Birth Kweens

In this episode of the podcast, we're talking with Megan Ameral Limon, CD(DONA) about postpartum doulas. Megan has been practicing as a doula in San Diego, CA since 2014. She joined us to talk about what postpartum doulas do and why having postpartum support is so important. Here's what you'll learn about in this episode:

• Megan's background and why she was drawn to postpartum doula work
• What a postpartum doula is and how to become trained and certified
• What a typical shift for a postpartum doula usually includes
• Why having a postpartum doula is helpful for the WHOLE family and how doulas provide a different kind of support than other family and friends
• Why healthy, balanced nutrition is so important in the postpartum period
• What to look for when interviewing postpartum doulas
• What is and is NOT included in the scope of a postpartum doula
• The role that postpartum doulas can play in supporting families through postpartum mood disorders
• The books on postpartum that Megan recommends:
  • The First Forty Days by Heng Ou
  • Nurtureby Erica Chidi Cohen
  • The Fourth Trimester by Kimberly Johnson

Get your own subscription to Ritual vitamins by going to Ritual.com/KWEENS

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotifyto rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.comto sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected]with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click hereso that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

On this episode, we are joined by Crystal Karges, MS, RDN, IBCLC to discuss weight stigma in pregnancy. Crystal is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Virtual Nutrition Coach for moms, and mama of 5. She is passionate about helping moms nurture a peaceful relationship with food and their bodies so they can confidently nourish their kids, end the battles at the dinner table, and bring joy back to eating. Here's what we covered with Crystal:

• A bit about Crystal's background, including why she got into this field and her own struggles with an eating disorder
• Some ways that people are shamed and stigmatized for their weight in pregnancy and why it's so damaging
• Some ways that the traditional medical system falls short when it comes to prenatal care for larger-bodied women
• How to advocate for more weight-supportive care with your doctor
• The health risks that providers typically associate with a higher BMI during pregnancy (i.e. gestational diabetes, hypertension) and why it's so important to understand that while those conditions are correlatedto a high BMI, they are not causedby a high BMI
• Why dieting and calorie restricting is NOT the answer to weight gain in pregnancy
• Click here to see the study Karly mentioned about the consequences of gestational weight
• Some tips to set yourself up for success in prenatal care, especially if you've struggled with disordered eating/weight in the past
• Resources suggested by Crystal:
  • Plus Size Birth
  • Plus Mommy Podcast
  • Body Positive Book Club
  • "Does this Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat" by Claire Mysko
  • "The Honest Body Project"
  • The Embodied & Well Mom Show (formerly The Nurtured Mama Podcast)
  • This episode of the How to Love Your Body Podcast
  • 10 Ways to Improve Body Image During Pregnancy (good round up post with multiple resources included)

To learn more about Crystal and her nutrition consultation services you can visit her website, read her blog, and follow her on Instagram.

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

This week's episode of Birth Kweens is dedicated to birth stories! Our guest, Miri Sais, is a wife, mother, traditional birth attendant and all around incredible woman! She came on the show to share about the births of her five children (a mix of hospital and home births). She also talks about what it was like to be raised by a midwife and how she began attending births with her mother at a very young age. Her story is one of love, loss, and growth and we are so thankful she was willing to share it with us! You can follow Miri on Instagram at @mirisais and listen to her podcast,The Miri Sais Audio Experience.

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

In this episode, we're talking with Mindy Green about the use of essential oils and herbs during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period. Mindy is a nationally certified Registered Aromatherapist, herbalist, and esthetician. For over 40 years she's worked in many branches of the natural products industry. She's an author and speaker with a long, impressive resume and we are so thankful she was willing to share some of her knowledge with us! Here's an overview of what we cover in this episode:

• What are essential oils, including a bit about their molecular make up
• A basic explanation of how essential oils work in the body
• Why dilution is so important when it comes to using essential oils on the body and specific instructions for proper dilution ratios
• How safe it is to use essential oils during pregnancy
• The benefits of using herbs medicinally, and when it's better to use herbs rather than essential oils
• Some suggestions on specific oils and herbs to use during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum
• Guidelines for using essential oils and herbs on children
• Resources mentioned in this episode:
  • Visit our website to get Mindy's complete resource list (as mentioned in the episode)
  • Aroma Therapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art by Mindy Green and Kathy Keville
  • Natural Perfumes: Simple, Sensual, Personal Aromatherapy Recipes by Mindy Green
  • Calendula by Mindy Green
  • Some recommended products from Motherlove:
    • Nipple cream
    • Pregnant Belly Salve
    • Pregnant Belly Oil for Stretch Mark Prevention
    • More Milk Plus Breastfeeding Supplement
    • Moringa Herbal Breastfeeding Support
    • Diaper Balm
    • Organic Sitz Bath Soothing Herbal Spray for Postpartum
    • Birth & Baby Oil for Labor & Infant Massage
    • Hemorrhoid cream
  • Pam Conrad's website Aromas for Healing

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

**TRIGGER WARNING: infant loss**

In honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, we sat down with a wonderful woman to hear the story of her family. Carla Grossini-Concha is a wife and mother of two beautiful children, Elia and Luca. Elia is 4 years old and Luca, who passed away the day after he was born, would be 5.5 years old. Carla shares candidly about the journey she and her wife, Gina, took to getting pregnant with Luca, what his labor and birth were like, and the devastation of losing him. She opens up about how they got through the early days and weeks after Luca's death, the things that people did/said that were helpful, as well as the things that weren't so helpful. She talks about when they decided to try for another baby and how the pregnancy and birth of Elia were both healing and incredibly challenging. Carla offers words of support for people who've experienced a loss and offers some suggestions of how to best support someone after such a devastating experience. Here's the list of resources mentioned in this episode:

• Carla's blog Loving Luca: life without him here
• Megan Devine's website Refuge in Grief
• MISS Foundation
• Still Standing Magazine
• Glow in the Woods
• Face of Loss
• Stillborn and Still Breathing

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

This week we're joined by the lovely Stephanie Dodier, CNP. Stephanie is a nutritionist, podcast host, writer, and natural born leader dedicated to helping women make peace with food and their body. She joined us to explore intuitive eating and body image, specifically as they relate to women of childbearing age. Here's an overview of what's covered in this episode:

• Stephanie's story of food dependence and addiction and how she overcame it
• Discussion about body image and food behavior during pregnancy and the postpartum period
• Some data about how women are impacted by media in regards to their body image
• Other factors that contribute to people feeling shame about their bodies
• The Health At Every Size movement Stephanie talks about
• The link between trauma and unhealthy food behaviors
• Discussion about the polyvagal theory and how it can explain stress eating
• The concept of body neutrality and how striving for that leads to acceptance, self-compassion, and positive change
• Where to begin to start healing your relationship with food and your body
• The 4thTrimester Bodies Project that Ali and Karly mention
• Stephanie's podcast The Beyond the Food Show
• Stephanie's program The Beyond the Food Academy
• Info about Going Beyond the Food Project, Stephanie's free online conference taking place Oct 8-19, 2018
• Click here to follow Stephanie on Instagram

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

In this episode of the podcast, the kweens are talking about epidurals! Here's a list of the specific points they discuss and the resources they mention in the podcast:

• The difference between anesthesia and analgesia, and how each of these are used in the context of birth
• The differences between an epidural, a spinal, and a combined spinal-epidural (CSE) and when each one is used
• How and where epidurals/spinals/CSEs are placed
• Risks, benefits, and side effects of these procedures
• The type of medications used
• FAQs about epidurals
• Resources:
  • https://evidencebasedbirth.com/epidural-during-labor-pain-management/
  • http://www.asahq.org/lifeline/anesthesia%20topics/types%20of%20pain%20relief%20in%20labor%20and%20delivery
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22161362
  • https://evidencebasedbirth.com/effects-of-epidurals-on-the-second-stage-of-labor/
  • Sarah Buckley's articles about the hormonal impact of epidurals
    • https://sarahbuckley.com/httpsarahbuckley-comblogepiduralrisks-faqpt1/
    • https://sarahbuckley.com/epidurals-in-labour-part-2/
    • https://sarahbuckley.com/epidurals-risks-and-concerns-for-mother-and-baby/
  • Dr. Sarah Buckley's book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering
  • Video illustrating the steps of epidural administration:https://youtu.be/rM1aQC-HAX0
  • https://www.rcm.org.uk/news-views-and-analysis/analysis/upfront-the-birth-of-the-epidural
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595017/
  • https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Fulltext/2014/03000/Second_Stage_of_Labor_and_Epidural_Use__A_Larger.8.aspx
  • https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Citation/2017/11000/Epidural_Analgesia_During_the_Second_Stage_of.23.aspx
  • https://www.self.com/story/does-an-epidural-actually-slow-down-labor
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15477051/
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2505163/
  • https://evidencebasedbirth.com/effect-of-epidurals-on-breastfeeding/

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

In this episode, Karly and Ali speak with Emily Graham, the subject of a new birth documentary called These Are My Hours. Emily is a wife, mother, and birth worker who welcomed a film crew into her home to capture the birth of her fourth child. She shares candidly about all of her previous birth experiences, how she became a part of this documentary project before she was even pregnant with her 4thbaby, and what it was like to give birth in a house full of strangers and film equipment. The film is incredible to watch and Emily is an absolutely joy to talk with! Click here to watch These Are My Hours and support this amazing project!

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

Ali and Karly tackle the topic of birth plans in this episode of the podcast! Here's an overview of what's covered:

• The definition of a birth plan, and why it's probably better to think of it as a list of birth PREFERENCES instead of a plan
• Where to begin when putting together your birth preferences, including the importance of getting good prenatal education, choosing a supportive care provider, and having excellent support during labor (i.e. get a doula!)
• How to organize your birth plan, including things you might want to include about labor, birth, and the postpartum period
• Some tips for making a birth plan for a cesarean
• Why it's so important to keep it short and sweet!
• Some things you probably DON'T need to include
• How to present your preferences to the staff at your birth place in a way that fosters communication and teamwork

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!

**TRIGGER WARNING: Miscarriage, Stillbirth, & Pregnancy Loss

In this episode, we explore the mental and emotional aspects of pregnancy loss with expert guest,Dr. Jessica Zucker, Ph.D. Dr. Zucker is a Los Angeles-based psychologist specializing in women's reproductive and maternal mental health with a background in international public health. She is the creator of the #IHadAMiscarriage campaign which launched with her first NYT piece in 2014 and has since become a global movement. Here's an overview of what you'll hear about in this episode:

• Jessica's personal and professional background, including her own experience of having a miscarriage at 16 weeks
• When and why Jessica started the #IHadAMiscarriage campaign
• The role that shame often plays in miscarriage and pregnancy loss, and how working to release the stigma around loss can help people heal
• Jessica's goal to talk about EVERY aspect of life after loss, especially the areas that don't often get discussed (i.e. sex/masturbation, friendship, pregnancy etc.)
• Some exploration into why our culture/society is so uncomfortable with miscarriage and pregnancy loss and how that often manifests itself as people saying inappropriate and/or hurtful things to the person suffering a loss
• A bit of guidance on things to say and things NOT to say to someone grieving a loss, including the importance of just being present and willing to listen
• A discussion about the cultural norm of keeping a pregnancy secret until it's "out of the woods" at 12 weeks, and how that can lead to feeling even more isolated if a miscarriage does occur
• The difference between a stillbirth and a miscarriage, including some stats on each, and how the gestation of a pregnancy can impact grief and the healing process
• Some suggestions on how to navigate a loss for people who are going through it
• What it's like to be pregnant after a loss, including Jessica's personal experience with this
• The strain that pregnancy loss can place on relationships, including some insight into how these losses can impact the non-pregnant partner
• Where to begin when it comes to processing/healing from a loss
• Dr. Zucker's list of suggested books on this topic:
  • They Were Still Born: Personal Stories about Stillbirth by Janel Atlas
  • Trying Again by Ann Douglas
  • What I Gave to the Fire by Kim Flowers Evans
  • About What Was Lost: Twenty Writers on Miscarriage, Healing, and Hope edited by Jessica Berger Grose
  • Empty Arms: Coping with Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss by Sherokee Ilse
  • Unspeakable Losses by Kim Kluger-Bell
  • Pregnancy After Loss by Carol Cirulli Lanham
  • You Are Not Alone: Love Letters From Loss Mom to Loss Mom by Emily Long
  • An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
  • Surviving Miscarriage: You Are Not Alone by Stacey McLaughlin
  • Finding Hope When A Child Dies by Sukie Miller
  • A Guide for Fathers: When a Baby Dies by Tim Nelson
  • Waiting for Daisy by Peggy Orenstein
  • Poor Your Soul by Mira Ptacin
  • Vessels: A Love Story by Daniel Raeburn
  • Holding Silvan: A Brief Life by Monica Wesolowska

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If you liked this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, tell your friends! And go to iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay, and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show. For more from us, visit www.BirthKweens.com to sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens, join our Facebook group the Birth Kweens Podcast Community, and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback. Also, be sure to click here so that you can support the show while doing your regular Amazon shopping!