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Finding Your Village

Amanda Gorman

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The goal of this podcast is to make the early days of parenting more connected. In show I focus on: birth, postpartum and parent mental health. This podcast is for soon-to-be-parents and parents of babies and toddlers. Each week this show will provide tips and resources to help you take care of yourself and your little ones.

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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

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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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:

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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08/01/21 • 23 min

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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 amanda@findingyourvillagepod.com
  • 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:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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07/18/21 • 52 min

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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

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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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:

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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In this week’s episode we round out our series on birth preparation classes and discuss Hypnobabies. I was honored to interview the Founder and Director of Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis, Kerry Tuschhoff last week.

Kerry is a nationally renowned speaker and writer on a wide range of women's pregnancy and childbirth concerns. Her subjects include prenatal and childbirth choices, informed consent issues, health and low-risk status concerns, comfort in childbirth, the power of birth language and midwifery advocacy.

I hope you have enjoyed this series on the different philosophies on childbirth preparation methods and I think you are going to love this episode with Kerry.

Thank you for listening!

In this episode we discuss:

  • How and why did you create Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis?
  • What is Hypnobabies?
  • What is the class structure like?
    • Class 1: Hypnosis basics, demonstration and introduction to "Light Switch Technique"
    • Class 2: Introduction to Stages of Labor, hypno-anesthesia
    • Class 3: Information about birthing choices and Doulas
    • Class 4: How labor starts and Peace Cue
    • Class 5: Transformation and birth of baby
    • Class 6: Birth rehearsal and newborn and maternal care
  • Who would be a good fit for Hynobabies?

Kerry is offering a discount code for Finding Your Village podcast listeners to those that are interested in the Hypnobabies Home Study Courses!
Get 20% off with code: FindingYourVillage20

How to get in touch with Kerry/Hypnobabies:

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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In today’s episode, I am focusing on a newer childbirth preparation program from Evidence Based Birth. I had a chance to sit down with Cat LaPlante, who is the Director of the Instructor Program at Evidence Based Birth®. She is a certified childbirth educator, certified doula, and an Evidence Based Birth Instructor. Cat's passion is empowering birthing people and their partners through evidence based education and supporting their informed choices.

In this episode we discuss:

The history of Evidence Based Birth

How Cat got involved with EBB and became the Director of the Evidence Based Birth® Instructor Program

What the EBB Childbirth Education Class is like:

  • Three pillars are: comfort, evidence and advocacy
  • Starts with an online orientation, there are two models now depending on where you are: in person and online
  • Teach about birth statistics and how to look them up for their care provider
  • Online class is comprised of videos for parents to watch and then are followed with online calls with instructors
  • The class goes over: comfort measures, interventions and the evidence on both and how to advocate for yourself or your partern
  • There is also a postpartum section that goes over: delayed cord clamping, skin to skin, circumcision, diaper and washing baby and postpartum care plan

Who would be a good fit for EBB Childbirth Class:

  • For the parent who wants to know it all
  • Those who want to know the evidence and practice comfort and relaxation techniques

Don't forget to see the special cohorts and other classes being offered by EBB Instructors both virtually and in person in your area at www.evidencebasedbirth.com/parentclasses/

How to get in touch with Cat:

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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In today’s episode, I am doing another Podcast swap! That means that this episode is also airing in the near future on my guest’s show, which is called Inside Out Podcast Today Eden Hyder and I are discussing attachment theory and EMDR.

Eden Hyder is a licensed therapist, psychology teacher and mother of two who is passionate about helping others understand themselves, their relationships and their kids from the inside out. She does this through her counseling practice Inside Out Collaborative, her 5-star podcast Inside Out, and her online psychology courses - all of which you can find through her website edenhyder.com

In this episode, Eden and I discuss attachment theory and talk about how EMDR therapy can help people with insecure attachments heal from their wounds and trauma. I share part of my story and get vulnerable in hopes of encouraging others to know that healing is possible. I hope you enjoy the episode and maybe even find encouragement and hope.

In this episode we discuss:

What is Attachment Theory?

  • A way of understanding people’s behavior and motivations through our relational patterns.
  • Those patterns develop from day one between the primary caregiver and infant. This core relationship gives us the rules that we apply to all relationships
  • Attachment is essentially a bond that we create for the purpose of safety

The four Attachment Styles:

  • Secure
  • Anxious
  • Avoidant
  • Fearful-Disorganized

What is EMDR?

  • Eye Movement Desensitization Reprograming: a way of reconnecting to a memory that creates stress or a traumatic experience
  • EMDR allows you to access those memories and allows you to process it and get “unstuck” from that experience

How EMDR can help an insecurely attached parent?

  • We have core attachment needs. Those with insecure attachments didn’t get some of those core needs met and that can result in distorted beliefs about ourselves
  • EMDR can help resolve those unhelpful beliefs and integrate a helpful resource to help us develop more secure attachments with others

I can discuss a little bit of my own story, having a disorganized attachment, what it has been like to parent while healing my own stuff with EMDR and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Recommended books:

How to get in touch with Eden:

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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This is episode 50 of the Finding Your Village podcast!!! I am so excited to have released 50 episodes and I would like to thank everyone who has listened to an episode and to all of the wonderful guests who have shared their time and expertise on the show.

In today’s episode, I talk to Kaitlin McGreyes who is a mom, Doula and the Founder of Be Her Village, which is an online Baby Registry for parent services and support, rather than physical baby products. It is like the “Honeyfund” for birth.

In this episode we discussed:

  • Revolutionizing the traditional baby registry
  • Parents don’t need as much stuff as they need support like: a Doula, Prenatal Yoga Classes, Lactation Consultant, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, Postpartum Doula, etc.
  • The “savior complex” that comes up for some people who work in Birth Work
  • Be her Village allows communities to support new parents so that they can focus on their new baby
  • They also have a wonderful Registry Guide for both parents and gift-givers

How to get in touch with Kaitlin:

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

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Thank you so much for listening to the Finding Your Village podcast, before I get into the details about today’s episode. I wanted to let you all know that in the month of May, I will be publishing a series of podcast episodes all about childbirth preparation classes. As I finish the last steps of getting certified to become a childbirth educator myself, I wanted to feature different preparation philosophies and some popular classes.

My opinion about birth preparation is that it is important, but it is also not one size fits all. I compare it to exercise programs. Exercise is important for everyone, however, not everyone likes the same kind of exercise class. Some may prefer yoga, another person might like Crossfit and another may be a pilates gal. Similarly, I believe that birth preparation is important, no matter how you are giving birth and that some people may resonate with one philosophy over another. So I will be featuring an interview with a birth education from Birthing From Within, Evidence Based Birth, Hypnobirthing, The Bradley Method and Hypnobabies. So tune in for that series in May!

In today’s episode, I speak with Kathryn Courtoy of 3 Hearts Doula. Kathryn has 3 children that she calls her 3 hearts and named her business after, a son, a daughter and an "angel daughter". She is a Cappa Certified Labor Doula offering Childbirth Support in the North Metro Atlanta area. Kathryn believes there is no great transformational time in a person's life than bringing another human in the world and that every birth has a story. Kathryn and I discuss what labor doulas do and how they support all birthing people.

In this episode we discuss:

  • Labor Doulas are for every birthing person who would like support
  • You do not have to be planning an unmedicated birth or a vaginal birth to have support from a Labor Doula
  • What a Labor Doula does before and during birth
  • “Doulas catch the mom and Midwives catch the baby”
  • I think of Labor Doulas as “birth consultants”
  • Doulas don’t just get paid for being present during labor, but for all the support and expertise that they provide before labor starts
  • The difference in roles between the support Partner and Labor Doula
  • What holding space means

How to get in touch with Kathryn:

How to get in touch with me:

Find out more about the 12 week coaching program here: https://reparentingandparenting.com/

Support the show
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