The Birth Lounge Blog

Sleep Routines with Anna McMillian Sleep Routines vs. Sleep Training When we are talking about sleep routine vs. sleep training we are discussing totally different choices. You've got to look at the foundations because if you are going to sleep train and you don't have your foundations sorted- it's not going to work anyway. There are things that need to be in place regardless of how a child gets to sleep. So sleep training is looking at how the child is getting to sleep. This is what I need to go to bed. For an adult that might be like turning off the lights, locking the front door, brushing your teeth. When we look at a child's sleep routines and health what we're looking to do is actually set up healthy habits. If you think about the habits that are gonna last a lifetime, those are the things that we really want to concentrate on as a newborn. We're looking at how we are communicating with our baby? How are they communicating with us? They're actually t...

How an Active Pregnancy Fosters an Enjoyable Pregnancy As a physical therapist and mother of two, I am passionate about helping other women have an enjoyable pregnancy. As a society, we need to take better care of our mothers. We are the caregivers of the world and should be treated as such. Growing and birthing a human being is a freaking super power. I’m here to empower you to enjoy this monumental time in your life. Being pregnant is hard work. Pregnancy can be draining emotionally and physically. Our bodies are adapting to different hormones and a different weight distribution. Our sleeping patterns are changing and our stress levels may be rising. You might be taking care of other children or working outside the home. So, how do we get through nine months of growing a baby and a changing body while still feeling well mentally and physically? Pain and leakage--common but no longer the standard! Low back pain, pelvic pain, hip pain, and urinary incontinence are all common sympt...

The Issue with Hospital Provided Doulas You’re sitting at a friend's table. Your ever expanding belly is, of course, the topic of conversation. “I’m thinking about hiring a doula”, you tell your friend. In the background the sounds of her own children serve as an unending, but joyful soundtrack. “OH!” she replies, “The hospital you’re delivering at provides a doula for anyone wanting them. They’re affordable, too. Maybe even free!”. Perfect, you think. Now, you can finally stop worrying about the money aspect. “Really? I’m impressed the hospital is providing them. That makes me feel so safe”, you tell your friend. “Isn’t it amazing!?”. You agree. Pause a moment here and let’s consider a few things: Is it amazing? Or could it be problematic? Let’s break down the conflict of interest before you grab the phone and hire that hospital provided doula.  The Ethical Issue The presence of a doula is supposed to ensure an unbiased, evidence based birth environment. When you hire a doula they...

How to Get Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night with Eva Klein (Taken from The Birth Lounge Podcast with Eva Klein, Certified Sleep Consultant) So I am a certified infant and child sleep consultant. I help exhausted moms get their little ones consistently sleeping through the night so that they can be functioning humans again. And I got into this business because of my middle child. So, um, I'm a wife and a mom of three. I live in Toronto, Canada and I, my kids are 10, almost eight and almost three. Um, and so it was my middle child that got me into this business because interestingly, I'm actually a lawyer by training. So my previous lifetime, um, which wasn't, which was you about 10 years ago now I was working as a lawyer. I basically finished law school, had my first baby. Um, that first baby was like this unicorn baby that made me look amazing and was just so easy and happy all the time and you know, slept amazingly. And then a couple of years later when I was done law ...

Cesarean Recovery Written by: Sarah Everly No matter how we bring our children into this world, our bodies will have some healing to do. Bringing a baby earthside is physically taxing, and involves so many different systems of the human body. In the case of cesarean delivery, there are a few more steps added to the recovery process. We tend to neglect these steps when leaving the hospital, but it’s important to know what tools are available in your recovery toolbox. Here are the five most impactful tools that ensure a faster and more complete recovery.  1. Walking - After surgery your epidural or spinal will be removed and over the next few hours the numbness will begin fading away. While you may leave the OR expecting to take it as easy as possible, you will quickly find that the first task on your “to-do list” is getting up and taking a walk through the hospital corridor. While this can be painful and feel like it adds insult to injury, ambulation is imperative to proper recovery...

Things that F*ck Up your Birth Plan LATE PREGNANCY ULTRASOUNDS Ultrasounds are a ‘normal’ part of pregnancy if you ask any American woman—BUT if we look at the science behind them, you might be surprised at what you find… While you may enjoy seeing your baby, it’s worth discussing the risks before saying ‘yes’ to any and all ultrasounds and scans. Pregnant people routinely go through a number of ultrasounds during pregnancy.  Most commonly: - 11-14 weeks to confirm pregnancy - 18-22 weeks to confirm anatomy is looking normal - 35-38 weeks which is known as the growth scan (we check the ‘size of baby’ and baby’s position) I put ’size of baby’ in quotations because the accuracy of ultrasounds is so laughable that it’s ridiculous to lead anyone to ever believe we could accurately predict the size of a baby that way. Ultrasounds also get less and less accurate as the baby grows. However, there are risks with late-pregnancy ultrasounds and some are severe like misdiagnosis, unnecessar...

Alcohol in Pregnancy Today I wanted to chat alcohol and pregnancy. I sometimes see or hear expectant parents make jokes like, 'I wish I could have a glass of wine'. And I just wonder to myself, is this a place for me to say, 'You can'. Actually, the research says that it is okay. Or are these people like truly joking? I feel like this is a discussion we should have. Now I think if we're gonna understand drinking during pregnancy and postpartum, we first have to break down how your body breaks down and absorbs alcohol. And a lot of people have this misconception that you drink alcohol and then it's just zooms to your baby. Or you drink alcohol while you're breastfeeding and your baby just gets a serving of alcohol with the next feed. It's just not like that. You ingest the alcohol and it goes into your digestive system and then it goes into your bloodstream and then your liver is actually going to filter the alcohol. Some alcohol can pass into the p...

COVID and Isolation in New Parenthood with Bryce Reddy (Derived from an Episode of The Birth Lounge Podcast with Bryce Reddy) Many of the resources that parent might have had before are just not possible right now. Before, we would go to the library, we would go to a breastfeeding class, or we would have many other opportunities to get out of the house at least. You could go roam around the store when you just needed to get out and see other human beings. And that isn't as possible right now. Maybe depending on people's comfort level they can maybe go to the grocery store, but who knows?  This isn't how it's supposed to be. We were supposed to be welcomed home by grandparents. We were supposed to have people coming by and dropping off food and holding the baby. So you could take a shower. There's grief in that this isn't what it was supposed to look like. Obviously, we can't change that right now. So, remembering that we're allowed to grieve this proce...

Postpartum Mood Challenges and Disorders with Keisha Reaves Keisha Reaves is a PMHC and it's Perinatal Mental Health Certification and it is governed by Postpartum Support International.  Society expectations in postpartum versus the reality of postpartum? I think it's a vast difference. Society definitely romanticizes it. It makes it seem like you'll have a baby, you'll breastfeed, and then you'll lose all of your weight. That it's a natural bonding experience. And it's a very magical thing that happens. And you move on with your life and you have this beautiful family that you asked for and is a blessing. That's how society portrays it to be, but the reality of it all is oftentimes doesn't go as expected.  For a while, it's a lot of trial and error of a bunch of different things on top of sleep deprivation. There's not a lot of discussion about that or how that also affects your mental health. We live in a very binary culture where either...

What You Really Need to Know About Formula and How to Choose the Right One for Your Baby Ignore the labels, it’s all about the ingredients The red-bolded words “anti-colic remedy” on the front of a formula tub can seem pretty promising when you’re standing in the formula isle of Target after several evenings with a fussy baby. This is exactly what the manufacturer intends when marketing their formula brands to parents. They knowingly get paid by targeting vulnerable new moms who are sleep deprived and desperate. Formula brands will advertise products made specifically for things like reducing spit up and gas or to help improve sleep. But, like most things baby related, it’s not a “one size fits all” solution. The ingredients and how they react to your baby’s specific dietary and digestives needs are most important to understand when you’re in the process of choosing a formula. And I say process because you are most likely going to need to change formulas at least once or twice, and t...

America Needs More Black Providers Being Black in America is hard, but giving birth while Black in America is downright deadly. The United States of America is one of the richest countries on the planet and has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality..how does that happen? For a country that attracts talent from all over the world, there seems to be a disconnect in the intelligence and the results. Black birthing people in American are three to four times more likely to die due to a pregnancy-related complication than white birthers, and if you are in NYC—that increases your risk even more.  You can read more about the Maternal Health Crisis in America here. What Needs to Change? Well, that’s a 7 layer dip plus some, but a great place to start is increasing access to Black and brown doctors for Black and brown patients. This does not mean that Black and brown people should only be seen by Black and brown doctors, but that they have that as an option if they would like. Becau...