Did you know the first three months after childbirth are critical months for the emergent family?

The postpartum doula fills multiple roles in emotional support, babycare, and helps with light household chores. But, a postpartum doula doesn’t provide medical advice or assistance.

Infant massage is a great way to share an oasis of peace with your baby and positively impact your baby’s health and your own mental health. The fact is that infant massage is good for both mom and baby’s mood.

The BirthTouch®: Shiatsu and Acupressure for the Childbearing Year was created out of my own experiences. The book is a compilation of healing techniques I’ve learned along the way in my life long pursuit of knowledge about human healing and wisdom. The BirthTouch® book provides your with multiple empowering ways to reduce stress, promote wellness and family bonding during your pregnancy. The easy shiatsu routine is for couples and families to share at home. Touchj is th

This article reviews a 2014 research study examining lavender aromatherapy as a complementary comfort measure during childbirth. It is provided for educational purposes and does not replace individualized clinical guidance. In 2014, Maasumeh Kaviani, Faculty Member at the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran, and her team of research scholars conducted a study to see the effects of using lavender aromatherapy during childbirth on pain intensity perception, duratio

Activating LI4 is said to promote descending qi. It’s used to relieve pain, to help promote let down when nursing, to promote childbirth by stimulating the uterus.

But what about the “smaller” stresses? Such as daily work stress? There are many types of stress in a pregnant woman’s daily life, such as partner stress, financial stress, job stress, worries about childcare and anxiety about the pain of childbirth.

Research review on prenatal learning and fetal brain development, with a perinatal mental health perspective on stress, anxiety, and emotional wellbeing in pregnancy.

I’m dismayed as MindBody practices aren’t brought into the hospitals to support and enhance the experiences of birthing women. Mindbody practices support people on multiple levels. Relaxation practices slow the reactivity of the stress response down. BirthTouch® integrates evidence-informed mind–body practices to support emotional and physical wellbeing during pregnancy and birth. Many life tools for having an emotionally satisfying birth are available at a very low cost or

Originally posted June 4, 2012. I am happy to say that the proofs for my BirthTouch® books have finally arrived! I wrote the first edition of BirthTouch® Shiatsu & Acupressure for the Childbearing Year twelve years ago, in 2000. The second edition is out in proofs now as is BirthTouch®Healing for Parents in the NICU. I have been a shiatsu, Jin Shin Do® and Reiki practitioner since 1996. I studied so many energy healing methods over the years…it is one of my favorite ar

It’s nearing Christmas 2010. I am thinking back to near Christmas 1994. I had a Christmas baby then. He was born a few weeks before Christmas. I was so fortunate to have stopped work a few months earlier. I was enjoying my pregnancy. He was moving around in my womb, he felt like a fish swimming around in a big bowl. His little body parts were poking out, making lumps on my pregnant belly, in a funny and surreal away. My husband & I played games with him, poking at his foot wh