Birth Education Center

One of the main reasons I talk about sex, educate about the sexiness of sex and keep the sex talk fun with the families I serve is to bring about the connection factor between the two of them. Sex is the direct line to how most of us get to the planet. It’s one of our greatest commonalities among humans …

Birth is happening all around us. Always. Daily. Nightly. Afternoonly. Birth happens on this planet. Even in our backyards(bugs, birds and lizards folks – and hopefully not your neighbors in their backyards!) Humans have babies. Everything alive duplicates itself. Why then, do you cringe at the thought of a baby coming out of your body? Your powerful, magical body that …

What’s The Biggest Difference between Men and Women? Are our bodies that different? The penis and the vagina are more alike than you think. Today we’re giving you the run down on boy parts VS girl parts – stuff the tennis coach left out of your high school sex ed class! All perfectly made with similar functions. Before we get …

When I found out my daughter was pregnant I began to imagine what it would be like to be a grandma.  I fantasized about the kind of grandma I would be. I conjured up elaborate scenarios of teaching my grandchild about life, about the importance of paying attention and being full present in each moment.   I imagined myself teaching him …

  What do we need to talk about with sex, pregnancy and birth to help labor be smooth? Care has figured it out! Her off the wall approach to vaginas, brings laughter and a silliness to the somber and fearful topic, that is birth. Having open class discussions about things usually not talked about – develops connection and an excitement …

Today we’d like to introduce you to Care Messer. Thanks for sharing your story with us Care. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there. I began in Utah with small-town ideals, hoping to end up with a few kids and picket fence by the end of my life. I worked several jobs to get …

We’ve all heard the stories, whether from friends, personal acquaintances, or on the news:  A postpartum woman has done the unthinkable, whether to her baby or to herself, leaving her loved ones and so many others in unimaginable shock and grief.  Seldom are we ever told her history: what were the dynamics of her marriage/relationship, what kind of religious background …

In last week’s post, we considered possible challenges around fertility, conception, and the prospect of parenthood for those with a history of sexual abuse.  For some, this is where you may encounter your first challenge of the journey. For others, conception comes easy and is greeted with joy – or can even come as a surprise, possibly even in spite …

You very well may have “worked through” a substantial amount of your wounds from the sexual abuse of your past.  Or, maybe it’s tucked so far away from your conscious awareness, you hardly think of it any more, even though you might have puzzling difficulties in your relationship emotionally and sexually – and it simply doesn’t occur to you how …

We sit in the dirt, playing with the leaves and the peppercorns from the pepper tree.  We came out to swing, but today the beloved swing cannot compare to playing in the dirt. This summer my grandson went on his first camping trips.  Apparently scooting around in the dirt (he’s a scooter, not a crawler) is about as exciting as …

Innate’ is that which is natural and inherent. ‘Traditions’ are those teachings that are passed down from one generation to the next. Our innate physiological design offers us a map to health and wellness. We THRIVE when we follow that which has been laid out for us. Traditional medicinal knowledge is stored within our blood memory, within the Earth, Air, …

The road to parenthood is a sacred life passage for all to go through it, filled with unforgettable joys, intense trials, and so many surprises!  The need for support along the journey is often under-acknowledged in our culture, and therefore largely unmet. The messages expectant and new parents receive have the potential to lead to a happy, empowering journey, or …

I never anticipated being a parent.  I was not one of those little girls who dreamed of getting married and raising a family some day.  I was a child of the 60’s and 70’s, caught in that vortex between the Beaver Cleaver 1950’s and the angst of the women’s liberation movement.  I thought I had to grow up and BE …

We all do it…all the time.  We anticipate, we project, we imagine, we fantasize; we EXPECT specific results to everything that happens in life.  This is a perfectly human thing to do, but we need to be aware that expectations more often than not lead to disappointment.   The birth plan you created with your partner before your baby was …

The original postpartum traditions throughout the world while specific to the cultural context in which they come—all share deep, common roots. Postpartum traditions all mandate: heat-inducing therapies; an extended resting period; specific foods that are warming in nature and easy to digest; and bodywork. These commonalities of postpartum traditions throughout the world are not a coincidence—these traditions are rooted in …

Through my work at a prenatal wellness center, I am privileged to see couples going through the joys and fears of pregnancy and new parenthood. It is an honor to share in these precious moments. This morning I saw a young man holding his 8-day-old daughter.  Her tiny body was snuggled on his shoulder, still in the fetal curl, almost fitting completely in …

I was scared of birth. Actually, the words terrified, paralyzed, and petrified might be a better use of language.  I wanted a lot of drugs – I love drugs, I love hospitals and all the drugs. BUT – a cruel joke from mother nature had me allergic to the drugs in the epidural. Whaaaaaaa???? I cried for two weeks. I …

Let’s face it; your whole life has been thrown out of kilter.  Your sleeping and eating patterns have been interrupted, your hormones have shifted, your relationship with your partner has changed and you’re not even sure exactly how just yet. All you know is you have entered a new stage of life and it is exhilarating, frustrating, delightful, exhausting, disorienting …

You’re home with your new baby.  What can I tell you that will help you through this most joyful and exhausting time of life? I can tell you that someday you will look back on your child’s infant years and be completely shocked by how quickly the time flew. But from where you are now you cannot see that.  You’re …