Birthing in Finland

On this episode of Birthing in Finland I am going to tell you about a sweet little, almost secret oasis for parents at the heart of Helsinki. It’s a place called Albert’s Living Room and in this episode you’ll get to meet the main coordinator of this space, Olavi Karvonen. Albert’s Living Room is run by HelsinkiMissio, an organization with the mission to reduce loneliness. Olavi and I got to talking about the values of the place, how it started and how you can benefit from coming over there. We also talk about the importance and beauty of intergenerational interactions and why the volunteers there make it such a unique and special place to visit especially for foreign parents who may be living far away from grandparents. If you haven’t heard of Alberts Living Room before, then I’m so happy for you that you now have this amazing place to hang out in. Sharing daily life with other parents and adults makes parenting so much more enjoyable. So let’s get right into today’s episode with Olavi talking all about Albert’s Living Room.

Show notes:

1. Albert's Living Room on Facebook 

2. HelsinkiMissio website 

3. Albert's Living Room website 

On this episode of Birthing in Finland I will be speaking with the wonderful midwife Johanna Sarlio-Nieminen. Johanna has been working as a midwife for 25 years in the hospital as well as home birth setting. She is active in efforts to improve maternity services and is a passionate doctoral researcher.

Before getting into the details of the episode i want to use this opportunity to share some exciting things that are happening. On Thursday I will be starting the August group of Milky Mornings - a supportive mothers group for moms and babies in Espoo in the comfort of a cozy living room space. It’s for moms with babies under 1 year and we still have space for 2 more to join. You’ll get a delicious breakfast, a chance to meet other moms, and talk about everything that’s on your mind and heart regarding this massive experience of welcoming a new baby. If you want to find out more or to join us, then please send me an email to [email protected]

As I started to mention, in this episode Johanna and I will take you on a trip down memory lane where you will hear more about the unfolding of the birthing culture in Finland over time. What was it like before most of the births were in the hospitals and before neuvola nurses and birthing midwives worked in separate places. Johanna will also share more on why she thinks there should be a rocking chair in every labor room, and why midwives should be speaking to pregnant people about breastfeeding already at 12 weeks gestation. We also invite you to imagine the hospital as a castle, listen until the end to find out why this is such a great metaphor. This was an incredible interview, I hope you will love it!

Show notes:

1. Helsinki Group for Research on Birth and Childbearing

2. Johanna's email address: [email protected] 

In today's episode I’m bringing you my conversation with Silja Seppänen, a midwife and childbirth educator. Silja discovered her passion for midwifery when she was just 9 years old and living in Kenya with her family. Our conversation today will take a deeper look into the topic of informed choice and informed consent of the birther and everything that comes with that. We spoke about informed choice as the building block for a positive birth experience, the difference between informed choice and consent, navigating risks and doing risk assessment in birth, as well as the relationship between informed choice and taking ownership or responsibility over your birth. We also talked about what you can do to make sure there is informed choice and consent at your birth, the partner’s role at being the gatekeeper of informed choice, and the midwife’s role in giving informed choice and asking for consent. Silja shared a great acronym which will help you make informed choices in the moment you are presented with options, the difference between planning for birth and preparing for birth, and why a seagull pooping on your windshield has everything to do with preparing for labor. This is a fantastic episode filled with so many gems and eye opening topics.

Show notes: 

Silja's website 

Evidence Based Birth website 

The evidence on Strep B 

On today’s episode I’m chatting with Mirjam Solomon. Mirjam is a psychologist who has spent the last 6 years working in Terapeuttinen vauvaperhetyö which is a public service provided by the city municipality. Mirjam specializes in psychological therapy that helps parents who feel that they are struggling to build a bond with the baby in pregnancy and or afterwards. In this episode we speak about why it may be beneficial to apply for this kind of service already during pregnancy, how cultural background can influence parenting values, and how Mirjan has seen these differences play out for families here. At the end of the episode we go into some things you can do to facilitate a stronger bond with your baby during your pregnancy. Mirjam also has her own private practice where she welcomes foreigners and expats for a wide range of psychological therapy in English.

Show notes: 

Mirjam's website 

General info about the service 

Terapeuttinen vauvaperhetyö in Helsinki municipality 

Register for webinar: Baby's position in utero - June 15th 2022

On today’s episode I’m chatting with Giuliano Valentini about communication and vulnerability. Giuliano facilitates a peer support group and a workshop through the organization Mielen Portti. The peer group is called “Men Talk” and is a safe space for men to openly discuss their struggles, and the workshop is called “Communication Talk” and is centered around non-violent communication. In this episode Giuliano explains about these two initiatives in more detail. We get to talking about the reason why men also need a safe space to talk about their emotions, how this can be very important as a father as well, as well as how both parents can pass down things from their lineages. Giuliano explains the foundations of non-violent communication and why he thinks it’s a way of life and not just a method. You’ll find out how to register to these two free groups at the end of the episode so stay with us until then.

Before we jump in, I want to mention that June 20th 2022 will be our last episode before a short summer break. As you’ve probably realized, July is a ghost town around here because everyone is out enjoying the 2 minutes of sun we have. Anyways, the next episode after that will be coming out on August 8th 2022. I'm waiting to welcome you back here with a whole bunch of amazing guests and episodes.

If you are pregnant and want to have a chance to chat with me some more, join me and the nest doulas online for the June Positive Birth Helsinki meetup which will be about dads and birth partners. It will be on Saturday the 11th of June 2022 at 10-12am. You can sign up with the link in the show notes or through The Nest IG page bio link. 

Show notes:

Men Talk Instagram 

Men Talk email: [email protected]

Communication Talk Instagram 

Communication Talk Registration Form

Register: Positive Birth Helsinki online meetup on June 11th 2022 (dads and birth partners)

Brene Brown Netflix "Call to Courage" Trailer  

Brene Brown quote about white horse 

Brene Brown quote "Show me a woman..."

Aware Parenting 

Conscious Parenting 

On today’s episode you will meet Anna-Riitta Kässi, a doula, owner of Doula Akatemia a center for doula training, as well as a sex educator and therapist. Our conversation focused on the topic of sex and sexuality along the journey of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Anna-Riitta goes into the sensitivities around sex and intimacy at each of these very different times in the relationship and in each one of the partners separately as well. We explore body image issues after birth, how a positive or a negative birth experience can influence your sexual desires, bust a few myths about sex in pregnancy, redefining sex to fit our needs and desires, and why birth itself is actually a sexual event! Let’s get started.

Show notes: 

Anna-Riitta's website 

Anna-Riitta's email address: [email protected] 

Anna-Riitta's Instagram account 

Mama Mojo podcast by Anna-Riitta

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Anu Lampinen, a seasoned midwife of over 30 years. Anu has worked as a hospital and home birth midwife throughout her career. She also has knowledge in Chinese medicine and acupuncture as well as breastfeeding consultancy and postpartum recovery. In this episode Anu and I talk about what a positive birth means for the birthing person, what kind of changes Anu has seen in the Finnish birth culture and what she still hopes will improve. We speak about the importance of continuity of care and why it can make such a difference in the birth experience as well as how midwives can help facilitate this positive birth experience. We then touched on physiological birth and what you can do to increase your oxytocin in childbirth as well as what happens when we remove the pain caused by the oxytocin. We finish the episode off by giving you pain coping techniques you can try and practice, so make sure you listen until the end. 

Show notes:

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Brenda Miquiztli. When I asked Brenda how she would describe herself, she said “medicine woman”. In the first part of the episode you’ll hear what this means to Brenda and why she chose this description. Brenda grew up in Mexico surrounded by natural remedies, witnessing the traditional care women receive especially in pregnancy and postpartum. When she moved to Finland in 2011, Brenda noticed the gaping hole that exists especially with postpartum support, and decided to share her wisdom with the people living here. Brenda supports families through the entire pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journey using traditional Mexican ceremonies and rituals and we go into how these rituals are seen at those different stages of the parenting journey. Join us on this conversation as we dive deeper into Brenda’s beautiful and special work here in Finland.

Show notes:

Brenda's website

On today’s episode I bring you my conversation with Chloe Bernard who is a birth and postpartum doula. In this episode we talk about the difference between the role of the birth doula and partner. We speak about the doula’s job in bringing evidence based information to the family to help them make informed choices, the continuity of care that a doula provides, and why having a doula can be reassuring for the partner just as much. We also speak about what the birthing partner might feel and can expect from labor and birth, the unique aspects that the partner brings and which the doula cannot, the importance of the partner’s participation in getting to know the doula during pregnancy, and how the doula’s support can be great for the partner in postpartum as well. I also share a little bit about my own birth experience and 2 really key lessons I learned when I debriefed my birth with my doula. We ended this episode by giving really practical things that the partner can do to help the birthing person feel calm in the birth space so stay tuned until the end! Let’s get started.

Show notes:

Today I’m excited to share with you my conversation with Anna Lenkewitz who is the area coordinator for the Neighborhood Mothers activities in Helsinki. Neighborhood Mothers is a part of the charity organization Nicehearts and it provides a platform for and with women of migrant backgrounds. The organization encourages women to initiate community activities, share knowledge, as well as to become an active part of the Finnish society. Anna shares with us how this organization supports mothers and women on their parenting journey and what people can gain by joining their training and becoming a part of the community or “family” as she calls it. Tune in to this episode to find out more about this great place for you.

Show notes: 

Nicehearts website - https://www.nicehearts.com/in-english/