One of the cards in our forthcoming Wisdom of Birth deck offers the prompt "Birth is Messy". If you're familiar with Tarot, this is our "Tower" card. We loved it so much that we turned the art into a candle so this reminder, that birth is messy, would be even more readily available.   A sample of this candle has been sitting on the shelf of my desk, and boy has having that prompt in eyeshot on a regular basis been helpful in recent weeks.   Both in the process of dealing with

I recorded a podcast episode last week (I'll definitely share when it comes out in May) with Deb Flashenberg for her amazing Yoga, Birth, Babies podcast on the topic of how to best engage partners in birth, beyond just showing up on the day of.   We talked about dispelling the false notion that doulas replace partners in any way, when in fact, one of our most essential roles is helping partners offer the best possible support they can.   The most important things I shared dur

I've been thinking about a client session I had a few weeks ago with a client who was processing some grief postpartum. It is an interesting time when we experience an abundance of emotions coming up, especially when they seem to contradict each other.   How can we be so full of love and gratitude while also feeling profound grief over how much has changed, over the things that didn't go the way we'd hoped during the birthing process?   Just ask anyone postpartum and they wil

When you think of “Comforting Touch”, what kind of touch comes to mind? When asking myself this question, I realized that actually there are at least 5 different categories of Comforting Touch, each with distinct attributes that are supportive or “comforting” in their own way, depending on the situation, especially when it comes to birth.    These are the 5 types of Comforting Touch I came up with: Massaging Touch, Counter-Pressure, Soothing Strokes, Rhythmic Touch, and Holdi

I want to share about a recent postpartum closing of the bones session I had with a client.   Typically during a closing of the bones, before wrapping, I share some bodywork with the mother and we take some time to connect with an intention for the experience. In this woman’s case, she was wanting to honor the full extended chapter of pregnancy and birth from her first child through her second, most recent, and last.    A big story she was wanting to move past was a perceptio

I’m reading a book right now that I’m loving called ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ by Will Guidara. He is one of the owners of Eleven Madison Park, a 3 Michelin star restaurant, ranked one of the best in the world. I could go on and on about so many of his valuable lessons for business owners and entrepreneurs, but one of the biggest takeaways that feels relevant for birthworkers, is how we can think about providing our clients with that little extra “hospitality” that makes our

I don’t know about you but with fall energy upon us I’ve been noticing myself experiencing more grief and sadness these days. In Chinese...

Every once in a while, an extra human exchange will leave my heart feeling warmed by the compassion, humility and humanity we are capable...

A few of you reached out to me recently asking what kind of massage cream I use, so I thought I'd take a moment to share my favorite one...

Last week we had a great zoom call on the topic of professional liability for doulas. The conversation was inspired by my recent legal...