Yiska Obadia Services & Comforting Touch for Birth

Yiska Obadia Services & Comforting Touch for Birth Comforting Touch for Birth shows you how to approach people in labor with confidence. Other services include acupuncture, massage and a variety of classes.

Hello! I’m Yiska. I’ve been a massage therapist since 1995, a birth doula since 2001 and an acupuncturist since 2007. Along the way I’ve worked with hundreds of pregnant women and their partners to find comfort during pregnancy and labor. Yes, you read that right, hundreds! And that experience has shown me exactly what kind of touch women in labor do -- and do not -- want. Over the past few years, I’ve been teaching in-person workshops for doulas and parents-to-be, showing them simple yet wonderful ways they can provide comfort and support to a woman throughout the childbirth experience. Many of my students and clients have been asking me to write a guidebook they can use as a reference (and share with friends)... and so here it is: Comforting Touch for Birth. If you are a doula, childbirth educator, or parent-to be looking for a high-quality resource about comforting touch, look no further! If you want to know how to touch your partner or clients during labor in a way that is comforting and satisfying, Comforting Touch for Birth will guide you. This guidebook is a 70+ page download with illustrations and 10 videos teaching you what you need to know to provide the kind of touch women in labor want so she can feel safe, relaxed and held throughout. Visit our webpage, www.yiskaobadia.com/ctfb-guide to learn more and buy your copy that makes learning comforting touch accessible, affordable, and enjoyable!

A client recently reminded me of the connection between the Hebrew and Arabic words for womb, which share the same root ...
09/29/2026

A client recently reminded me of the connection between the Hebrew and Arabic words for womb, which share the same root as the word for compassion: Rechem, Rachma, Rachameem. To me this connection makes perfect sense.

Like the womb, compassion offers a nurturing container in which growth can flourish. When I’m holding space for my clients, or anyone really, compassion feels like one of the most important qualities I can bring into that space. Including with myself.

Postpartum, like other times when we are “beginners” and navigating uncharted territory, can leave us feeling especially vulnerable. Even if you have had other children, each postpartum is an entirely new experience. And it is one in which so many new parents feel inadequate. There can be so much self-judgment, not only when we fail to match society’s idealized versions of motherhood, but also when we fall short of our own image of who we thought we would be as mothers, regardless of where that expectation originated.

What happens when reality clashes with those images? When, for example, we pictured ourselves loving nursing our babies, only to discover that we experience intense sensory aversions or anxiety with every letdown? When we imagined ourselves savoring cozy moments at home, in bed with our newborns, only to find ourselves feeling claustrophobic while navigating a more difficult than imagined physical recovery? When we see our partners having so much more patience than we do? When we are in deep grief over our disconnection from the nourishing social life or career we knew before this creature joined us? When we don’t feel the love for them like we thought we would or should?

Continue reading and follow me on Substack. Link in bio.

This is me shouting from my little rooftop over here: Call in the postpartum practitioners, for yourself and for your lo...
09/22/2026

This is me shouting from my little rooftop over here: Call in the postpartum practitioners, for yourself and for your loved ones.

Birth is a transformation, and my experience tells me that touch can be a bridge to help integrate the before and after.

🙌🏼 if you agree!

Don’t think it’s extra. And also, don’t think you need a ton of it. Even one postpartum bodywork session can help you taste the feeling, and the promise, that you can and will return into this new body and new self.

That you are not lost to outer space forever.

I invite you to check out the amazing Postpartum Essentials Course that I recently contributed to, offering new mothers and birthing people access to a comprehensive and holistic recovery plan for the first 40 days. Link in bio of course!

Also calling my NYC area postpartum doulas, the next in-person Comforting Touch for Postpartum Doulas is coming up in November. All details linked in my bio.

Enjoy this imagery “haul” from the Tarot exhibition The Morgan Library & Museum Amazing to see so many iterations of Tar...
08/24/2026

Enjoy this imagery “haul” from the Tarot exhibition The Morgan Library & Museum

Amazing to see so many iterations of Tarot dating back from the 15th century through modern times.

Here you can see versions that use collage art and gold leaf like ours. Integrations of racial diversity over time. Several interpretations of the Magician card caught my eye.

I especially love our Magician card from the Wisdom of Birth deck, “It is your Choice” in the final slide, and our High Priestess card in the second to last.

I feel honored to be a participant in this rich and layered practice. And to bring a version of the Tarot to the world of birth.

Learn more about our Wisdom of Birth deck at the kickstarter link in my bio. Props to our artist Johanna DeBiase 🌵 and co-creator Zivar زيور זיור as well as collaborators Zachi Asher Temenos Center for the Arts Bess Matassa

It can’t just be me. Come 5-6am and that sleep pressure lets up, it’s a new day, but that 2-4am window is brutal!What ar...
08/03/2026

It can’t just be me.

Come 5-6am and that sleep pressure lets up, it’s a new day, but that 2-4am window is brutal!

What are you doing to get through those overnights? Especially with an epidural going when you’re not needed as much, but also can’t just sleep uninterrupted.

The things that save me are getting some time with my legs up the wall, or in constructive rest, and magnesium supplements.

But at 51 years old now, I’m needing more, and I’m sure other (especially new) doulas following along could use all the tips and tricks we can come up with.

Birthworkers, please, share yours here in the comments!

06/12/2026

One of the perks of traveling to teach Comforting Touch for Doulas in California is experiences like this!

06/04/2026

When touch is your client’s love language…

These are my takeaways from a recent client interaction.

Devote prenatal time to get clear about client expectations regarding touch just as you would around other aspects of your role.

If your client’s love language is touch, and even if you’re not sure, check in to see if they want comforting touch not only during contractions, but also even while they’re resting with an epidural.

Even if it’s only for small amounts of time, this can help your client feel held and cared for in ways they may not feel as profoundly with other aspects of your support.

If you’re not sure what to do with your hands, that’s why I teach Comforting Touch for Doulas. Link in bio for upcoming classes.


These past 4 days, I mean, what a week!From 3 days at the collaborative doula conference where I learned from extraordi...
05/29/2026

These past 4 days, I mean, what a week!

From 3 days at the collaborative doula conference where I learned from extraordinary doulas of all sorts, from death doulas, to vbac and nicu specialists, doula coaches, and doula web and brand design specialists… .ca

To a stop at Niagara Falls (Canadian side) on the way back. My first time ever, perfect weather, and feeling the power of water even from miles away, let alone up close. Somehow it both blew me away and landed me in my bones at the same time.

I also 🩵 our ‘Power of Water’ art from the Wisdom of Birth deck shown here.

To this gloriously intimate women’s dinner in the Hudson valley hosted A visioning of my friend, collaborator, 💞 in celebration of the completion of our kickstarter under a glorious and powerful sky.

I arrived to the gathering on the coattails of a looooonnggg 9 hour drive with my husband to a circle of women who held me as my body collapsed onto the floor in a puddle that needed earth and to be held for just a few moments under the cozy pressure of hands and bodies and breasts to be able to release and land! Thank you! .samanthajo .inherlightmind and others.

I’m so filled up by the power of women, of the human heart, of water, of nature, of gathering and community!

And of course the card we pulled at our collective table was the 3 of cups! A perfect mirror of celebration, community and friendship. 💗💗💗

The Wisdom of Birth deck is pure magic. We can’t wait for you to hold yours! P.S. we’re accepting late pledges at the link in my bio.

05/28/2026

Pressure off. Permission. No one right way. Helpful guidelines. Practicing trusting your intuition. Self-confidence. These are the takeaways that Comforting Touch for Doulas is all about!

Thank you to these students who shared here what they harvested from our day of learning.

If you’re a doula, I’d love to learn with you too! Upcoming workshop dates can be found at the link in my bio.

Costa Mesa, CA 6/7
Emeryville, CA 6/14
NYC 11/15

I asked how can I best celebrate this moment of reaching our funding goal for the Wisdom of Birth kickstarter? Of course...
05/25/2026

I asked how can I best celebrate this moment of reaching our funding goal for the Wisdom of Birth kickstarter? Of course, music! I so love this card.

Besides the obvious role music can play in celebration and in supporting birth, it is also our King of Wands card.

offers these reflective questions to honor this tarot card pull…

What is generating within me? How might I generously offer more of this natural glow?

My answer is to keep sharing this beautiful creation with you. To invite you to help us close out our Kickstarter campaign during these last 39 hours with an even bigger bang! There’s still time to contribute!

Now is your chance to support the fullest fruition of this project. Now is the time to pre-order your deck and gain access to our digital deck experience while you wait. Now is the time to enter to win a custom digital collage with our artist .prankster

🎶🙏🏻✨🎶🙏🏻✨🎶🙏🏻✨ 🎶

Bonus Reward Raffle Announcement: Custom Digital Collage by Wisdom of Birth Deck Artist, Johanna DeBiase .prankster We’r...
05/19/2026

Bonus Reward Raffle Announcement: Custom Digital Collage by Wisdom of Birth Deck Artist, Johanna DeBiase .prankster

We’re in the last week and soooo close to fully funded! Link to our Kickstarter in my bio! 🔗🔗🔗

As an extra thank you, when you back our Kickstarter at any reward level that includes a deck, and you’ll automatically be entered to win a one-of-a-kind custom artwork created by Johanna. (If you already have, then you’re already entered to win!)

The winner will meet with Johanna via Zoom for 1–2 collaborative consultations to explore the theme, vision, and feeling behind the piece. You’ll be invited to share personal imagery you’d like incorporated, from which Johanna will create an original digital collage made uniquely for you.

One revision is included to ensure the final piece feels complete and aligned with your vision.

This artwork could honor a pregnancy or birth, celebrate a personal transformation or rebirth, memorialize a meaningful experience, or become something entirely your own.

Prize value: $200

This is one more way for us to say thank you for supporting this project as our Kickstarter campaign comes to a close.

The raffle winner will be selected within 24 hours of our fully funded campaign ending and announced in a public Kickstarter update. Good luck!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support and for being part of bringing this deck into the world!

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New York, NY

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