NV Maternal Wellness

The power of NOW.

You’re not going to overthink your way to a better future.

You’re not going to overthink your way to a better past.

All you have is NOW.

What you do with NOW can make right of your past and make good of your future.

Make peace with yesterday, let go of tomorrow, grab hold of NOW!

Thank you to for reminding us that there is a REAL world out there. Thank you for teaching us that we don’t actually need you.

How did you deal without any access to a phone/ internet? If you rushed to the nearest coffee shop for internet access, you have some work to do.

Mindfulness 🧘🏽‍♀️

⚓️Breath.
⚓️Grounding.
⚓️Your senses.
⚓️Mantra

When these types of posts appear from clients I cannot express how much it means to us. 🥺Thank you 🙏🏽 for allowing us to share this very special journey with the three of you. Welcome to the world baby Scarlett

Posted • That’s one way to look at it!

Posted • Oh, you're a doula? That's like a midwife, right?

I hear this a LOT, & it's not totally wrong! Doulas & midwives often operate within similar models of perinatal care.  Our philosophies of care often resonate with one another. We view the parent/baby dyad as a holistic system, working in unison.

But in practice, we offer very different kinds of care.
I am extremely thankful for the amazing woman who took this photo of her cousin (my client) giving birth. It is a wonderful illustration of some of the differences in our roles. 

The midwife is at the end of the bed, tending to my client & her baby's health. She's ready to receive that baby, when she comes! 

I'm sitting at my client's side, holding her hand & wiping her brow with a cool cloth. 

We are both offering words of encouragement & praise.

Midwives are trained to provide expert care throughout typical, low-risk pregnancies, births & postpartum (which is most). They provide holistic support that includes medical care for birthing people.

Doulas provide physical, emotional & informational support to pregnant people and their partners. We listen & support, educate, & soothe physical discomfort. 
Midwives & doulas often work together (I certainly love it when we do!), but we provide very different services. 

I hope this demystifies things! Do you have any questions for your local doula? Comment below!

Posted • I did a breastfeeding Q & A in my stories yesterday and received over 500 questions. I answered as many as time would permit throughout the day which you can see in my highlights.

There was one question though that came up more than once. "What do I feed my baby until milk comes in?"

I wasn't able to respond to everyone so I created this visual today.

Milk doesn't just suddenly appear after the birth having previously been non existent. You dont starve your baby until milk 'comes in'

I hope this visual helps to explain it! The first milk colostrum is being developed (in normal situations) from the second trimester. You may or may not notice leaking (most dont)
Colostrum might be yellow, white or even clear

When the baby is born the milk producing hormone increases as baby is put to the breast. They drink colostrum in small quantities for the first few days before the milk changes. It increases in volume, usually changes to a white colour and you may find you become engorged and leak everywhere!

The more baby feeds, the quicker this can happen.

This can be delayed by:

Traumatic birth, infrequent breast feeding or replacing breast feeds with formula, stress, poor latch, hormonal irregularities (extremely rare), no or little support.

This image is meant to display basic/standard physiology. Every woman is different but in general, this is what b***s usually do! I hope it helps answer some of those questions 😊

Posted • ✨✨✨ Skin to Skin ✨✨✨ Skin-to-skin contact is usually referred to as the practice where a baby is dried and laid directly on their mother’s bare chest after birth, both of them covered in a warm blanket and left for at least an hour or until after the first feed. Skin-to-skin contact can also take place any time a baby needs comforting or calming and to help boost a mother’s milk supply. Skin-to-skin contact is also vital in neonatal units, where it is often known as ‘kangaroo care’, helping parents to bond with their baby, as well as supporting better physical and developmental outcomes for the baby.

Why is skin-to-skin contact important?
There is a growing body of evidence that skin-to-skin contact after the birth helps babies and their mothers in many ways.
* Calms and relaxes both mother and baby
* Regulates the baby’s heart rate and breathing, helping them to better adapt to life outside the womb
* Stimulates digestion and an interest in feeding
* Regulates temperature
* Enables colonisation of the baby’s skin with the mother’s friendly bacteria, thus providing protection against infection
* Stimulates the release of hormones to support breastfeeding and mothering.
Additional benefits for babies in the neonatal unit
* Improves oxygen saturation
* Reduces cortisol (stress) levels particularly following painful procedures
* Encourages pre-feeding behaviour
* Assists with growth
* May reduce hospital stay
* If the mother expresses following a period of skin-to-skin contact, her milk volume will improve and the milk expressed will contain the most up-to-date antibodies.

Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative 2020

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