• Last updated 2/1/13 by Sarah Clark

        Today something wonderful happened for birth in the United States of America. The American Association of Birth Centers posted an easy to read explanation of The National Birth Center Study II- a comprehensive research study detailing the clinical experience of birthing in a birth center.  The study was published yesterday in The Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health.     Oh, and that experience is truly fabulous.   When I found myself pregnant with my second baby in Dallas Texas I didn't feel that hospital birth was the best option for me.... read more

• Last updated 1/30/13 by Marcy Axness

There is (rightly) a lot of buzz these days around the insidious, incremental erosion of a woman's right to choose whether she will give birth to a child she has conceived, but virtually nobody is talking about the drastic erosion of a woman's right to choose how she will give birth to her term baby. Who is talking about the shocking erosion of a woman's right to choose a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)?   I'm inspired to post this by today's Facebook thread about a woman whose doctor has dropped her from care at 41 weeks because of her desire to have a VBAC.... read more

• Last updated 1/9/13 by SKValenzuela

By S.K. Valenzuela   I was teaching a baby care class the other week and we were discussing soothing strategies for newborns. I was taking them through a scenario and asked for a mom volunteer to demonstrate. I began, "Let's pretend your baby is crying in her bassinet. What's the first thing you would do to calm her?" The mom picked up her baby as the class echoed the suggestion. "Okay, excellent," I said. "Now let's say she doesn't stop crying. Can you think of something to try next?"   And then the most wonderful thing happened.   This mom sat there,... read more

• Last updated 1/14/13 by Marcy Axness

Gone are the days when we could consider pregnancy a 9-month “grace period” before the job of parenting begins. Mounting research tells us that lifelong wellbeing, including mental health, begins in the womb, and everything parents do – beginning even before conception — shapes their children in critical, life-altering ways.   I began 2013 by writing about the power of beginnings. This applies to virtually everything, from baking a pie to building a company to developing a human: the beginning contains within it the seeds of the project's ultimate success...or... read more

• Last updated 1/14/13 by Marcy Axness

New Year's is the most famous (infamous??) time to make positive changes to our lives. We can turbo-charge that process -- and perhaps avoid the dreaded syndrome of NYRE (New Year's Resolution Extinction) -- when we harness the power of beginnings: the beginning of anything contains within it the seeds of its final flowering.   In every phenomenon the beginning remains always the most notable moment. -- Thomas Carlyle   Every beginning of every day brings you to the present anew, and it is only in the present where real life happens. Where connection, joy... read more

• Last updated 12/18/12 by Sarah Clark

(Note- this post contains references to things related to Santa such as Elf on a Shelf.  If you find this offensive you may want to skip it.)       Have you heard of the recent Elf on a Shelf phenomenon?  I was at a play date with my children the other day and there was a creepy looking elf sitting in the kitchen.  The children explained that it is a special Santa's elf that watches them and reports back.  (Apparently the usual holiday threat "I will tell Santa that you did that and you will get coal in your stocking!" just doesn't work for today's more... read more

• Last updated 1/14/13 by Marcy Axness

Michael Stark, Jackie Chang, Jan Tritten, Robbie Davis-Floyd, Sarah Buckley, Peggy O'Mara, Sara Wickham, Lesley Page   A panel of some of the world's leading experts on birth shared the stage at the close of last month's Mid-Pacific Conference on Birth and Primal Health. Their assignment? Offer a vision of birth in 4012.   Here sitting at one table were such folks as Peggy O'Mara, Sarah Buckley, Robbie Davis-Floyd, Michel Odent and other heavy-hitters in the birth world -- including the president of the Royal College of Midwives, Lesley Page, and Michael... read more

• Last updated 11/28/12 by Melanie Mayo

  (Contributed by Sarah Clark)   Failure to progress.   Oft named as a reason for cesarean. Oft mentioned to the supine mom in the hospital as she is encouraged to get her epidural and "relax". By the naysayers in the natural birth community, it is often renamed, Failure to be Patient or just, "Doc must leave to make his golf game."    Whatever it means to you, the term failure to progress is both powerful, disturbing, and strongly indicates not just lack of ability but complete and utter physical failure on the part of the mother. Personally, I would... read more

• Last updated 1/14/13 by Marcy Axness

No, Angry Parents isn't the latest game application for your smartphone, it's one of the biggest challenges we face when raising children! When we find ourselves as angry parents, it shifts the entire connection dynamic with our kids, and within ourselves. It isn't a place we want to be, as totally understandable as it is. There are tools that can help us develop more mastery over our own anger, and create more ease and confidence in our parenting.   It is helpful to keep in mind that most of the time, anger is simply a disguise for another feeling. A somewhat... read more

• Last updated 1/14/13 by Marcy Axness

The brain development needed to equip an individual with the kinds of qualities needed for peace and prosperity -- self-regulation, creative innovation, mental flexibility, robust will -- begins during pregnancy, and it isn’t just diet and lifestyle choices that influence it. A pregnant woman’s thoughts and moods have a significant impact upon the brain development of her baby in the womb. Stress in pregnancy is associated with a daunting list of bad outcomes, but some basic "perception hygiene" can help pregnant moms navigate this reality.   While I’m confident... read more