like help with once the baby arrives. This can vary from cooking meals, doing laundry, mowing your lawn or anything else that will be helpful to you and your partner as you spend time bonding with your new baby. If you are needing a more detailed list of possibilities, check out this link from Gloria Lemay's Birth Blog. http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=34

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Relaxation, Rhythm, and Ritual during the time of Uncertainty

As a doula I am often speaking with my clients about the importance of the Three Rs in Labor. The terms coined by Penny Simkin refer to Relaxation, Rhythm, and Ritual as the essences of coping in labor in place of Fear, Tension, and Pain. As our society is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have found myself turning to these techniques in my own life as a way to cope during this time of uncertainty. I wanted to share these thoughts in hopes that like with birth, we can embrace the uncertainty one day/contraction at a time until the birth of healing arrives for our nation. Relaxation Uncertainty can make even the calmest person feel some stress. The key to relaxation is understanding what is and isn’t in your control. The simplest thing you have control over is your body and mind. Check in with yourself. Are you feeling tense in your body? Are your thoughts racing? Take time to acknowledge these feelings and ...

The night the Operating Room went dark…

Have you ever seen an OR room with the lights turned off? Everything put away in its place? All is clean and sterile? All is quiet? Empty…? I must confess that in my own experience I had never seen it happen. I am sure it is the case; an ordinary occurrence for the staff of the hospitals. But for me, my view of an OR has been quite different. When I visualize an OR, it is bright, filled with people, lots of noises, and it is very cold. You often see more of the ceiling than you do of the floor, or even the surrounding walls. The color of blue scrubs and screens fill one’s view. And yet…there was the night the OR went dark. It was a late night supporting a client that needed baby delivered in a hurry. Everyone was prepped, mom was taken in, baby made her arrival, and mom slowly rejoined the conscious world as she felt her baby on her chest. I notice over my shoulder that staff were finishing u...

Coloring of Motherhood

The Coloring of Motherhood By Leah Garner We recognize the outline. The actions and movements seem familiar. Seen from afar, or under a microscope of scrutiny. The emotions find empathy inside us, but perhaps in a different setting. A glimmer of something we dreamt, but we cannot quite touch in our waking moments. And then we cross over into our own motherhood. G oing from the world of instruction and paint by number, into an expansive palette of colors with the brushes in our hands. We think back on the Masters we admired and try to follow their strokes. Our hands hesitate to make a mark like those criticized for their art. A nd yet… W ith each stroke we find the colors dry different than when first applied. Sometimes the picture gets more complicated the harder that we try. Taking a step back helps us see a bigger picture; appreciate the unique colors for what they are. W e see our child. And our children hold brushes too, Pai...

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