Category: Pregnancy

Anxiety

10 Tips To Reduce Anxiety

Posted on by Holly Yeager
[caption id="attachment_3301" align="aligncenter" width="665"]              Closeup photo of unsure girl looking empty space bit lip anxiety[/caption] What causes anxiety during pregnancy? A lot of changes happen in pregnancy. Some of them of these new changes are welcomed, while others can be uncomfortable and downright scary.  Your body is growing a new human after all. Hormonal changes during pregnancy can affect the chemical balance in your brain. This can lead to an increase of existing anxiety...Read More

Does Experience Matter?

Posted on by Holly Yeager
How many births have you been to? This is a question we get from almost every new client we interview with. There seems to be a premium put on the amount of births a doula has attended. As a doula with over 12 years of experience and almost 400 births I can tell you: It doesn't matter. Each birth we attend is a unique and beautiful event. Even after all these years I find myself shaking my head afterwards and...Read More
Fear of Childbirth

Fear of Giving Birth….. Again

Posted on by Holly Yeager
Childbirth can be a really scary thing. Most of that fear comes from the lack of control and fear of the unknown; how will it feel? What if I don't know I am in labor? What if we don't get to the hospital in time? These are very real and very valid fears. But what if you HAVE given birth before and it was not the experiance you were looking for? As your pregnancy progresses and you get closer to...Read More

Fear of Giving Birth

Posted on by Holly Yeager
There are few things in this world that scare us as much as childbirth. If this is your first child, many of those fears tend to come from fear of the unknown. Childbirth is such an unpredictable experience and each birth is as unique as a snowflake. In our highly scheduled and controlled world it can be scary to let go and let nature take its course. Today we are going to talk about some of the biggest fears many pregnant...Read More

Nitrous Oxide is now available in Central PA !

Posted on by Holly Yeager
Nitrous Oxide has been used in labor and delivery wards overseas for decades. Now this popular labor tool is coming to Central PA. I have been a doula for well over 8 years and this is one of the most exciting things to happen in maternity care in our area! UPMC Pinnacle Health is the first to take this wonderful leap in helping women have a better birth experience. Nitrous Oxide in low doses is both an anxiolytic (for anxiety)...Read More
pregnancy and infant loss

When Birth and Death Collide

Posted on by Holly Yeager
Trigger Warning: This blog talks about pregnancy loss and stillbirth. Doulas get into this career because they love the ushering in of new life. It is a joyous occasion. A celebration. Somewhere in the back of our minds we know the horrible truth though. That eventually, it will not have a happy ending. With each birth it drifts further and further from our minds. Each happy ending just affirms the joyous way of the world. Sometimes we work for years...Read More

Your Pelvic Floor : What You Need To Know

Posted on by Holly Yeager
Approximately 1 in 3 women in the US suffer from pelvic floor issues at some point during their lifetime. Pregnancy and childbirth can strain and weaken the pelvic floor muscles leading to leaked urine when you sneeze or cough, or even sexual dysfunction. We spoke with Dr. Deb McKim, PT, DPT, MTC; a physical therapist at Western Berks Physical Therapy who specializes in pelvic floor health. What is your pelvic floor? For those of you who don’t know, the pelvic floor...Read More

The Power of Pain

Posted on by Holly Yeager
Ouch! Just hearing the word PAIN makes us shudder and recoil. No one wants to be in pain. We spend our whole lives trying to avoid pain. It is no wonder that pain is the number one fear women have of labor. Pain has a purpose. Pain is our body's way of protecting us. It is a signal to "pay attention". In the instance of touching a hot stove, it creates an immediate and  powerful reaction to protect us from...Read More

A breakdown of ACOG’s new recommendations

Posted on by Holly Yeager
Recently ACOG (The American college of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) released a committee opinion report titled "Approaches to Limit Intervention During Labor and Birth". This new report has a list of steps that care providers can implement to create a safer and more satisfying birth experience.  ACOG has had a long standing stance on the benefit of doula support and it is great to see that on the list. Here is the breakdown of the new recommendations: Continuous Support During Labor: Doulas –...Read More

The Hottest Summer Names For Your Warm Weather Baby

Posted on by Holly Yeager
Arroe - A fun alternate spelling of arrow that reminds us of summers spent at camp. Strong and flexible, she (or HE) is destined to lead the way for their peers. Arroe is fearless. She will forge her own path and never look back Lucas - Lucas means "light". What a perfect name for a baby born during the sunniest part of the year. Lucas has been steadily growing in popularity and it is easy to see why; classic with...Read More
ruin

The One Question That Can Ruin Your Birth

Posted on by Holly Yeager
Many years ago when I took my first doula training I was taught how to help my clients through changes to their birth plan. I had one question to ask.  It is a valuable skill to have because many births do not go down the way a client initially envisions them. I loved this question. When I asked clients this one question surely I was helping them have the best birth experience possible. There is so much power in words...Read More