Thrive Family Massage

Hold the mother, not the baby.⁣
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Because the baby’s being taken care of—⁣
fed, snuggled, and given all the love in the world—⁣
by not only the mother,⁣
but her partner, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and friends.⁣
⁣
But the mother,⁣
may have gaps in her mind from lack of sleep,⁣
may be mechanical in her motions as she’s healing,⁣
may feel more like a mess than a mother,⁣
may be sitting in bed, crying, feeling overwhelmed in her body and life,⁣
may be full of mom guilt because in her mind, "she's not good enough,"⁣
and she’s bleeding, wincing in pain, swollen and emotional.⁣
⁣
And the mother’s that baby's whole world and needs to be seen, so she doesn't disappear into that postpartum fog.⁣
⁣
So, hold the mother, not the baby.⁣
⁣
A mother agrees that her baby matters more.⁣
But she’s hurting, while she’s the person behind the baby,⁣
in the background, making it all happen:⁣
feeding her baby at all hours,⁣
snuggling her baby close to comfort newborn cries,⁣
and being that baby’s everything.⁣
⁣
So, it’s the mother who needs your love.⁣
⁣
And a mother will remember who held her up.⁣
⁣
So instead of “I’m coming to see the baby,”⁣
try saying, “I’m coming to see you 𝘢𝘯𝘥 meet the baby, too.”⁣
⁣
Because the mother needs to be held more.⁣

Birth IS ceremony. This is important.

Why Restoring Birth as Ceremony Can Promote Health Equity Until the mid-20th century, birth in the United States for Latinx Indigenous peoples was an ancestral ceremony guided by midwives and traditional healers.

One of my amazing teachers. Way to go Gail!

Wetzler to Serve on US Olympic Committee

We are excited to share with you that Gail D. Wetzler, PT, DPT, EDO, BI-D, Lecturer and Director of Curriculum for The Barral Institute and Co-Director of Research for IAHP, has been asked to serve on the Women’s Health Task Force by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). Gail will be part of an executive team consisting of ten doctors and four Olympic female athletes. Together, they will create health initiatives, education modules, and treatment options, as well as identifying lists of qualified providers around the country for our female athletes.

The USOPC women’s health task force committee members have been selected for their extensive experience in medicine, research, and athletics. As a physical therapist and Barral instructor, Gail will share her clinical experiences from many years of teaching and treating in women’s health – "the benefit of listening to the whole person."

Read more about the Women's Health Task Force
and challenges that female athletes face: http://ow.ly/V6xa50HN3wr

Conventional obstetrics defines postpartum as the 6 weeks after birth. That’s wrong on so many levels. It ignores the phenomenal transition that happens in becoming a mother, one that takes more than 6 weeks.⁠
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It also doesn’t take into account tissue may take longer to heal, whether perineal stitches or from a cesarean, or a yoni sore from a natural birth, fluctuating hormones, breastfeeding, the fact that many women don’t want to have s*x or go back to work yet. Because they’re still in a transitional state. Even if birth and breastfeeding go smoothly and ‘perfectly’ it’s still a major physical and psychic adjustment and a steep learning curve.⁠
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In Natural Health After Birth (2002), I talk about the fourth trimester, a sacred time lasting closer to 6 months. In fact, I believe there should be no time limit as every experience, healing, and transformation is different. The extended postpartum period lasts as long as it takes for mama to feel like herself. Not her old self, because woven into the bones of birth is transformation - just like we don’t ‘bounce back’ to our pre-birth bodies, we can’t bounce back to our pre-birth selves. Instead, we are tasked with the challenge and opportunity of reinventing ourselves. Of finding a new self to settle into that feels right - a marriage of all the parts of you into a new whole, like when you lay your towel down in the sand and you have to scooch around until you find the place where the curves of your body can settle naturally into the grooves of the earth. That task, that journey, is postpartum.⁠
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Physically, that may be a few months - but emotionally, mentally, spiritually, the metamorphosis of going from birth and motherhood - matrescence - is ongoing. My kids are grown and I continue to redefine and transform myself in relationship to my mom-self and my personal self roles!⁠
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The gift we give to ourselves, and as women to each other, is to support however long it takes. Culturally with appropriate work leave, personally with bountiful love, encouragement. and empathy.⁠
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Tell me, how long did you feel postpartum, or are you in the midst of it?⁠
⁠
📸: ⁠

Taking a break from my social media hiatus to share this awesome opportunity. I’m so grateful families in our community has access to this crucial support! If our practice wasn’t already full to the brim, I would love to step into this role. BIPOC friends, if this speaks to you, please contact our friends at .chain.lane

Sending love to all of our mamas today!

Yes, for the time being, we can no longer see clients in good conscience. We will miss you dearly! This is devastating for us, as though our hands are being taken away. Get outside, garden, sit in stillness. Take care and stay well, and we will do the same. ❤️

We love Sol’s Garden!

Home | mysite Sol’s Garden is a new In-Home School. A Waldorf-based school that will offer early education to preschool and kindergarten-aged children, it will provide a learning environment that is inclusive of a wide range of ages. Children will learn how to be an integral part of a community, to work togeth....

Help us meet our Matching Gift Challenge! Donate at www.ourcommunitybirthcenter.org by Dec 31! Michele Peters-Carr and Dennis Carr will match $3,000 of donations (that means we have potential to raise $6,000 by Dec 31!) in honor of Michele’s 3,000+ births attended through her work at the birth center. Was Michele your midwife? Make a donation online and send us a note if you want to donate in honor of your baby or in honor of Michele!

Great birth class at River Rd Rec!

INTUITIVE BIRTH
Fall series
Sept 29th, Oct 6, 13 and 20th
2-5pm
River Road Parks and Rec
Register rrpark.org

We would love to have you!!
Intuitive Birth Corrinne Nicole Kari Hagemeyer

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

How did summer get here so fast? The patio is abloom with gorgeous yellow rhododendron flowers and our family is blossoming too! Lynnea is due with her second baby this August. She will be taking her leave mid-July. There are a few spots left in her schedule if you would like to see her before her next transformation. Thrivefamilymassage.com 🌸🤰🏻🌸

Can you spare a minute to help Hope Lane? Save the Nurse Midwifery Birth Center!!

A wonderful offering! We loved the results Kalila received from regular treatments her first year.

Limited spaces are available for our February 24th Mama and Baby Craniosacral Therapy Clinic. Give us a call at 541-687-9447 for more information or to reserve a space (ask for Dawn.)

Postpartum care is just as important or even more important than prenatal care, yet it is almost absent in our culture. Thankfully, with a little awareness, it doesn’t have to be.

'4th Trimester' Problems Can Have Long-Term Effects On A Mom's Health A woman's health issues related to pregnancy don't always end at the baby's birth. Scientists say complications from childbirth, such as hypertension or diabetes, increase her risk of heart disease.

Last Chance to save 20% Off All Gift Certificates and Packages! - https://mailchi.mp/38962ff90aac/20-off-all-gift-certificates-and-packages-159239

20% Off All Gift Certificates and Packages! - https://mailchi.mp/c65832336ee9/20-off-all-gift-certificates-and-packages

New Offerings at Thrive Family Massage! - https://mailchi.mp/5ab96c521e80/new-offerings-at-thrive-family-massage

Today, once again, I saw a thread where moms who were formula feeding were being judged for their choice.

Breast is best was being pushed, and the moms who were formula feeding were being shamed and told they didn’t try hard enough.

When I read these words, it shakes me every time. When I read these words I feel a sense of protection over the mom being shamed because it takes me back to a moment.
When I was 6 weeks postpartum, I sat in the car, so sick that I needed to wear a face mask, crying because I was so exhausted, breastfeeding my daughter after walking through the drug store with her reading the cartons of formula where each one said ‘breast is best’. Guilt consuming me in my sleep deprived and hormonal state, telling me that I was failing if I switched to formula. I believed this lie that I was failing, and despite my own health (both mental and physical) continued to breastfeed for much longer then I needed to, for the sole reason of guilt and fear of failing my baby.

Sometimes breastfeeding is best. The research shows the amazing nutritional benefits to babies if the moms breastfeed this can’t be argued.
Some of you can do extended breastfeeding and it is beautiful, nourishing and amazing. If you can breastfeed and it goes well, it can be SO amazing and beautiful, there is no denying this.
But sometimes it is not amazing or beautiful. Sometimes breastfeeding sucks the life out of a new mom.
Sometimes the baby is allergic to so many things that it makes more sense to switch to formula.
Sometimes a mom needs to quit for her mental health.
Sometimes a mom needs help from a lactation consultant, sometimes she needs to combo feed, sometimes she can exclusively breastfeed, and sometimes she needs to formula feed.

There is no one right way.

Breast isn’t always best.
Loving your baby and yourself is best. A mentally healthy mom is best and a healthy baby is best. Being informed about your options and getting support is best.
The happy baby in this picture loved her mama when she breastfed her and when she formula fed her. She stayed 'attached' and healthy.
If this post resonates at all with you, please consider sharing.

Never too late to check!

Parenting Now!: Don't wait on keeping child safe, get car seat inspected The nonprofit, in partnership with PeaceHealth and Safe Kids West Oregon, is kicking off new Car Seat Safety Program

Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy ® combine modern science with traditional healing and wisdom. Learn these techniques in this three-day class.

I’m so excited to assist Barbara Plichta Loomis in this Level One Self Care Training for The Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy! If you are interested in learning this work, feel free to contact us with any questions. August 24-26th, 2018.

Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy ® combine modern science with traditional healing and wisdom. Learn these techniques in this three-day class.

To all the mamas out there, we see you. You are Enough. You are Strong. You are Worthy. You are Loved.

Happy Mother’s Day.

We are at the Bellies, Babies and Birth Fair today! Stop by for a free Touch for Health Balance, chair massage or ATMAT consult!

Fascinating. Did you consume your placenta after birth? Did you have low milk supply or was your child diagnosed as "failure to thrive?" This IBCLC is discovering a correlation with the consumption of pregnancy hormones (estrogen/progesterone) found in the placenta and difficulty breastfeeding.

I did not have the opportunity to encapsulate my placenta, and I did have low milk supply. I remember wondering if it would have helped. Now I'm pretty sure it won't make my postpartum menu.

Placenta Encapsulation: An IBCLC’s Perspective Sarah Hollister, RN, PHN, IBCLC shares her perspective on placenta encapsulation.

This time of the year when bees are getting ready to swarm, I send bee prayers, for abundance in food, for pesticide free plants, for pure water and for kind humans who will not call the pest controller when a swarm accidentally mistakes a grill or part of a wall for a good place to build a nest. Please call your local beekeeper instead.
http://www.beverlybees.com/planting-bee-garden/
Art by Lea Bradovich

Good imagery and suggestions! How does your flow go?

Does your period start, stop and then start again? - Nicole Jardim Does your period start, stop and then start again? - Nicole Jardim

Thrive Family Massage updated their phone number.