Yoga | Birth | Babies

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

Parenting. Let’s talk about it. Whether your child is 6 days or 6 years old parenting can lead to a mix of feelings from love and joy, to judgement, expectation, and frustration. Sometimes this can leave you feeling not so great about being a parent.  In this week’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies I speak with Rachel Bailey, a parenting specialist, mother of 2, and therapist. We dive into what it really is to be a parent nowadays. Rachel provides actionable steps we can take when we feel discomfort in the parenting role from journaling, to mindset shifts, to teachable moments.  It’s a wonderful conversation that I think you’re going to get a lot out of! Support Our Sponsors: Everlywell 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 nutribullet.com and use promo code YBB for 20% off your order. Boober: Looking for a  lactation support, birth doulas, mental health therapists, and postpartum doulas. Use the code PYC to get 10% of

Having a baby is expensive! So, how can we prepare for the expected and unexpected costs that come with having a child?  In this episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies I speak with financial educator and founder of Smart Money Mamas Chelsea Brennan. From getting a clear picture of your current financial state, to understanding how to prioritize and prepare for baby expenses, Chelsea gives simple exercises that will help you understand your family money values, how to choose a money mantra, and how to prepare for the many expenses that come along with parenthood. I suggest you grab something to take notes with when you listen to this episode, I know I did! Support Our Sponsors:  Nutribullet: Go to nutribullet.com and use promo code YBB for 20% off your order. Everlywell: Everylwell at home lab test is offering a special discount of 20% off an at-home lab test at www.everlywell.com/ybb Prenatal Yoga Center: YBB podcast listeners- join Deb for class! Take $10 off an 8 class or One Month Unlimited yoga class packa

You may have heard it’s easier to repair a straight and even cut as opposed to a jagged tear from vaginal births. But is this something that’s actually supported by medical evidence or merely a falsehood passed down about birth? In today’s episode of Yoga| Birth|Babies I talk to Dr. Heather Jeffcoat DPT all about tears and episiotomies. If you experienced either of these in your birth, how you can help your pelvic floor heal and if you’re pregnant preparing for birth what you can do to prevent either of these from happening? Dr. Jeffcoat goes in depth about the pelvic floor, what tearing it means, different types of tears one may get from having a vaginal birth, episiotomies, healing from either of these and ways you can minimize tearing during birth.  After listening to this episode you will feel empowered knowing you have choices in how you prepare, give birth, and heal our bodies are amazing! Support Our Sponsors:  Nutribullet: Go to nutribullet.com and use promo code YBB for 20% off your order. Everl

Meeting your baby for the first time is love at first sight right? For many of us, this isn’t the case. Personally, meeting my son for the first time left me wondering what I was supposed to be feeling.  Whether this idea of instant love and connection is something you’ve learned from movies and tv shows or the stories shared by family and friends, it’s ok if that’s not your experience. In today’s episode of Yoga| Birth| Babies I speak with Bethany Warren, LCSW, PMH-C about bonding and attachment with your baby. Bethany shares many reasons why you may not feel connected to the “stranger” you’ve just been handed and how you can build attunement.  I hope that today’s conversation can reduce the guilt and shame so many parents have around these feelings and provide you tangible tools to develop attachment and bonding with your baby. Support Our Sponsors:  Nutribullet: Go to nutribullet.com and use promo code YBB for 20% off your order. Everlywell: Everylwell at home lab test is offering a special discount

Community birth stories are incredibly special. Not only is it an honor to be a part of your journey in pregnancy, but I love hearing what happened at the birth you were preparing for, as well as how you’re doing postpartum! In today’s episode of  Yoga| Birth|Babies I speak to PYC regular and mother of two,Erin Amato. While Erin’s first birth was at a hospital, her second birth was at home. We discuss the ways Erin prepared for a home birth, her support team, her birth story, and what helped her feel safe, supported, and cared for birthing at home. We also talk about being a second time mom and how she prepared her daughter to welcome their new baby sibling. Support Our Sponsors:  Everlywell at home lab test is offering a special discount of 20% off an at-home lab test at www.everlywell.com/ybb Prenatal Yoga Center: YBB podcast listeners- join Deb for class! Take $10 off an 8 class or One Month Unlimited yoga class package with the code ybb10  Don’t forget to grab your FREE guide, 5 Simple Solutions

Did you know that 1 in 4 pregnant people carry Group B Strep (GBS)? You might be wondering why we don’t hear about it until we’re pregnant? You may also be wondering if it’s dangerous, if there’s anything you can do to prevent it, and if you have it, how does it affect your and your baby’s care. In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies, I speak to professor and neonatologist Dr. Tara M. Randis all about Group B Strep. From screening, to symptoms, and treatment Dr. Randis covers everything you need to know to understand GBS. This episode sheds light and lots of answers on this little known but common condition. Support Our Sponsors:  Hello Fresh: America’s #1 meal kit! Go to HelloFresh.com/ybb14 and use code ybb14 for up to 14 free meals AND 3 free gifts! Everlywell at home lab test is offering a special discount of 20% off an at-home lab test at www.everlywell.com/ybb Boober: Looking for a  lactation support, birth doulas, mental health therapists, and postpartum doulas. Use the code PYC to get 10% off yo

If speaking in front of a group of people, taking an exam, or being in a new place ever left you urgently finding the nearest bathroom, you’ve had first hand experience of how stress can impact your pelvic floor.  In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies I speak with Hayley Kava PT, MPT about the role stress plays in pelvic floor health. Hayley explains how our nervous system interacts with the pelvic floor both physically and chemically. She discusses her approach as a PT helping clients manage their stressors before working directly with the pelvic floor muscles. We also cover how important proper breathing and sleep are to our pelvic floor health and simple steps you can take to improve both and begin to bring balance back to your pelvic floor.  Support Our Sponsors:  Hello Fresh: America’s #1 meal kit! Go to HelloFresh.com/ybb14 and use code ybb14 for up to 14 free meals AND 3 free gifts! Everlywell at home lab test is offering a special discount of 20% off an at-home lab test at www.everlywell.com/ybb