Yoga | Birth | Babies

What does breastfeeding look like in the first week of a baby's life? Sometimes as new parents we keep thinking feed the baby, feed the baby, but babies have tiny tummies! While we may think they should be gulping down full breasts of milk, I learned years ago from today’s guest, that all a baby needs in the first day or so is a teaspoon! In today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies we have one of my all time favorite people Andrea Syms-Brown IBCLC. You will hear me literally glowing and giggling as we have this conversation. I’ve known Andrea for almost 20 years not only did she help support me with breastfeeding two children, she was with PYC for around 17 years, she’s an amazing person, newborn care specialist, and IBCLC. You’re going to learn so much from this amazing conversation. Get the most out of each episode by checking out the show notes with links, resources and other related podcasts at: prenatalyogacenter.com Don’t forget to grab your FREE guide, 5 Simple Solutions to the Most Common Pregnancy

The first trimester, wow. It can be a bear for some of us. I know my first trimesters were rough, and many of us go through those difficulties on our own. It can be incredibly uncomfortable, exhausting, isolating, and full of emotional ups and downs.  I knew my friend Francesca was having a difficult time with her first trimester, so I invited her to join me for today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies. Francesca is a fellow yoga instructor, I actually took prenatal yoga classes with her when I was pregnant with my son 11 years ago! In today’s episode Francesca honestly shares how uncomfortable her first trimester was and how she got through to the other side. From excruciating nausea to exhaustion, Francesca tells us what she did to get through her days.  If you have or had a similar experience with your first trimester (or pregnancy) I hope you feel seen and supported by today’s episode. Francesca is completely honest about how she coped. I hope her story resonates with you and her ideas help. You may feel lo

When I was pregnant with my first, instead of asking for clothes, onesies, and all of the stuff babies come with I asked for hours with a postpartum doula. My friends pooled their money and got me a day of postpartum doula support and it was the best gift I received. My husband and I were literally waiting on pins and needles for our doula to arrive after my son was born. Despite being a doula and having attended many births, I held my son and thought what do we do with this new baby? Our doula arrived and provided much needed support, confidence, education and the chance for me to rest.  In today’s episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies I speak with Kristin Revere, doula, podcast host, and cofounder of Gold Coast Doulas. I was particularly curious about an aspect of postpartum doulas I was unfamiliar with, overnight work. I learned so much, it’s a really fantastic conversation. As Kristin so beautifully put “Our goal is to optimize rest for the entire family.”  For our parents-to-be who are worried about sleepless

This episode is one of my favorite things we do on the podcast, sharing community birth stories. We have different members of our online or in-person community share their experiences. I love it. Not only do I love getting to know our community members a little bit better but I think it’s so important to put out a variety of birth experiences. There’s not one right way to birth. All of the different experiences shared will land with people differently and different people will relate with them. In this episode of Yoga| Birth|Babies I welcome Sydney Mulligan to share about her “accidental VBAC.” Sydney is a 2nd time parent and she’s been part of our community for a while. The other day in class I said “You’re the mayor of PYC.” It’s a fitting title as she’s just so embracing of new community members. She always introduces herself and she’s just a wonderful person. I think you’re going to enjoy Sydney’s story. Support Our Sponsor:  Ritual: Turn healthy habits into a ritual. For 10% off your first 3 months go

Did you know that one in five new parents and pregnant folks have a PMAD (Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorder)? About ten percent of the cases come from having a traumatic birth. These are huge numbers and these are just the reported cases. It’s more likely that one in three pregnant people and new parents have a PMAD. Given how incredibly prevalent PMADs are, we need to learn to recognize the traits, know how to support people experiencing them, know how and where to seek help, and most importantly, take the stigma away from them.  To have this conversation I welcomed Nancy Layish LCSW to Yoga| Birth| Babies. Nancy is certified in the field of perinatal mental health and the co-founder of the non profit Central Florida Postpartum Alliance and member of Postpartum Support International. She’s got a ton of great information and she’s just so excited and willing to share it. I hope this episode encourages anyone suffering from a PMAD to know they’re not alone and to seek help. For those that are supporting pregna

Did you know that mobility and flexibility increase in the pregnant body? And that this “borrowed flexibility” lingers in the postpartum body? Thanks to the hormones of pregnancy, primarily relaxin our ligaments relax to allow space in our pelvis to deliver a baby. Unfortunately relaxin doesn’t just go straight to our hips, it loosens the ligaments in our entire body. This hypermobility can easily lead to injury, especially in a yoga class.  Today on Yoga | Birth| Babies we’re combining two of my favorite topics into one conversation. We’re going to talk about yoga and anatomy , specifically hypermobility and how it relates to the pregnant and postpartum body. Of course we’re also going to dive into diastasic recti, the S.I. joint, overstretching and the pelvic floor. To have this conversation I welcomed back Libby Hinsley, Physical Therapist, Yoga Therapist and author of the book Yoga for Bendy People. Libby was on the podcast back in 2020 to talk about one of my favorite muscles, the Psoas. Today’s conversa

Do you know how long you’ll be allowed to push at your upcoming birth experience? Or what position(s) you can birth in? How about how long you’ll be allowed to be pregnant without having an induction? There are many things you might butt up against during pregnancy and birth that you didn’t plan on, and hearing that care you expect is “… against our policy” in the middle of labor doesn’t put you in a great place to negotiate.  In today’s episode of Yoga|Birth| Babies I speak with midwife and birthing center owner Melissa Chappell all about “Policy”. In this fantastic conversation Melissa gives you the tools to have nonconfrontational conversations with your care providers. If you want to receive personalized and evidence based care instead of being held to antiquated “policies” this episode is for you. Support Our Sponsor:  Ritual: Turn healthy habits into a ritual. For 10% off your first 3 months go to ritual.com/ybb Get the most out of each episode by checking out the show notes with links, resources a

Today we have a community birth story. I love getting to know our community members better. Oftentimes they’re people I’ve had in class, so it’s nice to dive a little bit deeper. I also really appreciate that while the stories are unique there’s still a relatable foundation that we hear birth after birth after birth.  In this episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies, I speak with Maya Kaough, a professional aerial dancer, long time yoga practitioner, health coach, and personal trainer. I was drawn right into her story, she tells it so beautifully. As someone who had a really long birth, I found it interesting to hear Maya talk about her short birth and acceptance of that. Our ideas of how things should be or how we wish they were can carry so much weight. I was struck to hear someone who had the birth I had wished for or expected say that they had hoped for and expected an experience more like the long birth I had. It’s a lovely reminder that we all hold different ideals for our birth experience and that all births req

Did you know that early caregiving experiences can boost mental wellness and diminish depression, anxiety, and addiction in adulthood? From 0-3 our little ones have extremely pliable brains. Not only are their sensory and motor systems developing but their emotional brain and stress systems are developing too! The best part, we can help shape baby’s brain through simple experiences in pregnancy, birth, and infancy like cuddling. In this episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies I speak with Greer Kirshenbaum PhD. She’s a neuroscientist, doula, infant and family sleep specialist, and founder of Nurture Neuroscience. I first stumbled upon Greer’s work on instagram and was taken by the way she combines neuroscience and the baby brain. It’s fascinating to me and I am so excited to share our rich conversation with you. New and Expectant parents, have a pen and paper ready because you are absolutely going to want to take notes!  Support Our Sponsors:  Ritual: Turn healthy habits into a ritual. For 10% off your first 3 mont

Inductions occur for a variety of reasons, sometimes they’re wanted and medically necessary but sometimes expectant parents feel like they’re being pressured into one. So why would or should someone be induced? And if your care provider is suggesting one, how do you navigate that conversation?  In this episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies I speak with midwife, author, and mother of 5 Marley Hall. (Many of you may know her from social media as @MidwifeMarley.) We dive deep into the topic of inductions including how to have a conversation with your care provider and advocate for yourself as well as how to set yourself up for an induction.  Marley is truly lovely to speak with. She is thorough and easy to listen to. I think you’re going to walk away from this conversation feeling that you have a voice in how your birth unfolds and a deeper understanding of how to be your best advocate.  Support Our Sponsors:  Ritual: Turn healthy habits into a ritual. For 10% off your first 3 months go to ritual.com/ybb Boober:

Close your eyes and think about what you hope the first moments after your baby is born will be. You might be imagining cuddles, skin to skin contact, or little one crawling up you for their first feed. However in addition to the cuddles, there are a number of routine procedures your little one will need to go through to ensure their health. From eye drops and a PKU screening to your little one’s APGAR score, and first bath there are a lot of standard practices that take place right after baby is born.  So, are any of these tests and procedures optional? Can any of these procedures be delayed to ensure early moments of family bonding? And why do our little ones have so many tests right after birth?  To answer these questions I welcomed back to Yoga| Birth| Babies pediatrician Dr. Tracey Agnese. She dives deep into each procedure standardly encountered (in NY) giving us the risks and benefits so that you can begin your journey as a new parent feeling informed and empowered as you navigate the right choices for

I love community birth stories. I think it’s fantastic to hear about a variety of different birth experiences, maybe something different than you’ve imagined or you had. It’s also a wonderful way for me to reconnect with our students and the community at PYC. In this week’s episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies I speak with new Mom, Hannah Weaver. There are a few things I love about Hannah’s story. First of all, I absolutely adore Hannah. We got to know each other throughout her time at PYC. Her birth experience shows that birth can unfold differently than you had imagined but you can still walk away feeling supported and seen throughout the process. We also talk about the importance of surrender. Surrendering to maybe what you had envisioned and to parts of parenthood and to birth. It’s a really fantastic conversation.  I think it’s just so important to recognize there’s not just one way to birth, but to be inspired by all the different stories we hear from our community. Support Our Sponsors:  Ritual: Turn health

Having a baby is expensive, but how much does it really cost? Even with insurance supporting you, there can be a number of surprising costs. So how can parents to be plan for the bill?  In today’s episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies I speak to naturopathic doctor Dr. Ashley Burkman whose personal experiences navigating health care costs have led her to speak on the topic of health care costs. Dr. Burkman discusses understanding what is covered by insurance (and how to figure this out), the No Surprises Act, deductibles, lowering the cost of birth, what to do if you don’t have insurance, and how to deal with medical bills.  New parents shouldn’t be surprised by a big bill from birth. This conversation will help you figure out how to estimate costs so that your early days as a parent aren’t overshadowed by bills. Support Our Sponsors:  Ritual: Turn healthy habits into a ritual. For 10% off your first 3 months go to ritual.com/ybb Boober: Looking for a  lactation support, birth doulas, mental health therapists, a

Welcome back for part 2 of our Mother’s Day Special! Over the years I have had the honor of speaking to some truly incredible professionals in the perinatal field. Choosing my favorite episodes was a difficult task so we decided to release a second episode as our gift to you! In this best of episode we talk about feeling sexy as a mother, overcoming shame, the value of postpartum education, mom guilt, martyr mode and perfectionism, and going back to work as a mom.  These conversations were often sparked by my own challenges as a mother. I hope that the insights shared help you as much as they helped me.  Support Our Sponsors:  Ritual: Turn healthy habits into a ritual. For 10% off your first 3 months go to ritual.com/ybb Boober: Looking for a  lactation support, birth doulas, mental health therapists, and postpartum doulas. Use the code PYC to get 10% off your first service at www.getboober.com Prenatal Yoga Center: YBB podcast listeners- join Deb for class! Take $10 off an 8 class or One Month Unlim

Sunday is Mother’s Day and we have a very special 2 part episode this week in celebration! In honor and gratitude to all of the mothers and mother figures in our community we put together an episode filled with insight and advice from some of my favorite episodes about motherhood.  In this best of episode we talk about self care as a mother, finding community and friendship, avoiding burnout, and how to have a kid and a life. As a Mother’s Day bonus we have a 2nd episode dropping tomorrow! Tune back in Thursday when we’ll talk about feeling sexy, overcoming shame, guilt, and more! Please enjoy the insight, shared struggles, and talk about being a mother and learning to thrive. Support Our Sponsors:  Ritual: Turn healthy habits into a ritual. For 10% off your first 3 months go to ritual.com/ybb Boober: Looking for a  lactation support, birth doulas, mental health therapists, and postpartum doulas. Use the code PYC to get 10% off your first service at www.getboober.com Prenatal Yoga Center: YBB podcast

I’m so happy that the pelvic floor is finally getting its moment to shine. This incredibly important set of muscles impacts our breath, continence, helps keep our organs in place, and affects our day to day comfort. It certainly deserves our attention! However not all of the information people are sharing about it is factual and some of these myths can lead to real physical issues over time.  Today I’m speaking with Dr. Janelle Howell, DPT, WCS about these common myths. From assumptions like a cesarean birth will prevent prolapse and keep things tight, or that Kegel exercises will solve everything, or waist trainers will give your an hourglass figure, Dr. Howell busts through these myths with facts and shares evidence based solutions.  This refreshing conversation clears the air about topics many are often hesitant to talk to a care provider about but can have a huge impact on your quality of life. Support Our Sponsors:  Boober: Looking for a  lactation support, birth doulas, mental health therapists, and

April is Cesarean Awareness month, and since roughly one third of American Babies are born this way I thought this episode was incredibly important to re-release!  Cesarean sections rank among the top surgical procedures given in the US. Since it’s such a common procedure, it can be easy to forget that it’s major abdominal surgery. New parents are sent home with the daunting task of caring for a newborn and healing from surgery often with little support. In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, I speak with Sara Reardon and Jessica Reale, two doctors of Physical Therapy and board certified Specialists in Women’s Health. Sara and Jessica offer tips and advice for healing after a cesarean including how and why to do scar mobilization. They also explain how the pelvic floor is affected postpartum even if you had a cesarean.  Support Our Sponsors:  Boober: Looking for a  lactation support, birth doulas, mental health therapists, and postpartum doulas. Use the code PYC to get 10% off your first service at www.

As expectant parents we spend so much time preparing for birth and life with a baby, often we forget about the recovery our bodies and minds need after labor. Between our culture and our medical system healing from birth is greatly overlooked and under discussed.  In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies we turn the attention back to the birth parent. I speak with Morgan Michalowski, a certified nurse midwife, women’s health nurse practitioner, international board certified lactation consultant, doula, and mother all about vaginal birth recovery.  From muscle soreness, to bleeding, tears, prolapse, hormonal changes and nutritional needs Dr Michalowski discusses the range of normal and what our bodies and minds need to heal after birth.  P.S. (Cesarean Parents- I’m releasing the cesarean healing episode next week!) Support Our Sponsors:  Boober: Looking for a  lactation support, birth doulas, mental health therapists, and postpartum doulas. Use the code PYC to get 10% off your first service at www.getboober.com

If you could choose between a short, fast labor or a long, slow labor, I’m guessing you would choose short and fast. But a precipitous labor can come with some unexpected complications for both the new parents and baby.  In today’s episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies I speak with Alisone Bonafos who joined our community during her pregnancy as a part of our yoga classes and teacher training.  In addition to sharing her surprising birth story Alisone has fantastic insight about coming through to the other side of birth. She openly shares her experiences after her baby was born and the journey with her partner into parenthood. Alisone’s honesty about some very common struggles as a new parent are something I think many of us can relate to, even though it’s not often spoken about. I think you’re going to get a lot out of this whole conversation! Support Our Sponsors:  Everlywell: Everylwell at home lab test is offering a special discount of 20% off an at-home lab test at www.everlywell.com/ybb Nutribullet: Go to 

The vaccination schedule for your baby can feel daunting. It also may seem a little strange, you might wonder why a newborn needs to be protected against Hepatitis B? Between frequent visits to the pediatrician and fears you might have over adverse reactions to the vaccines, many parents wonder how they can best support their child.  In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies I speak with holistic pediatrician Dr. Ana-Maria Temple about newborn and childhood vaccinations. In an easily digestible manner, she explains the vaccines babies are given and why they are given at such a young age. We discuss the possibility to delay certain vaccines and why a parent might consider doing that. Dr. Temple also offers resources and questions you might ask your pediatrician to get everyone working together and ensure care is aligned with your family’s goals. As Dr. Temple says “If you understand the why, you can then make decisions and choices.”  Support Our Sponsors:  Everlywell: Everylwell at home lab test is offering a sp