Finding Your Village

In today’s episode I am kicking off the series about childbirth preparation classes. I am featuring a different type of birth education program each week in the month of May.

I had the privilege of interviewing Nikki Shaheed and she is a certified Trainer, Mentor, and Doula for Birthing from Within, as well as the author of Heart Centered Pregnancy Journal. Nikki is passionate about bringing balance and self-compassion to the childbearing year. She lives in San Antonio, TX with her husband and three amazing children.

In this episode we discuss:

Background of Birthing From Within

• Created by Pam England, who is the author of Birthing From Within
• Her birth experience led her to ask herself: what did I need to know as a mother that I didn’t know as a midwife?
• That question inspired her quest to find self compassion and a way to help people to have more realistic and holistic expectations before they give birth

What is the BFW "unmethod"?

• There is no way to get it wrong with Birthing From Within, it is not outcome based
• It is all about developing self love, self acceptance and doing what the moment calls for without being held back by conditioning or judgment

Words we use in birth

• The words we use are powerful and create imagery
• The term “natural childbirth” makes Cesarean or medicated birth seem “unnatural”

You cannot plan out your birth

• You can prepare for birth, but you cannot control birth outcomes
• Center preparation around the foundational concept that you are stepping into the unknown
• Nikki likes to call Birthing From Within the “self compassion buffet”
• Self compassion is the most important thing to pack in your birth bag

What will parents learn about childbirth, as well as themselves?

• Parents will learn the “nuts and bolts” of birth
• Stages of labor
• Common procedures that can occur during birth
• How to prepare the for the unknown

Birth Art

• Embodied experience that allows parents to practice figuring out what to do when they don’t know what to do
• Wise and compassionate mentor is there to encourage them to keep going

Emphasis on the postpartum journey is a big differentiator between Birthing From Within and other birth preparation programs

Find a Birthing From Within Birth Education Mentor
How to get in touch with/follow Nikki

• Heart Centered Pregnancy Journal
• Follow on Instagram
• Website

How to get in touch with me:

• Follow me on Instagram
• Find other episodes at: www.findingyourvillagepod.com
• Email me at [email protected]
• Monthly Newsletter

Visit www.keepsakecastle.com today!

Support the show

In today’s episode, I continue this month’s podcast series on childbirth preparation programs. I had the opportunity to interview Sara Rossi, who is a Hynobirthing Instructor. Sara started as a prenatal yoga instructor and In 2007 she got certified in Hypnobirthing, the Marie Mongan Method and as an Infant Massage Instructor by the International Association of Infant massage.

Drawing on her experience as a mother, a prenatal yoga teacher, childbirth and infant massage educator, Sara looks to establish a safe and effective journey for pregnancy and beyond.

In this episode we discuss:

Sara’s background as a prenatal yoga instructor and how that led her to become a Hypnobirthing educator after the birth of her daughter

What Hypnobirthing is

• A philosophy and method created by Marie Mongan
• Dedicated to providing birthing women and their partners a proven method of birth education that not only guides and prepares women for birth, but also is a program that considers the psychological, spiritual and physiological well being of mother, partner and baby
• Built on a framework of breathing, relaxation, visualization, meditation techniques and positive body toning

Tools

• Allow you to enter an altered state of consciousness
• Enables you to access the beta, alpha, delta and theta waves that allows you be in a deep relaxation between surges

Class Structure: 5 units that are 2.5 hours each

• Unit 1: history of birth, physiology, the language of birth and how to use breathing techniques, visualizations and affirmations
• Unit 2: bonding with baby, hypnosis techniques, how to communicate with care providers, and how to harness the power of the mind to reframe fear in birth
• Unit 3: Deepening visualization and hypnosis techniques, how to prevent inductions, birth preferences, how to prepare body for birth through nutrition and movement and emphasize your body’s design for birth
• Unit 4: How birth companion can support the birthing person, and how they can assist and advocate for the birthing person
• Unit 5: optimal positions for baby during labor and birthing positions, bonding after birth and they touch on breastfeeding and the 4th trimester

The difference between a birth plan and birth preferences

• You cannot plan birth
• You can learn what your options are, what procedures are and then you can decide what your priorities are and write them down for you, your partner and birth team to be able to read

Who would be a good fit for Hypnobirthing:

• It is for anybody
• Those who want to eradicate their fears and doubts about birth
• Anyone who wants to have a conscious, empowered and educated birth
• Those who really want to include and bond with their partner through birth
• Anyone who think of birth as a celebration and a huge transformation

How to get in touch with Sara:

• Website
• Follow her on Instagram

How to get in touch with me:

• Follow me on Instagram
• Find other episodes at: www.findingyourvillagepod.com
• Email me at [email protected]
• Monthly Newsletter

Visit www.keepsakecastle.com today!

Support the show

In today’s episode you will hear the great conversation that I got to have with Micah Johnson. Dr. Johnson is a sociologist and serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida. Dr. Johnson’s research centers around childhood trauma, behavioral health, and juvenile justice. Dr. Johnson trains, speaks, and teaches internationally on topics related to trauma, poverty, antiracism, and sustainable peace. Dr. Johnson recently published a children’s book entitled “Never Had a Friend.”

In this episode we discuss the topic of explaining tough topics to your kids. This is such an important conversation and I find it very fitting to release it today, on Valentine’s day, because our discussion and Dr. Johnson’s work is all about promoting love and making this world a more compassionate and caring place.

In this episode we discuss:

Dr. Micah Johnson’s background

• Goal: building peace and investing in young people
• Passion is to use creativity and art to deal with adversity

Dr. Johnson’s new children’s book: Never Had a Friend

Discussing tough topics

• Empowering parents to have hard conversations with young kids
• Even as early as in pregnancy parents can start discussing with each other what moral foundation they want to establish for their family
• Parents can get used to talking about difficult topics with each other

Age appropriate ways to introduce these topics

• Books!
• Don't make it a huge deal or one time conversation
• Explain things as they come up and look at this as a lifelong discussion

How to get in touch with Dr. Johnson:

• Website
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram
• Facebook

How to get in touch with me:

• Follow me on Instagram
• Find other episodes at: www.findingyourvillagepod.com
• Email me at [email protected]
• Monthly Newsletter

Visit www.keepsakecastle.com today!

Support the show

In today’s solo show I discuss how breath awareness helps during labor, and really during any uncomfortable or painful experience.

In the episode I go over:

• The difference between pain and suffering
• A quote from Pam England’s book Ancient Map for Modern Birth
• What the “monkey mind” is
• What breath awareness is (hint: it does not teach you how to breath)
• The foundation for breath awareness
• An exercise to practice breath awareness
• An exercise to deepen the breath awareness practice with an “ice contraction”

I would love to hear your feedback about the breath exercise, please reach out:

• Via Instagram
• Email me at [email protected]
• Review and rate this episode on Apple Podcasts or anywhere else you can leave a review on a podcast player

How to get in touch with me:

• My Virtual 4-week online Birth Class
• Follow me on Instagram and on TikTok
• Find other episodes at: www.findingyourvillagepod.com
• Email me at [email protected]
• Monthly Newsletter

Visit www.keepsakecastle.com today!

Support the show

Welcome to Season 3 of the Finding Your Village podcast. I am so excited to be kicking off a new season with one of my favorite parenting experts, Kim West! Before I introduce Kim and the topic for our show today I wanted to let you know what I have been working on in the past few weeks while the show has been on summer break!

I have been able to spend some quality time with my family and have fun one on one time with my kids.I have opened up my virtual 4 week online childbirth classes and if you are interested in taking a birth class with me you can check out more info on my website: www.findingyourvillage.com. I have also been doing some professional development to make this podcast even better for you. Finally, I downloaded another social media app that you may have heard of...its called TikTok. I have been sharing labor and postpartum information on there, connecting with other birth workers and parents and have started making Weird Al like parody songs based on pregnancy and postpartum struggles. If you have jumped on the TikTok bandwagon, follow me at findingyourvillage.

Ok, now that you’re all caught up with what I did over summer break, I get the distinct honor of introducing our guest for today!

KIM WEST, LCSW-C, is a mother of two daughters, best selling author and a licensed child and family therapist. Known as The Sleep Lady® by her clients, she has personally helped over 20,000 tired parents all over the world get a good night’s sleep without letting their children cry it out alone.

Kim is the author of three books: “The Sleep Lady’s Good Night, Sleep Tight: Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy”, “ The Good Night, Sleep Tight Workbook” and “The Good Night, Sleep Tight Workbook for Children with Special Needs”.

In today’s episode we are discussing how to lengthen short baby naps. We also talk about Kim’s background and how she came to be the Sleep Lady and my personal story of how Kim’s work helped me.

In this episode we discuss:

• The history of sleep training methodologies
• There is no science to support sleep training babies under 4 months old, you can set up proper sleep hygiene with younger babies, but true sleep training shouldn’t take place until babies are at least 4 months old
• There are really 3 main sleep training/coaching methods
  • Extinction (cry-it-out)
  • Graduated extinction (Timed checks or controlled crying)
  • Fading (The Sleep Lady Shuffle)
• What is a disaster nap?
  • A short nap that isn’t a complete sleep cycle that is enough to take the edge off the exhaustion but isn’t enough to be restorative
• What can parents do to lengthen a baby’s nap?
  • You can start to work on lengthening baby naps when they are at least 5 months old
  • Make sure you are paying attention to baby awake intervals and sleep cues to put them down for a nap at the appropriate time
  • Work on baby getting to sleep on their own at bedtime first, then work on naps
• Common baby sleep cues
  • Sucking hands
  • Disengaging/looking away
  • Zoning out
  • Yawning
  • *Some babies don’t show sleep cues!
• Kim’s new podcast: The Gentle Parenting Show

How to get in touch with Kim

• Follow her on Instagram
• Website

How to get in touch with me:

• My Virtual 4-week online Birth Class
• Follow me on

Visit www.keepsakecastle.com today!

Support the show