By Vicki Elson, MA, CCE, CD www.birth-media.com Feel free to make copies and share with credit! This is all true for helping your mate with labor AND for raising kids: 1. Patience. 2. Patience. 3. Patience. 4. Good things take time, including having babies and raising children. 5. Be present – not multitasking – when…
Author: vickielson
Are We Bonding Yet?
By Vicki Elson, MA, CCE, CD www.birth-media.com Feel free to make copies and share with credit! Labor pain comes with a gift: the “cocktail of love hormones,” described by Dr. Michel Odent, includes oxytocin, the hormone of labor, lactation, and love, plus an endorphin rush that helps us deal with pain and also gives us…
Home Birth: Exaggerating Danger
By Vicki Elson, MA, CCE, CD www.birth-media.com Feel free to make copies and share with credit! There’s been a lot of press lately about the Australian home birth advocate who suffered a heart attack during labor at home, was rushed to the hospital, and died the next day. This story is extremely distressing, but there’s…
What You Really Need To EAT When You’re Pregnant
What You Really Need To EAT When You’re Pregnant by Vicki Elson, MA, CCE, CD www.birth-media.com Feel free to make copies. Okay, eating when you’re pregnant is a full time job. It’s a lot of work to choose foods carefully, prepare fresh vegetables, cook fresh meats, fish, brown rice and oatmeal. But it’s WORTH IT…
How To Stay Married/Partnered/In Love
By Vicki Elson, MA, CCE, CD www.birth-media.com Feel free to copy this. Imagine your perfect mate. The sex appeal of your favorite movie star. The skills of a celebrity chef, an expert massage therapist, a master builder, a sensitive counselor, a professional housecleaner, and an amateur comedian, all rolled into one. The net worth of…
The Silent Power You Already Have
Presence by Debbie Hall excerpted from This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, 2006 Presence is a noun, not a verb; it is a state of being, not doing. States of being are not highly valued in a culture that places a high priority on doing. Yet, true presence or ‘being with’ another…
Fear-Busting for Pregnant People
Fear-Busting for Pregnant People A guide by Vicki Elson, MA, CCE, CD www.birth-media.com Feel free to copy this with credit. You’re not alone – fear and anxiety are normal and even useful. Will I be able to handle the pain? The baby will come out one way or another, no matter how you relate to…
Birth From the Baby’s Point of View
birth from the baby’s point of view vicki elson 2008 Edgeless space Sleep, awake, drifting silence, darkness, warm simplicity Gradually you become aware of: movement muffled sounds soft edges Now you’re feeling crowded. You find the place where your head feels best You try to stretch out You react to movements and sounds with movements…
The Good News and the Bad News About Giving Birth
Check here for Vicki’s one page guide The Good News and the Bad News About Giving Birth
A Better Birth Plan
A great birth plan isn’t just about what you WANT from your care providers. It’s about what you BRING to your birth. A birth plan is best used as a tool for COMMUNICATION with your partner and your care providers, well before the baby is due. And always, you will dance between PREPARING for the…