Rooted In Birth

Rooted In Birth Helping Maine families achieve positive birth experiences with support, education, and guidance. Doula Services, Childbirth Education, Placenta Encapsulation

Early labor can stretch on for hours, sometimes longer, and so much of it happens at home before it is time to go anywhe...
08/20/2026

Early labor can stretch on for hours, sometimes longer, and so much of it happens at home before it is time to go anywhere. Knowing what to actually do with that time can make a real difference in how you feel going into the next stage.

Here are some simple ways to move through early labor at home. And remember, every labor looks different. If something feels off or you have questions, always call your provider.

This is one of the many reasons doula support exists. You do not have to figure any of this out alone.

The best outcome is a crayon drawing on a fridge with five stick figures, even though the family only has four people in...
08/16/2026

The best outcome is a crayon drawing on a fridge with five stick figures, even though the family only has four people in it so far. Kids feel big changes coming before we always realize it. Bringing a new baby home is a huge shift for an older sibling, and a little preparation goes a long way. Swipe through for some ways to help your oldest feel ready and included, not replaced.

And if you want extra hands during that adjustment period, postpartum doula support is not just for the baby, it is for the whole family.

I have seen fridges with a bag of pumped milk sitting right next to a can of formula, both about to feed the same baby j...
08/13/2026

I have seen fridges with a bag of pumped milk sitting right next to a can of formula, both about to feed the same baby just fine.

Feeding a baby looks different in every single house. Breast, bottle, formula, a combination of all three, it truly does not matter which path you take as long as your baby is fed and you are able to keep showing up for them. I have watched too many parents carry guilt over a feeding choice that was actually the right one for their family.

If you are pregnant or newly postpartum and thinking through how you want to feed your baby, let us talk it through together. All options are on the table.

There is a tiny bandage that shows up in almost every newborn photo, right on a little heel. Newborn screening happens f...
08/11/2026

There is a tiny bandage that shows up in almost every newborn photo, right on a little heel. Newborn screening happens fast, usually while you are still in that blurry first day haze, and nobody really explains it ahead of time.

Swipe through for the basics of what it is and what to expect. If your provider follows up afterward with a question, that is a normal part of the process, not a reason to spiral.

Wondering what else to expect in those first days? That is exactly what I am here for.

I keep thinking about the families who used to have a birthing unit twenty minutes from home and now don't.Rural hospita...
08/08/2026

I keep thinking about the families who used to have a birthing unit twenty minutes from home and now don't.

Rural hospitals across Maine have been closing labor and delivery units or cutting back on maternity care, and it's something I think every pregnant person in this state should have on their radar right now. When one unit closes, it doesn't just affect that hospital's patients. It pushes more people toward the hospitals that are still open, which stretches those providers thinner too.

This matters to me because I already hear from clients who are scared of getting lost in an overtaxed system. Fewer options and longer drives make that fear bigger, not smaller.

Here's what I want you to know: you still get a say in your care, wherever you end up delivering. Ask your provider about capacity and staffing. Ask what the plan is if your local unit isn't an option anymore. And know that doula support isn't tied to a zip code. Whether you're delivering close to home or driving forty five minutes to get there, I'm with you through it.

As a lactation counselor, I see so many new parents convinced they're behind before they've even started. So let's clear...
08/06/2026

As a lactation counselor, I see so many new parents convinced they're behind before they've even started. So let's clear a few things up.

You do not need to pump from day one. For a lot of people, pumping in the first four weeks isn't necessary at all, and it can actually work against you getting a good latch and rhythm going. I know that goes against what Instagram tells you, and I'm okay saying it anyway.

A packed freezer isn't a report card. Feeding is not a competition and it never should feel like one. If latching is hard, that is not proof your body failed you. It's a sign you need support. And if formula becomes part of your story, that is a feeding choice, not a failure. My job is to help you find what actually works for you and your baby. That's it.

If you're in the thick of feeding questions right now, I can help you get through it. Reach out anytime.

I have strong feelings about freezers.Specifically about the photograph of the freezer. Bags stacked like currency, arra...
07/31/2026

I have strong feelings about freezers.

Specifically about the photograph of the freezer. Bags stacked like currency, arranged for the shot, captioned with a number. Somewhere along the way ounces became a scoreboard, and now already exhausted people are checking their standing on it at 3am.

I am old school here and I will own it. I do not think you need to be pumping in the first four weeks. Often I do not think you need to be pumping at all. Those weeks are for you and this specific baby learning each other, and for your supply figuring out what this specific baby actually needs.

And if you are pumping for a NICU baby, or a medical reason, or a job you return to at six weeks, or because you want to, none of the above is aimed at you. Truly. Do the thing that works.

Nineteen years ago I could not get breastfeeding to work and what I needed was one trained person to sit down beside me and watch a feed and adjust one thing. Nobody came. I have thought about that a lot in the years since, mostly while sitting down beside somebody else.

07/30/2026

Most new parents are keen to share the many tasks of caring for their newborn. Feeding baby becomes the natural focus of their new 24/7 "routine" and most new mothers inevitably feel exhausted and overwhelmed by their unique responsibility to breastfeed this perpetually hungry newborn. NEWBY B***Y TRAP #1 - "Dad can feed baby bottles at night so Mum can sleep". Umm - maybe - BUT - Mum needs to be expressing her breasts at the same time to ensure her milk supply is established, and maintained. NewBaby101 HINT - a better plan is for Mum to breastfeed baby, and Dad to take care of nappy changes, burps and settling, PLUS a snack or drink for Mum. It's all about teamwork! New Parents ROCK!!

Five percent is a boring number. It does not trend. Nobody screenshots five percent.But it comes off the top of every bo...
07/28/2026

Five percent is a boring number. It does not trend. Nobody screenshots five percent.

But it comes off the top of every booking I take, birth support and placenta work both, and it goes to Community Doulas.

Here is the sentence I keep turning over. One of the best supported interventions in birth research is available mostly to people who can pay for it out of pocket.

That is not a mystery to solve. That is just the arrangement. The families walking into the most overtaxed corners of the system, where nobody has time to explain a single option to them, are the families least able to hire the person whose whole job is explaining the options.

Five percent does not fix that. I am aware. It is what one doula in southern Maine can do. I would rather do the small real thing than post about the big theoretical one.

The word "plan" is doing an enormous amount of unpaid labor in the phrase "birth plan."A plan implies a controlled syste...
07/25/2026

The word "plan" is doing an enormous amount of unpaid labor in the phrase "birth plan."

A plan implies a controlled system. Birth is not a controlled system. Birth is weather.

So people write three pages, birth does what birth does, the three pages become evidence of a failure that did not happen, and everybody feels worse.

Try preferences instead. One page. Top three at the top. And then the part that actually matters, the part everyone skips: if this, then that. If a cesarean becomes necessary, then here is what I want. If labor stalls, then here is what I want to try first.

That is not a script for the birth. It is a message to the people in the room for the moment when the script goes out the window.

When my clients tell me what they are afraid of, it is almost never pain. It is that their voice will stop counting. Let's make sure that doesn't happen to you.

Address

N. Raymond Road
Poland, ME
04274

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12077700393

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