Doula Love

24/05/2024

Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying.

Jean Cocteau

10/03/2024

Did your newborn crawl?

11/01/2024

Beautiful births are also possible in a hospital setting!

I sure enjoyed this one!

Vaginal birth after a previous C-section.

All glory, honour, and praise be to our Lord and Saviour ❤️---Instagram https://www.instagram.com/loeppkyslife/Pinterest https://www.pinterest.ca/loeppkyslif...

11/01/2024

The birth of their 5th baby.

In honor of our sweet Luci's second birthday yesterday I wanted to share her birth video. This video is one of my most treasured possessions and a day I will...

28/10/2023

"Direct quote from the photographer (S.Maguire) "This picture was one of the hardest for me to take because I hold a 600mm Canon lens in my hand and I laugh as hard as the other 2 people standing next to me. This poor black the bear had 5 cubs.Yes, 5. She sent them up to the tree and sat down and began to look at his poor, battle-stretched stomach.The man next to me said, “every woman who had a child understands this …… kept moving the folds of skin and she looked at her belly."

24/09/2023

“I think I’d quite like a homebirth, but my partner is NOT on board, so we won’t”

SUCH a common feeling!

It would be easy to say ‘it’s your body, you’re the one giving birth, so you do you 💁🏻‍♀️. Who cares what THEY think’. But the reality is, a lot of women want their partner to be involved in these decisions; to be present & feel confident at the birth.. so what do you do next?

1. 👂🏻Acknowledge their concerns. These are almost always coming from a place of love for you & your baby. Maybe fear from their own experiences or assumptions about birth. Allow them to feel these, without taking them on yourself.

2. 🎙Listen to the Birth-Ed podcast episode on Homebirth with . A really easy way to access the information you need to really understand the realities of what birthing at home involves. (Ep 2 on ‘Men in Birth’ is helpful for male partners too!)

3. 📈Take it back to statistics. Most reservations about home birth come from assumptions about complications. Take a look at The Lancet Homebirth papers from 2020/21 which may be reassuring

4. 🧑🏼‍🎓Get educated. Do a course together (I hear the birth-Ed one is great 🤪) which covers home-birth in depth- as well as the physiology of birth, so they understand the impact that the environment has on birth

5. 👩🏽‍⚕️Meet a homebirth midwife. If you are lucky enough to have a homebirth team locally, most will run ‘meet the midwives’ events or be happy to meet you for your next antenatal appointment & answer any questions

6. 🫂Consider a doula. A professional birth supporter
who is there to support both you & your partner though pregnancy/birth/postnatally. Sometimes knowing they aren’t supporting you at home ‘alone’ can make partners more comfortable

7. 📚Read! Why Homebirth Matters by & book are both great for addressing these concerns

8. 🤔Consider together if they actually want to be there. It is OK for them not to be if it feels right for you both!

Did you birth at home? Let us know in the comments!

Photo by
Found on Birth-ed: Hypnobirthing and Antenatal

20/09/2023

Be kind online! You never know.....

"So there I was being penetrated by a transvaginal ultrasound wand (I’m not pregnant BTW), and I glance over at the name on my technician’s badge which looks strangely familiar. So I say that to her followed by, “Maybe we’re in a FB group together or something?” She goes, “South Orange County Moms?” I laughed and said yes as she rounded the corner towards my ovaries. She goes, “I hope we weren’t fighting!” It turns out I had seen her post about elderberry syrup.

So this is your reminder to BE KIND ONLINE. You never know when you’re gonna get deep-dicked by one of the moms in your local FB group. 😉"

20/09/2023

Do you ever just get the urge to lick/bite your baby?

It’s a natural urge, that usually manifests through kissing your baby, and it’s actually way more interesting than it sounds.

Your breast milk is dynamic, living tissue that your body tailor makes for your baby’s needs. It’s full of immune boosting components that vary based on the time of day, weather, age and gender of your baby. Even illness is a factor.

When a Mum kisses (or… licks?) her baby, she’s implicitly sampling the pathogens on their skin. This sends signals to Mum’s lymphatic system, triggering the synthesis of antibodies to fight illness that baby receives through breast milk.
💪

Who can resist kissing those cheeks? Tag a mum that you think will relate to this.

📸 ❤️❤️