The Birth Lounge Podcast

Casey Lewis is a NICU Speech-Language Pathologist, Certified Neonatal Therapist & Certified Lactation Counselor who experienced placental abruption that led to an emergency c-section and in an unexpected twist, she found herself receiving care as NICU parent rather than giving care as a clinician. In today’s episode, she shares the physical and emotional demands of your baby being in the NICU, tips for coping and how to effectively communicate with medical staff about your preferences for your baby’s care. She also tells her birth story and how she knew something was wrong.

 

This is such an informative episode that makes NICU parents feel seen and non-NICU parents feel prepared. 

 

Join The Birth Lounge!

Have you ever thought about how birth trauma impacts your partner? Or, how that subsequently impacts your relationship? Your intimacy? Your postpartum experience? What if you feel like your partner even played a role in your birth trauma? Ashley Mariani joins me to today to chat about how to identify if your birth trauma is impacting your relationship with your partner and how to navigate this space with the goal of reuniting. We dive into emotional attainment, effective communication in postpartum and how to deal with the mental load of birth trauma. A don't miss episode for anyone who is struggling with birth trauma after birth and wondering if this is your new normal. 

 

Bio:

Ashley Mariani is a registered social worker specializing in couples perinatal mental, emotional and sexual health, while also fiercely advocating against obstetric violence. She has seen the implications of birth traumas impact on the mental, emotional and sexual lives of couples and strives to help couples and individuals in prevention and resilience building. Ashley’s academic background includes degrees in sexuality, counseling, individual and couples work. The lens she works most passionately from is rooted in the body’s innate wisdom, the nervous system. Ashley works with her clients from a holistic framework that utilizes, movement, nutrition, plant medicine, vagus nerve toning, and functional medicine. Ashley is also a mother to three free spirited children, including twins.

 

The Birth Lounge: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/

 

Connect with Ashley: https://mindonline.ca/

Ashley's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therogue.therapist/

Today’s guest, Dr. Q, is joining me to discuss pain in labor! Everyone wants to have a pain free birth, but something always left out of the conversation is our individual PERCEPTION of pain! Dr. Q is a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, childbirth educator and postpartum doula! She specializes in the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction and conditions that affect the bladder, bowel, and reproductive systems.

This episode will help you have a deeper look at the neuroscience behind pain! Dr. Q will teach us how your perception of pain can impact your labor, how medications (pain relief meds + labor augmentation meds) impact your pelvic floor and how you can learn to work with your body in terms of the fear-pain-tension cycle to have your best birth! 

 

The Birth Lounge: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/

 

Connect with Dr. Q: drqdpt.com

Today’s guest, Dr. Q, is joining me to discuss pain in labor! Everyone wants to have a pain free birth, but something always left out of the conversation is our individual PERCEPTION of pain! Dr. Q is a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, childbirth educator and postpartum doula! She specializes in the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction and conditions that affect the bladder, bowel, and reproductive systems.

This episode will help you have a deeper look at the neuroscience behind pain! Dr. Q will teach us about qualifying vs quantifying pain and the different types of pain + what they are telling us!

 

The Birth Lounge: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/

 

Connect with Dr. Q: drqdpt.com

Have you ever thought about using donor milk? Did you know it was an option? Do you know where you can donate? How do you sign up to be a milk bank recipient? How do you know if you are eligible? Are there benefits to donor milk? This episode will help your options when it comes to donor milk! Sterling shares what parents need to know and how to navigate the milk bank system to best advocate for yourself and your baby. We will talk about the many processes and paperwork involved in being, both, a donor and a recipient.

 

Sterling is a full spectrum doula and certified lactation specialist— not to mention she has breastfed 3 babies of her own! She also serves parents in-person around the Metro Atlanta area and offers virtual services otherwise.

 

The Birth Lounge: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/

 

 

Did you know there is an app that can help reduce the risk of stillbirth in the end of pregnancy? I know a big fear of many moms out there is how to know if your baby is healthy as your pregnancy gets closer to your due date (and even beyond your due date). You can easily add in an evidence-baed approach of daily kick counts to your routine to check-in on baby's well-being. Joining me today is Emily Price, the CEO of Count the Kicks, to discuss stillbirth rates in the US, why there are such racial disparities and risk factors you need to know about. Most importantly, we will dive into the common myths around stillbirth and what not to do if you think your baby's movements have reduced compared to their normal patterns! Count the Kicks has a public health campaign that educates and empowers expectant parents to track their babies' movements in the third trimester of pregnancy. 

 

The Birth Lounge: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/

 

Count the Kicks: https://countthekicks.org/

The most dangerous time in pregnancy is actually postpartum; particularly, days 43-365. Postpartum Mood Disorders can be serious, resulting in harmful or dangerous behaviors and thoughts. However, there are a number of evidence-based options to help support new parents and families in this transitional time. Dr. William Leininger, OBGYN, is joining us to discuss the options around postpartum anxiety, depression, and other mood challenges that may arise after having a baby. We dive into the non-pharmacological options, the holistic and lifestyle options and the taboo options. This episode will also include information about the new postpartum medications zuranolone, and what you need to know!  

 

The Birth Lounge: https://www.thebirthlounge.com

 

Patients and Supports Teams:
National Maternal Mental Health Hotline – 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) --has translators for 60 languages

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988lifeline.org) – 988
English and Spanish
 
Crisis Text Line (crisistextline.org): Text “HOME” to 741-741
 
Postpartum Support International - https://www.postpartum.net

 
Mother to Baby – Information about Medications in Pregnancy and Lactation
https://mothertobaby.org/

 
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, NIHhttps://www.nccih.nih.gov/

 
BUMPS – Best Uses of Medicine in Pregnancy – UK
https://www.medicinesinpregnancy.org/

NIH Medical Information Search site – medlineplus.gov

 

 

Professionals

ACOG Perinatal Mental Health Resources
https://www.acog.org/about/leadership-and-governance/board-of-
directors/iffath-a-hoskins-md/minding-mental-health

 

Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance - https://www.mmhla.org/ 

Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health - https://www.2020mom.org/

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, NIH.
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/

 
Regional Organization – Roanoke, VA - https://www.huddleupmoms.org

 
State Organization – Massachusetts - https://www.mcpapformoms.org

 

Reflux in babies can be challenging and overwhelming. There are so many questions that parents have and very little places to turn for answers. What causes it? How do you know if your baby is experiencing normal spit up or reflux? What is silent reflux and what causes it? Does burping after feed help or hinder reflux? What remedies exist? How do you settle your reflux baby in those long hours of crying fits and discomfort? Aine Homer joins us today to discuss everything you need to know about baby reflux, evidence-based resources and how to get answers for your family! 

 

Join The Birth Lounge: https://www.thebirthlounge.com

(Doors are only open September 4th-9th!)

 

Aine’s website: https://www.thebabyrefluxlady.co.uk

 

 

Resources:

https://www.uptodate.com/contents/acid-reflux-gastroesophageal-reflux-in-babies-beyond-the-basics

 

https://llli.org/why-infant-reflux-matters/

 

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/abdominal/Pages/GERD-Reflux.aspx

 

https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions/gerd

It’s no secret that the healthcare system is a profit-driven industry that needs an immediate overhaul to improve patient outcomes and start centering patient preferences. We all know that many hospital practices aren’t evidence-based but rather designed to move the bottom line, financially, for the institution. Billie Harrigan is a Traditional Birth Companion and owner of Birth Trauma Ontario in Canada who has been serving families for over 40 years. With extensive international experience, Billie understands the complexities of modern maternity services and the pervasive issues that contribute to birth-related trauma and negative outcomes. Today’s conversation will challenge your assumptions of the medical system and push you to expand the perspectives in which you see the delivery of healthcare in the US & Canada by discussing common tactics used by cults and the resemblance of hospital care. We dive into the impact of non-trauma-informed care on patients’ short-term and long-term well-being. Buckle up because this episode is like nothing else you’ve ever experienced!

 

The Birth Lounge doors are open!!! Join here: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/join  

 

Billie’s Traditional Birth Companion Program: https://billieharrigan.com/becoming-a-traditional-birth-companion

 

Is hospital care actually evidence based? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3241518/

 

The System Isn’t Broken: https://billieharrigan.com/blog/2019/11/6/the-system-isnt-broken-but-its-people-are

Season Opener!!! This episode is jam packed with data and discussion points to help you have an informed conversation around finding your perfect induction equation so you can have a positive induction experience! 

The choice to be induced is a very personal one and one that should be made very intentionally. This episode dives into 4 options of induction that you probably have never heard of! These options can help decrease your risk for cesarean and reduce the need for additional interventions! 

 

The Birth Lounge: https://www.thebirthlounge.com

 

Induction Equation Video: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/induction-equation

 

Induction Cheat Sheet: https://www.thebirthlounge.com/induction

 

Oral Miso:

 https://www.cochrane.org/CD001338/PREG_oral-misoprostol-induction-labour

 

Outpatient Ripeners: 

https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(22)00798-0/fulltext?dgcid=raven_jbs_aip_email

 

https://www.obgproject.com/2023/05/10/outpatient-labor-induction-with-misoprostol-impact-on-length-of-stay-and-vaginal-delivery-rates/?mc_cid=83f577ac38&mc_eid=854ebe014b

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7027046/

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871519220302845

 

Melatonin:

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/10/12/3252

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2019.00616/full 

 

https://www.cochrane.org/CD010527/PREG_giving-melatonin-women-pregnancy-protect-babys-brain-and-improve-long-term-outcomes-baby

 

https://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R21-HD086392-01 (Brigham & Women’s Hospital)

 

https://fetalmedicine.org/abstracts/2022/var/pdf/abstracts/2022/03846.pdf

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34058776/ 

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7044825/

 

EPO:

https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-evening-primrose-oil-epo/ 

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1876382022000257

 

https://brieflands.com/articles/fga-130352.html