Prenatal Yoga - A Natural Path toward Working with a Midwife, by Risa Klein, CNM, M.S. Making a decision as to whom will take care of you and your gestating baby is a monumental decision. To make the best-informed decision, you need to understand some differences between...
Ask any pregnant or laboring woman if they appreciated getting routine vaginal exams to check progress. During pregnancy, unless the mother is experiencing preterm labor, checking dilation will not change the manner in which the care provider manages the woman’s labor. During labor, routine vaginal...
By G.H. Before I even became pregnant with my daughter, I knew I wanted to hire a birth doula. Having taken the Prenatal Yoga Center's teacher training, and then a doula training, I was keenly aware of the positive effects a doula can have on the...
A benchmark given in most childbirth education classes is that active labor starts once the mother has reached 4cm dilation. To go along with that milestone, many care providers advocate that the mother waits until active labor before being admitted to the hospital and receiving...
A student approached me last week very upset and rather angry. She said she felt betrayed and let down by what she called the “Natural Birth Movement”. She went on to tell me about her vast preparation for labor: she read all the books, went...
“You birth between your ears, not your legs”, a statement made by internationally recognized expert on water birth and gentle birth, Barbara Harper, rang in my head long after our podcast interview was over. For years, I subscribed to midwife, Ina May Gaskin’s theory “Let...
I started teaching prenatal yoga almost 16 years ago. At the time, yoga had not become mainstream and prenatal yoga was not an up and coming discipline like it is now. My introduction to prenatal yoga was from a teacher based in Iyengar yoga so there was...
Since I first opened the doors for Prenatal Yoga Center, childbirth education classes has been a staple of our foundation and offerings. For years, thousands of couples have attended these classes in preparation for their upcoming birth. From time to time, there will be an...
Originally published on Endangered Bodies While the inspiration to first step onto the yoga mat may come from the popularity of prenatal yoga or a suggestion from the care provider, the experience of yoga, for many women is often far deeper than simply a good stretch...
Not long ago, a student returned to postnatal yoga after having giving birth to her first child. I love seeing the mothers returning with their yummy new babies and hearing about the birth experience. This one mother, upon telling me her birth story, laughed slightly...