Yoga | Birth | Babies

Today we’re talking about one of my all time favorite hobbies, sleep! Sleep (or lack thereof) is a very hot topic among new parents. Recently in one of my Postnatal Yoga classes a mom shared about her experience as the only parent who could successfully soothe her baby to sleep. This was leaving her feeling incredibly burnt out and exhausted. Her sentiment was shared by many members of the community.  On this episode of Yoga|Birth| Babies I’m speaking with Sarah Skiles, pediatric sleep consultant, doula, and advanced newborn care specialist. Sarah’s personal experience with spiraling health and postpartum mood disorders due to sleep deprivation is her driving force behind the passionate way she serves, supports, and guides new parents. Sarah shares tools to help your family build healthy sleep habits from birth, as well as what new parents should prepare to expect and for those with toddler’s Sarah has you covered too! I couldn’t be more excited to share this episode with all of you. If you’re preparing for

Sometimes after baby your “O” can stand for ouch! Yes, today we’re talking about sex after baby. For many pelvic floor dysfunction turns what was once a pleasurable part of life into something painful. This pain doesn’t have to be permanent though and with the help of a PT you can have a better quality of life.  On today’s episode of Yoga| Birth | Babies I speak with Christina Walsh a physical therapist specializing in integrative manual therapy and co-creator of Tighten Your Tinkler to take a very deep dive (pun intended) into the pelvic floor. If you’ve been listening to the podcast you might be surprised that we’re talking about “tightening” the tinkler because you’ve likely heard me rant against over tightening. However, Christina beautifully talks about the balance needed for a strong pelvic floor and what she means when she says “tighten.” Christina and I talk about what new parents should expect when it comes to sex after baby, solutions for painful sex, kegels (how they might contribute to pelvic floo

There are a lot of genetic tests out there for those planning a family and those expecting their little one. It can be rather confusing which tests you should get and why. Many families are also concerned about how invasive the tests are and how accurate the tests are, and what they should be doing with their results.  To dive into this conversation of prenatal and preconception genetic testing on Yoga| Birth| Babies I have Kira Dineen MS, LCGC, CG(ASCP)CM a certified genetic counselor who has been specializing working with pregnant folks and helping people planning pregnancy to obtain family history and to explore genetic testing options. She’s also the host and producer of the podcast DNA Today.  Kira helps demystify a lot of the genetic tests out there and how to decide which tests might be best for you and your family. She is incredibly fun. I had such a great time. Even though this can feel like a very heavy topic, the way that Kira explains it and her enthusiasm, will help set you at ease and provide yo

If you’ve begun or are about to begin the process of weaning your baby, food allergies might be at the top of your mind. With so many people having serious reactions to common foods such as milk, eggs, shrimp, and peanuts you might find yourself wanting to put off giving these foods to your baby. But is that a good idea? And even if you’re ready to test these foods out, you might be wondering how a choking hazard like peanut butter can safely be given to an infant.  On today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies we’re going to talk about how to introduce allergenic foods to your baby through baby-led weaning. To have this conversation I invited Katie Ferraro, a registered dietician specializing in baby-led weaning and host of the podcast Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy. We’ll be talking about when one can ideally introduce allergens to a baby, the nine foods that account for ninety percent of food allergies, how to introduce these foods, and what to look for in an allergic reaction.  If you’re about to begin the journe

Today on Yoga| Birth | Babies we have an absolutely gripping, fascinating, and very NYC birth story. As my guest Alexis Field puts it, “It was the wildest night of my life and the birth I had always hoped for.”  I’ve listened to birth stories for years and I love each and every one. What I absolutely love about Alexis’ birth story is that in addition to being a fantastic, empowering, and exciting tale, Alexis (the parent who gave birth), is a performer. She knows how to hold the space and really tell a story. You are going to be thrilled as you hear Alexis share how her labor and birth experience unfolded, it really is wild.  For those of you based here in NYC, I know you’ll be able to envision the five floor walk up that she lives in (and how her husband has to help people in and out of the building). Alexis will have you on the edge of your seat. I’m so excited for you to feel inspired and excited and root for Alexis throughout her story. Get the most out of each episode by checking out the show notes wit

When you think about preparing your home for the arrival of your new baby your mind might go to a place of baby-proofing and purchasing toys and gear like cribs and high chairs. However, what if you home didn't need more stuff? Today we're looking at how to create an environment that encourages your baby's growth and honors their developmental stages through the Montessori lens To have this conversation, I invited Jeanne-Marie Paynel onto Yoga | Birth | Babies. Jeanne-Marie is a parenting mentor, Montessori home consultant, a doula, host of The Art of Parenting podcast and founder of Your Parenting Mentor. We have a fantastic conversation and in full disclosure I drink the Montessori punch. Both my kids went to Montessori preschools. We took a lot of their offerings and brought them home, so this topic and approach really resonated with me. I deeply value what is being discussed about the idea that we need to get more and more and more to better support our child's growth but often it's actually about being m

Have you been struggling to name your baby? Maybe there’s a name you love but your partner hates, or maybe you’ve named your baby and you think you made a mistake, what can you do? Listen to today’s podcast! We have such have such a fun show for this week’s episode of Yoga | Birth| Babies. I invited Sophie Kihm, baby naming expert and editor in chief of Nameberry to join me. She has such an interesting approach to choosing baby names. Though I’ve already named my children, I found the baby naming quiz to provide some pretty accurate results. I fell into the Bohemian name category, no surprise to me with children named Shay and Sage. We go over how the Nameberry DNA quiz works, use Sophie’s expertise as a therapist to discuss working through a name dispute with your partner, how and when to change your baby’s name, the history and popularity of names and more. I think you’re going to get a lot out of this episode and hopefully even lift some of the stress of choosing your baby’s name. Get the most out of e

Pumping is a pretty hot topic among new parents. As a matter of fact, when I polled my postnatal yoga students on what their current concerns were and what they needed support with, nearly everyone had a pumping question. Whether they were getting ready to go back to work or just wanted to spend a little time away from baby, the questions were pretty similar. From how often they should pump, to how much they should pump, to the best pump, and taking care of their pump, everyone felt uncertain about what they were doing. While I pumped to feed my children, this is not my specialty. So, I invited Heather ONeal and Maureen Farrell back onto Yoga | Birth | Babies. We had an excellent chat last year about PPA/PPD medication and breastfeeding and I suspected they would have a lot of expertise to share around pumping, did they ever! Heather and Maureen and midwives and lactation professionals, they host a fantastic podcast called The Milk Minute. On today’s episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies they share practical tips

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a bit, you likely know that something I’m incredibly passionate about is optimal fetal positioning. In part it’s because of my own experiences with birth going from a very long first birth to a much more efficient second birth. When a baby is better aligned in the body, birth can be more efficient. So how do we set ourselves and our babiess up for this more optimal positioning and a more efficient labor? Well there are a few things one can do, today we’re going to dive into something I recently learned about called Gilligan’s Guide.  On today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies I’m speaking with Ann Gilligan, creator of Gilligan’s Guide and a labor and delivery nurse (as well as prenatal yoga teacher) with over 33 years experience of working in delivery rooms. Ann explains what malposition is and how it affects birth flow. We go into why more babies are presenting in incorrect positions (ROT) these days and how to help get these baby’s into a more optimal position. We

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