Birth and early parenting essentials

Essential Resources

Welcome to Empowering Motherhood. As a client you have access to exclusive resources that are curated and designed to support your journey. Enjoy!

Book Your Appoitment

Your Doula service has be designed with over 20 years of experience to be culturally sensitive, adjust to your values and beliefs, and to give you all the information you need - not by overwhelming you, but by empowering you.

Your appointments can include the following:

- a conversational style assessment to see what information, support, and resources will be most useful to you

-an assessment of you posture, breathing, and stress so that I can prescribe practices to help bring baby into optimal positions, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve breathing, relaxation, energy levels, and mobility

- an opportunity to ask any questions, or discuss any concerns you may have and reduce fears

- healing session if desired/required for past trauma or grief that may be present

- discussion around birth plan options and choices

- a plan for you to follow for the weeks after the appointment

Make you next appointment here

Birth Plan

Your birth plan is a living document that is 80% of the decisions 80% made. It is a roadmap that is underpinned by your personal beliefs, values, and wishes. These are the corner stone to evidence-based care. We can then overlay research, and professional experience and advice knowing what feels best for you is at the centre of all conversations and decisions. The aim is to ensure all care and decision making is woman-centred, baby-centred, and family-centred.

There are three core steps to developing a brith plan:

1. Tune into your personal values and a vision for your your birth and your family

2. Develop an informed position on benefits and risks of your body's physiology and medical interventions. This becomes your starting point and point of reference.

3. Choose your preferences and rate as 'preferred', 'essential', and 'not negotiable', in the context of the above.

Please access your Birth Plan Template here.

Copy the file and share with me.

Yoga, Breathing, & Relxation

Three of the most important things for labour are

1. Creating space in the pelvis for baby to come into optimal position for birth

2. Learning to let go, surrender, and relax

3. Correct breathing to help baby to spiral down into pelvis and into position, to increase labour hormones by calming the nervous system, and to help manage the intensity of contractions, tune into your body and your intuition, as well as bond with baby and support breastfeeding.

Access the Pregnancy Collection of yoga, breathing, and relaxation recordings here.

Yoga for pelvis and back pain

Yoga postures for optimal baby presentation

Yoga Nidra for pregnancy and birth

What you need

Less is more when it comes to what you need for you and the baby - and everyone is different. Thanks to Facebook marketplace adn online shopping, it is easy to source things as you need them so as not to overwhelm yourself with things you may not need.

Here is a list of things I feel are essential for labour (home &/or hospital) and for baby. We can discuss in more details during your appointment.

Download Your Essentials List here

Here is a list of reminders for early labour, and post natal period to print off for your fridge of birth kit.

Download Your Essential Reminders here

Here is a list of ideas for labour

Things for third trimester / early labour at home

- swiss (pilates) ball, helps with back-ache, baby positioning and great for early labour and soothing baby

- yoga mat / rug / sheets for sitting on floor, yoga, and labour

- slow living activity (gardening, sewing, art, craft, cooking)

- variety of drinks that can be watered down (electrolytes, gatorade, labouraid, magnesium sleep, juice)

-variety of snacks (fruit, dried fruit, chocolate, lollies, dips, protein balls, nuts, etc)

-hot water bottle/heat packs

- essential oils (lavender, clary sage, peppermint, citrus)

- music playlists

-meals in freezer, auyervedic meal prep

- social support (baby shower, blessingway, meal train, help with toddlers and older children etc)

For baby:

-nappies

-a few changes of clothes (easy to change nappy - nighties, onesies, beanie and socks (at least one even in summer),

-muslim wraps, some heavier wraps

Useful Resources

Empowering Motherhood Podcast

Calmbirth

SheBirths

Hypnobirthing

Acupuncture

Massage

OMP Course (Optimal Maternal Positioning)

Postnatal Meals

Other podcasts