Olga Maksin, Birth Doula

New reading has arrived 😍🤱

Be your own birth advocate, or as the former dean of Harvard Medical school said to his medical students: “Half of what we are going to teach you is wrong, and half of it is right. Our problem is that we don't know which half is which."

A few examples of reversed birth practices include episiotomies for all, once caesarean always caesarean and even breech vaginal births are on the rise.

Do your research and trust your instinct. White coat syndrome is real but critical thinking will empower you and help you achieve the pregnancy and birth you want!

I’m happy to share that we had our own (third) miracle this past week! A baby girl born in a rapid, intense and beautiful home water birth. I’m still in awe of the experience, and trying to write her birth story in between snuggles and nursings!

All bullet points are evidence based regardless Vbac or not:

May is International Doula Month.
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Some new readings arrived!

And sometimes you celebrate new year eve with your client in labor & delivery! Happy 2023 🐣

From this year archive: a brave baby girl who couldn’t wait to see the world (nor wait for her father arrive by a flight to the unexpected birth)!

A special lady in so many ways. Rest in peace Queen Elizabeth. You touched many hearts around the world

How the rebellious Queen paved the way for Princess Diana and Kate Middleton to breastfeed The Queen helped Princess Diana and Kate Middleton to breastfeed their children by rebelling when she became a mother to start a brand new tradition.

Did you know that consuming artificial sweeteners during pregnancy increases the likelihood of large babies and obese kids later in life? They also have other adverse effects such as killing healthy gut bacteria and interfering with the thyroid function (which may also impact the fetal brain development)

A beautiful home birth, after which I was lucky to also see the sunrise

A good exercise you can do on your own!

Daily activities during pregnancy are so important and we can’t stress it enough! Have you done the Psoas (pronounced “so as”) Release? A tight psoas muscle pair keeps baby high. A longer, more supple psoas is one of several factors helping baby engage at 38 weeks gestation. Digestion, walking, balance, and comfort are all enhanced with a longer psoas muscle pair rather than a shorter, less supple psoas.

🔸 This is an exercise you can do on your own without assistance.
🔸 Each leg 3 minutes. 6 minutes total. (so it’s a quick one!)
🔸 Do this daily, or most days.
🔸 Be sure to drink water to hydrate your psoas so it can respond well to mobility.💦
🔸 Can’t lay down? Or looking for other ways to stretch your Psoas? Lunges, when done properly, will help your psoas, too. Daily, brisk walking, breathing deeply, letting your belly relax, kneeling lunges, standing forward lunges, and sitting with your knees lower than your hips are all things that help lengthen your psoas.

“Psoas” you begin your pregnancy journey, be sure to try this one. 😉

Some question to ask your provider about routine practices:

1. What is their routine practice for induction after “due date”?
2. What is their routine practice for induction for “big babies” (and do they have training for handling shoulder dystocia)?
3. What is their protocol for membranes rupture before contractions?
4. Other useful stats to ask for can be c-section rates, successful inductions rates and high degree tearing rate.

This is not a full list but a good start for getting an indication of how natural vs medicalized their practice is and make you better prepared!

Birth is both a predictable well defined process and also so unpredictable! Either way it is magic

Did you know that average length of pregnancy for first time moms is 40 weeks and 5 days? And it’s 40 weeks and 3 days for moms that gave birth before

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/805631

Ina May Gaskin Quote Whenever and however you give birth, your experience will impact your emotions, your mind, your body, and your spirit for the rest of your life.

A short nice talk that touches on over medicalization of birth and the importance of labor support

Who delivered your baby? | Ashley Greenwald Tragash | TEDxUniversityofNevada "Who delivered your baby?" is a question commonly asked of new parents and has implications for the emotional empowerment of women during childbirth. In thi...

Olga Maksin, Birth Doula updated their website address.

Research shows that people who have a continuous support during childbirth provided by a doula achieve:
- 39% decrease in the risk of Cesarean
- 15% increase in the likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth

Read more at https://evidencebasedbirth.com/the-evidence-for-doulas/

Evidence on: Doulas A birth doula is a companion who supports a birthing person during labor and birth. What is the evidence for using a doula?

Olga Maksin, Birth Doula updated their address.

About me: I’m a fully trained birth and postpartum doula by Harmony Doula Mentoring.
I’m a mother of two kids both born in the SF Bay Area. Having had two pregnancies and very different labor experiences, I’ve became fascinated with the process of pregnancy and childbirth. I’ve learned a lot before even starting my doula training journey.
I’m passionate supporting women during the unprecedented time of pregnancy and labour. I’m willing to share my knowledge and work together with my clients to help them achieve their perfect birth as they see it. Everyone is welcome to my practice and I am in particular interested helping women who are seeking to have a VBAC. I’m fluent in English, Russian and Hebrew and am happy to help clients who may want support in their mother tongue. If you are expecting and you’ve reached my page I would be happy to chat and schedule a free consultation, just drop me a message!

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