You’re either for something or you’re against it, right? Like, you either love ultrasounds or you don’t.  Or you want testing done or you don’t….. Or… gasp, could there be more to it than right or wrong?

This week we’re speaking to Taylor Shaffer: a wife, mother of two beautiful girls, holistic doula and online educator. She is passionate about nourishment, holistic living and taking radical responsibility for your health and birth choices. She serves women locally in Upstate SC through her doula agency, Nested & Nourished, as well as online through her Holistic Mama Pregnancy & Birth Course, virtual doula support offerings, podcast titled Holistic Pregnancy, and more.

Episode Roundup:

If there’s one word that demands your attention in this episode, I hope it’s “intuition”.  Taylor’s decisions were not informed by sheer logic or dogma.  No, the seat of her decisionmaking came from a deeper source.  From what I believe to be Holy Spirit guided intuition.  

Intuition.  That inner knowing that often times goes against your expectations.  Taylor isn’t a huge fan of ultrasounds for herself, but she sensed that an ultrasound is what she needed.  This ended up providing her with the information she used to support her body and baby through gestational diabetes.  And again, we see this intuition work in the complete OPPOSITE direction at the end of pregnancy, where Taylor felt that she shouldn’t have a scan.  Looking back, she knows that this prevented her from unnecessary fear regarding her baby’s weight. I love how this example unfolded.  We take the same topic: Ultrasounds and apply intuition to them in two different directions.  That, my friends, is what it looks like to listen to your intuition.

Next, I want to remind you of just how deeply our emotions are connected to labor and birth.  Taylor needed to take her baby into her arms, hold her, and grieve the change that was coming. Yes, of course, adding a new baby is a massive blessing to a family! But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a sense of pain at the leaving behind of the old ways.  Honoring this feeling is exactly what led Taylor deeper into labor.  Feel those feelings and don’t be afraid of them.

And finally, Taylor’s love for birthwork came from her own experiences.  She realized that she had something to offer other mothers, other families after having her first daughter.  She decided to seek out a way to be both the mother that she desired to be, and to also build a thriving business at the same time.  Sounds impossible, right?  But Taylor is doing it, very successfully I might add! Her online business, her doula agency… It's incredible! Taylor sought education from someone who values family, business AND birthwork.  She found a coach who wouldn’t tell her to push aside family for money, but who would encourage her to and teach her to make a way for both.

Links:

Samaritan Ministries

Happy Homebirth Academy

Interview Application

Youtube

Kyleigh’s Workshop Sign Up

Lily Nichols Episode

Taylor’s Instagram 

Taylor’s Podcast

The Glucose Revolution

The Glucose Goddess IG

Dr. Rachel Reed- Gestational Diabetes Review Article

Dr Sara Wickham- Gestational Diabetes Article

Tags: gestational diabetes, big baby