Tag: pregnancy
Orthodox Christian Pregnancy Book Recommendations for a Sacred Start to Motherhood
Pregnancy is more than a physical journey, it is also a deeply spiritual event. If you’re seeking not just information but spiritual grounding as you prepare to welcome your baby, you’re not alone. Over the years as a doula and Orthodox Christian, I’ve found myself returning to a few beloved titles—books that speak to the…
What Do You Really Need to Prepare for a Baby? (Part 2)
Previously, I posted about the top three things that a family with a newborn needs: strong support, food for the baby, and food for the grown-ups. Today, I want to complete my list of baby essentials, and you will see it is a lot simpler than many people imagine. I want to help you resist…
Finally, some political news we can all be happy about
With so much political division these days, it makes me very happy to be able to report on some good news that we should all be able to get behind. Yesterday, a bipartisan-supported bill, H.R. 4581, the “Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024,” was signed into law, which modifies the scope of…
What Do You Really Need to Prepare for a Baby?
This weekend I got to participate in Birmingham’s Babypalooza Expo, including taking part in a doula panel with a wonderful team of doulas and providing some information about why and how a person might go about hiring a doula. Making the rounds at the exhibition was exhausting, with over 800 pregnant and new parents and…
What makes you laugh?
When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. J. M. Barrie The first time I heard my baby laugh it felt like the most wonderful sound I had ever heard. How wonderful that tony…
Joy on the Feast of the Annunciation
I’m sorry you’ve heard so little from me lately! It’s been a busy season and now I am holed up in bed with Covid. It’s hard to be tired, but I am grateful I didn’t get it until now when it seems to be generally milder and we have treatments available. This will need to…
Setting up doula support – where do you start?
I know there are lots of folks out there who like the sound of support for their birth or postpartum time, but for one reason or another haven’t started making arrangements to get that support. While it is never too late to hire a doula, there are definitely some real advantages to establishing a relationship…
St. Nicholas and Infertility
Today is the feast of St. Nicholas the wonderworker. Yes, the “jolly old elf” associated with Christmas is based on a real person. Did you know that St. Nicholas was born after a thirty-year struggle with infertility? That is a long time to wait and hope!
On Gratitude
As Americans prepare to set the table for Thanksgiving and I await the call from a client who might just have a Thanksgiving baby this week, my thoughts turn to the importance of gratitude in life, and particularly in birth. Our culture asks us to take a moment of gratitude this week, but what about…
Pregnancy and Postpartum Holiday Frazzles
I am excited that this afternoon I will be baking Christmas cookies with three of my children, my mom, and my brother, planning our Thanksgiving meal, and confirming plans for my fourth child to come home for Christmas. (He goes to school in Scotland so Thanksgiving break isn’t a thing for him.) It’s a full…
