Yoga | Birth | Babies

Imagine, you’re at your 38 week check up and your care provider wants to do a cervical exam. For some people this might sound great, but what if it doesn’t? Do you have to have the exam because your care provider suggested it? What about continuous fetal monitoring during your labor, birthing on your back, or limited contact with your baby after birth? If these things are hospital policy, are you and your family required to comply? The answer may surprise you, you’re allowed to say no.  So how do you respectfully communicate your desires and boundaries with your care provider and birth team? To answer this question I’ve invited HeHe Stewart to be my guest on today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies. HeHe is a doula, founder of Tranquility by Hehe Maternity Concierge, and host of the podcast The Birth Lounge. HeHe is an incredible advocate for pregnant folks. While the topics we’re covering today, advocating for yourself during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, respectful communication, informed consent, and hos

Today we have a very special episode, as I write that I’m realizing that I say that about almost every episode because they’re all special to me! However, this is the kind of episode that I hold very dear, a community birth story. These episodes are truly special. I love hearing the stories from our community about their births and what makes today’s extra extra special is that my guest Lauren Seidman has been with Prenatal Yoga Center for four births! Yes, she has four kids. Several years ago Lauren appeared on YBB about the birth of her second child and how she made some choices to go in a different direction for baby two. With baby four, she went in a totally different direction than she did for baby one, two, and three, which is what we’re highlighting in today’s episode. In today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies childbirth educator, doula, and mother of four Lauren Seidman talks about the very different direction she took having baby four. Based on the title, cat’s out of the bag, Lauren decided after ha

I recently stumbled into the system known as “Fair Play” and I thought it was really interesting. You’ve likely heard of it too, it’s a documentary, it’s a book, and it’s a deck of cards. The best way I can describe it, is that it’s a system to help honor and value your partner’s needs and time. I thought it was really interesting and particularly valuable to the YBB audience so I found a fair play facilitator and therapist to speak to me about this system.  In this week’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies I speak with marriage and family therapist as well as Fair Play facilitator Lucinda gibbons. Lucinda goes through the Fair Play methodology for us. We talk about the 4 main rules of Fair Play and how using Fair Play improves communication in relationships. This isn’t exclusive to just partnered relationships either, it can be used for any relationship, a work relationship, a roommate relationship, anyone you’re interacting with. It’s about communication, seeing each other for who you are, your values, and hono

Weaning either from breast or bottle feeding, can be a very controversial topic. From when you should do it, to how should you do it, many parents are left feeling frustrated, confused, and even bereft. It’s been a popular topic of late at PYC and this podcast comes by request from my students in Postnatal and Baby & Me classes.  I did an extensive search to find my guest for today’s episode of Yoga | Birth| Babies, to discuss weaning today we have Dr. Lilly Hubschman-Shahar registered nurse, neonatal nurse practitioner, IBCLC and Vice President of Nest Collaborative. Not only does she bring years of clinical experience and evidence based information, she also beautifully shares about her personal journey weaning her daughter. Dr. Hubschman-Shahar offers practical tips about weaning, we talk about parent led weaning and child led weaning, what happens if you need to wean abruptly and the difference between a nursing strike and child led weaning. It’s a really great conversation. If you are headed towards wean

Today we have a community birth story. I absolutely love having members of our community come on and share about their experience. There are so many different ways to birth and so many times when someone has one idea for their birth and it turns into a different way and I think it is so important to hear all the different unfoldings of birth. So as you head into your birth you have a variety that you can envision. You’ve been informed about all the possibilities from listening to these birth stories so I’m so excited for you to hear Dia’s story. Today on Yoga| Birth| Babies Dia Dearstyne shares her birth story. Dia is a professional dancer turned yoga teacher who I had the pleasure of meeting during her Prenatal Yoga Teacher training with me at PYC. She’s absolutely wonderful and I really enjoy this conversation. What you’re going to hear is how Dia had envisioned her birth and how it turned out, how she used her yoga practice and her pranayama throughout the birth, and really how she was able to use concentr

As parents we often find that our day to day self care goes by the wayside. Even though many of us know that meditation is an excellent tool to deal with and prevent overwhelm and anxiety it often feels out of our reach. The good news, as today's guest shares, is that we can reap the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of meditation in as little as 8-10 minutes a day.  In today’s episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies I invite yoga and meditation teacher Kelly Smith to share how you can create a meditation practice that you’ll actually stick with. Kelly shares a little bit about her journey, her podcasts Mindful In Minutes and Meditation Mama, and leads us through a truly delightful meditation. I have to admit that I’m not the best at carving out time for mediation on my own. The guided practice Kelly shares today felt incredible. I could feel the tension and stress that is all the time living in the back of my neck and shoulders softened, I felt so much better after only five minutes of meditation. Kelly shar

Did you know that between one in four to one in six people in the perinatal world experience urinary leakage also known as incontinence? It’s speculated to be much more common as these numbers are just from patients reporting their symptoms. Many people assume that after having a baby, they’re going to pee a little when they sneeze, laugh, or go for a run. However, while this experience is common, this is not a normal function of the body. So many people just live with these symptoms that alter the quality of their life, but they don’t have to. In today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies, I’d like to offer you some solutions to this problem. I brought on my friend Marianne Ryan PT OSC as the guest today. If you follow Prenatal Yoga Center on instagram you’ve likely seen many of our collaborative reels and instagram lives. Marianne is a wealth of knowledge. She’s a physical therapist and board certified orthopedic clinical specialist practicing just a few doors down from my studio here in NYC. Marianne is also t

Today we have a really fun and interesting educational podcast. It’s all about building your birth team from your care provider, to your birth partner, to other support people you might have like a doula and childbirth educator. Building your birth team is an aspect of birth you have some control over, so it’s important to do your research, ask the right questions, and make sure you feel truly comfortable around and supported by all members of your team. So what should you be looking for in your team? What should you be taking them? And what red flags should you be aware of?  To have this conversation on today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies, I invited Sarah Lavonne, founder of Bundle Birth to join me. It was a delight to talk to her! I smiled from ear to ear the whole time we chatted. She is so knowledgeable and offers information in such an easy to understand digestible way. You’re going to walk away from this episode with notes, enthusiasm, and excitement to talk to your birth team and organize the people

Did you know millennials tend to be more likely to have high blood pressure during pregnancy than previous generations? So why is it that millennials are having such a hard time as parents? Today’s podcast is for all those that were born between 1981-996 and let’s even say a little beyond, (we’re going to dip into Gen-Z a bit too). So I’m talking to you, the millennial, about why pregnancy and parenthood is so difficult for your generation. My guest to have this conversation on Yoga| Birth| Babies is Dr. Christine Sterling, and she has what she calls the “millennial problem. ” Dr. Sterling is a board certified ObGyn, mother, and founder of Sterling Parents. She explains what she calls the millennial problem, how we resolve it, and some of the underlying reasons for this millennial problem. We talk about all sorts of things from social media, to stress levels, to comparison, to the overwhelm of information at your fingertips. Dr. Sterling gives concise tips to help you digest all of this information overwhelm.

Today we’re diving into a topic I’m a bit embarrassed we haven’t covered at this point. We’re often talking about a conscious effort for inclusion and yet we haven’t had a podcast conversation about birthing with a disabled body, so we'll be diving into that today. For those who are disabled there can be certain needs that need to be met. It's also extremely important to be recognized as an individual and to be able to receive care that treats you like one, not just a blanket policy.  To have this conversation on Yoga| Birth| Babies I've invited Lo Nigrosh IBCLC, host of the podcast The Milk Making Minutes, and mom of 2. I’m really excited for you to hear this conversation. While we talk about birthing with a disabled body we also talk about being seen as an individual, looking at your personal circumstances and not just falling into certain categories, recognizing your needs as a parent, your baby’s needs, and checking in on what you need instead of what the system is telling you. So I’m very excited for yo

Today we have one of my favorite type of episodes, a community birth story. Truly one of my favorite things is hearing the experience of someone going over the threshold into parenthood. I got to know my guest for today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies Sophie Stalton, through 2 pregnancies. Her first as she crossed that threshold into parenthood and then coming back, seeing how she’s a different person and how she’s now navigating her 2nd pregnancy. At PYC we’ve had that honor for so many people, second, third, fourth, sometimes even fifth and sixth pregnancies. It’s incredible watching how that person continues to evolve so it’s really wonderful having Sophie back.  One really special thing that we talk about, people often say to me “How far can I practice prenatal yoga in my pregnancy?” and I say as long as you want. Something that happened during Sophie’s first pregnancy, I got an email in the morning right before I was about to teach one of my 10am classes, and she said “My water broke, can I come to clas

If you’re pregnant you may find yourself scrolling through Tik Tok or instagram, happening upon a video or post and thinking “I want my birth to look like that.” Whether you’re thinking about the music you’d like to hear during birth or figuring out what type of pain management you’d like these preferences are often referred to as a birth plan.  In today’s episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies we’re going to talk about birth plans or maybe you want to call them birth preferences or fluid birth ideas (my guest Liesel and I say fluid birth plans a lot!). To have this conversation, I invited Liesel Teen RN and founder of Mommy Labor Nurse on the podcast. It was such a fun conversation. Liesel covers so much practical and helpful information! From how to make a birth plan, when to make a birth plan, the concept of a fluid birth plan, to how to work with the hospital and nursing staff from presenting your birth plans to supporting you throughout your birth experience. You might have thought birth plans are only for vag

Mothers are everywhere, in every country all over the world. While our cultures might be different, I wondered if the lessons we impart on our children were similarly different or actually rather similar.  To answer this question, I have Ana Tajder as my guest on Yoga| Birth| Babies today. Ana is an award winning international journalist, author, and host of Thank You Mama, a podcast in which she interviews women from all around the world about the most important lessons they learned from their mothers. I will say I had the honor to be a guest on her podcast. She has interviewed over 100 parents so a lot of today’s conversation comes from her experience as a journalist and speaking with all of these people on her podcast. Additionally Ana has lived in multiple countries and has a very international family.  It was really a lovely conversation, we dive into what some of the universal lessons and traits of parenting from different cultures, some of the biggest differences, as well as her own experience living i

It’s not uncommon for partners to feel uncertain, out of place, or even helpless during pregnancy and birth. This can lead to misunderstandings in our relationships, from thinking our partner doesn’t want to be involved or isn’t excited about the baby. More often than not, this isn’ true. What’s true for many partners is that they just aren’t sure what their role is, how they can help, and they often deeply undervalue the importance of their presence.  In today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies we’re going to talk about how partners can help support during pregnancy and birth. To have this conversation, I invited Ben and Jessica Lagrone, a husband and wife team and co-founders of Balanced Families. It’s a fantastic conversation. Ben and Jessica give amazing takeaways about how to be involved in pregnancy and the actual birth. We also talk about the feelings of helplessness and fear partners may experience. You’re going to walk away with solid information and tools so that you and your partner can be prepared m

Maybe this has happened to you, you’re late in your pregnancy (or you just had a baby), you walk into a room and think, why did I even come in here? Or possibly you’ve walked out the door with two different shoes on (no, not the left and right but different pairs of shoes). Instances like this are often attributed to “Mommy Brain”. No, you haven’ lost intelligence, but yes there can be a little forgetfulness. However Mommy Brain is actually a super power! Instead of thinking about it in the negative, let’s look at some of the amazing things Mommy Brain can do. To learn about our superpowers, I’ve brought Dr. Jodi Pawluski a behavioral neuroscientist and therapist onto Yoga| Birth| Babies today. Jodi and I have a really great conversation about what’s happening with the brain late in pregnancy, after baby, the environment that we’re dealing with, the chaos, as well as the impact of having a baby and parenting decades later. Once a parent, always a parent. I think you’re really going to enjoy this conversation

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while you know I love the community birth stories, so that’s what we have today. We have one of our community members sharing her birth story.   In this episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies I am delighted to chat with Anna Greenberg. Not only is she a member of our community having gone through her pregnancy with us but she also did our teacher training back in 2020.    Anna has been teaching yoga and meditation in New York City for the past twelve years (including pre and postnatal for the past few), she’s been a staple in the Peloton teaching team for the past four years.   I’m very picky about whose classes I take and she absolutely is up there! She offers wonderful information and I just love taking her class.   Now before she had her baby, while she was pregnant, I asked if she would she come on the podcast and share her birth story, she said absolutely. Then as she was getting closer to her birth there was some turbulence. Please note there is mention of stillbir

Today’s episode is a bit of a departure from what we typically talk about, pregnancy, birth, lactation, and interventions. Today we’re talking about what your astrological chart can tell you about yourself, your parenting, and your child. I found this conversation fascinating, I love astrology, I think it’s really interesting. Both my kids as a gift were given their birth charts and my mom had me have my birth chart done when I graduated the conservatory, so it’s something that I always have in the back of my mind, so when it was presented to me that I could interview someone about natal charts and parenting I jumped on it.  To have this conversation on Yoga| Birth| Babies I spoke with Tara Vogel, a certified parenting astrologer helping us learn about how we can stay connected with our kids and ourselves using astrology. I think you’re going to have a really fun time listening to this episode. While you likely know your baby’s sun sign, this episode may inspire you to start to look at what your child’s char

Are you working with a doula for your birth? If you are or you’re curious about hiring one, what do you expect from a labor support doula? Today on Yoga| Birth| Babies I welcome back my friend, my mentor, my doula, Terry Richmond. This is her fourth episode, clearly I enjoy talking with her. In today’s episode Terry and I talk about what you should expect from your doula and how the role of doula has changed in recent times. Terry has been a doula and childbirth educator for over twenty years. She has seen the landscape of birth change, hospital protocols change, and the birth culture. This all has led to a shift in the role and expectations of the doula. We’re going pretty deep into what shifts she’s observed, how she’s adapted, how she’s seen others adapt. It’s a really fun and interesting conversation. I think this is going to benefit both those that are pregnant as well as birth workers. Terry has some really wonderful insight that I’m very excited for you to hear. Get the most out of each episode by c

What can you do if labor seems to be, well, stuck? Most birthing people I know (including myself) want to move labor along! So how can we help that happen and avoid “stalled” labor?  On today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies doula and exercise physiologist Lindsey McCoy, gives us tools and tips to help balance the body, help baby find space, and to help baby move seamlessly through the pelvis so that labor doesn’t stall. Lindsey shares things we can do prenatally to prepare our body for birth as well as tools that you can take into your labor. She also talks about common signs parents can see that birth is a little delayed and how we can start to make room for baby and to rebalance the body. This conversation is packed full of information that can give you confidence heading into your birth. When you feel confident, you can more easily roll with your labor and any obstacles that may occur. I’m really excited for you to hear this conversation. Get the most out of each episode by checking out the show notes w

Today we’re talking about something very near and dear to my heart. We’re talking about how you take parental leave when you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur. Crossing the threshold into parenthood is a huge emotional as well as physical experience. If you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur, it is a huge responsibility to shoulder that business and help it continue to move forward even as you are becoming a parent. So how do you have one foot in keeping your business going and one giant foot investing in being a new parent?  To have this conversation I welcomed Arianna Taboada founder of The Expecting Entrepreneur onto Yoga| Birth| Babies. She tells us how we can set ourselves up for parental leave as a small business owner. It’s a really great conversation and she gives very concrete tools for those that will be facing having a baby while still shouldering the responsibility of owning a business. Get the most out of each episode by checking out the show notes with links, resources and ot