As featured in the Best Holistic Life Magazine….
The biggest act of self-love is to become the creator of our lives, not the victim; to take charge of our thoughts, emotions, reactions, behavior and habits that do not serve us; to take responsibility for our own health and well-being, not depend on others to do that for us. As a holistic nurse-midwife of 27+ years, self-love includes taking back our pregnancies, births, and health of our babies. This takes lots of work. But the reward is divine, sacred , empowering and transformative. You want to shout from the roof tops how incredible your experience was, how it moved you and your partner to tears and opened your hearts, that you DID it, you found your strength in the challenge – in the mountain that you felt too big to climb, and you birthed your baby as YOU wanted to. Your body worked to birth as your heart knows how to beat and your lungs know how to breathe. You can draw on this power forever as you face other mountains that seem too high.
In the westernized early 1900s, healthy birth was moved out of the homes and normal family life, and taken over by hospital institutions and their providers; it was treated as an illness and stripped of humanity; our ability to give birth and experience it in its intensity, its raw realness and wondrous beauty, surrounded by the support and wisdom of our loved ones was robbed from us. We surrendered our autonomy, and harmful things were done to us in our most intimate areas, at our most vulnerable moments; we trust technology and modern medicine rather than ourselves and our healthy bodies innately wise ability to grow, birth and breastfeed our babies, and our healthy babies’ ability to be born and breastfeed. This caused high rates of birth trauma and worsening health outcome stats for mom and baby as compared to developed countries, among other concerning long term effects.
There is HUGE hope. That depends on YOU. It involves lots of preparing like you are running your marathon, educating and empowering yourself with knowledge; mastering coping and life enhancing techniques to practice so they become habitual; shifting your mindset, getting your modern mind out of the way so you can let you body do its thing; remembering what you forgot; going against your conditioning, going against the grain, your culture, your family and friends who may not understand, and joining a new rapidly growing community who are doing this with you around the world; being very selective about the provider and setting you choose to give birth, and respectfully speaking up for your rights as an autonomous human being. This may involve paying more money, but it’s worth every penny. The outcome is not only a healthy mind, body , heart and spirit for you, but also for your baby and your family, you will all treasure forever. You will have the experience of pregnancy and giving birth beyond your wild dreams, supported as you deserve postpartum – as we have been for thousands of years before. You will LOVE the experience in spite of its intensity and challenges. You will be so darn proud of yourself with a heart bursting with joy and gratitude.
It is SO possible. But YOU must be the change. I recently received an email from a mama who lives in a remote rural area. She had no option for her birth setting and provider other than a small local hospital with an obstetrician with unacceptable, extremely high rates of risky interventions and cesarean. She was inspired by my social media pages, devoured my book. She wanted a natural birth, a special peak life, family-centered experience that is inherent in bringing the new life of your own baby into the world. He said he did not practice that way, never saw natural birth and did not believe in it. She empowered herself further by taking my online course, presented him with her evidence based decisions and choices, and kindly insisted that he honor her wishes, to be there in the background, just in case, to do nothing but let her body go through its natural physiologic process without disturbing it. He finally agreed. She had her beautiful healthy birth and not only was she in heaven, but also her obstetrician was humbled and moved beyond words. What a ripple effect that will have on how he cares for others in his practice. That is how we improve birth and make needed change.
My gift to you to get you started is my free guide to planning your own birth mini course - with video and PDF download. My advice is to prepare like a boss so you can rock you birth in all settings. It takes work, but it is beyond worth it. Here are more resources I have for you. Each are different, and they are meant to be used in adjunct to one another. Many blessings on your journey of a lifetime!
NEW! and IMPROVED, including an extra 20+ BONUS Videos!
Love Your Birth is a holistic, holistic midwife created, doctor recommended, on-demand course to help you birth YOUR way at home, birth center or hospital. Prepare for the most blissful experience from pregnancy to postpartum.
I’ve taken everything I’ve learned, trained and supported women with locally for over twenty years in my private practice and I’ve poured all of my love, passion, knowledge and experience into creating something truly special for you ... LOVE YOUR BIRTH!
10 core video modules with 13+ downloadable resources and packed with over 20 new BONUS videos and resources:
Health In Pregnancy
Preparing The Mind
Testing Procedures
Anatomy and Physiology
Labor Coping Techniques
Birth Preferences
Guidance For Dads And Partners
Postpartum - the 4th trimester
Breastfeeding and Newborn Care
Meditation, Breathwork, Visualization and Relaxation
NEW! Over 20 Newly-Added BONUS Videos Where I Answer the Most Common Questions I am Asked, and Discuss Hot Topics Relevant to Your Journey.
Value — Priceless :)
The videos include discussions about such topics as:
What to do when family and friends not supportive of your choices.
Supplements in pregnancy.
Prenatal yoga.
VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean).
Kids at birth.
Friends and family at birth.
Ideal Candidates for homebirth.
How to have a homebirth like experience in the hospital.
More on the placenta.
How to deal when things don’t go as planned, and so much more!
The key to a positive birth, is feeling confident, strong, relaxed, and empowered during the entire process, regardless of the twists and turns it may take.
Photo Credit: Megan Hancock Photography
Take a walk with me, Anne Margolis, where I talk on topics that matter to you on your journey of planning pregnancy, birth, postpartum and beyond.
Over 45 short, sharp video talks, covering:
Planning pregnancy
What to do
The preconception appointment
Pregnancy
How to find & choose a provider
When to start prenatal care
Elective testing
Pep talk for first trimester feeling sick symptoms
Group B Strep
Internal exams
Preventing late pregnancy panic & birth trauma
Pep talk for going past due date
What we can control & when we need to let go & flow
What happens at the prenatal home visit when planning a homebirth
How to know if your tub is good for water labor/birth
Tub temperature, when to set up & get in
Planning a homebirth & packing a hospital suitcase?
Dealing with homebirth in apartments or with neighbors close by
Postpartum prep
Birth
Fear of losing control
Pep talk for second time mama birth fears
How we can improve birth outcomes
Why the name Home Sweet Homebirth for all settings
Handling emergencies out of hospital - at home or birth center
Need for advocacy in hospitals & why we must be the change
Soothing nature and labor sounds
Visual for birth
Inspiration for your birth
The huge gift in birth
Dogs & cats at birth
When to call your provider in labor - noticing stages & progression
Early labor pep talk
Pep talk for on and off or prolonged labor
The post birth sacred pause
Dealing with birth ‘mess’
Planned unattended freebirth
Some things we learn from animals
Postpartum
Preparation begins in pregnancy, what you need to do, what support is needed
Dealing with emergencies - processing & healing afterwards
Postpartum illness, depression/anxiety
Gifts to give your midwife
Holistic Health and Healing
What is it?
Importance of posture & improving it
Pausing throughout the day
Tools for hard days
How to find your inner calm
Transforming ‘what if’ thinking
Meditation - why and how
Self-care non-negotiables
Watch anywhere/anytime, on your PC, laptop, tablet or mobile.
This course has 16 yoga classes plus bonus material:
Seven ~ 60-80 minute Prenatal Yoga classes
Seven ~ 60-80 minute Mindful Hatha Flow Yoga classes
A soothing Gentle Slow Flow Yoga class
A Restorative Yoga class for deep relaxation
Bonus videos of an hour Live more advanced Vinyasa Class, shorter breaks of yoga anywhere anytime, use of props - like the wall, a chair, yoga blocks, yoga belts, yoga blankets and bolsters to enhance your practice, and practicing with your baby or pet.
The prenatal yoga 7 class series will invite you to grow, strengthen, focus, train and enhance your mind, body, heart and spirit. Discover for yourself the calming, healing and transformative power of yoga - intentional meditative movement with breath. Classes begin with meditation made simple using breathwork, gradual warm up, increasing difficulty as well as yoga play, gentle cool down, and end with restorative practices in deep relaxation. They are slow flowing, with space to explore specific poses but are meant to challenge you. Classes are different each session, with classical fundamental alignment based asana fused with modern postures and their many modifications and varied creative transitions. The classes are taught with modifications for pregnancy, incorporate positions for positively influencing baby’s position and active birthing as well as those to relieve common discomforts in pregnancy. They also are fused with meditative, breathwork and visualization techniques and tools for coping with and easing sensations of labor and birth, which will transform your childbirth experience with regular practice.
The seven classes are there for you to practice a different class each day of the week or according to your own frequency, then start over again from the beginning of the series. Each class ranges from on average 60 minutes to 80 minutes, and they build on each other; following the sequence from class 1 onward is advised if it is your first time taking the series or are a beginning practitioner. Classes are mindful, at a slow safe pace, gentle but challenging, so that you build strength, flexibility & agility. They start with the basics but are for all levels, and beginners too are welcome! If you are not pregnant, you can use the prenatal classes as beginner classes, just modify as needed and use any mention of pregnancy and labor as it pertains to any labor of your own life. The need to relax into intensity and the multiple benefits of yoga practice pertain to everyone. Or simply take the general Mindful Hatha Flow Yoga Class Series online course.
Once you hone your skills, you can take the Mindful Hatha Flow 7 Class Series that follows, doing your own modifications as needed - for pregnancy or wherever you are on your yoga journey, or simply start them after you are recovered postpartum. They also build on one another and can be practiced successively until you are ready to mix and match and create your own classes and practice schedule.
Additional videos are included to enhance your practice with use of the various props, as well as a soothing gentle slow flow class and a restorative yoga class for deep relaxation (great for evening!), shorter breaks of doing it anywhere and anytime, and a live bonus video of a more advanced class.
Want a comprehensive holistic guide to the journey of getting pregnant, being pregnant, birth, breastfeeding, postpartum and beyond? Check out the second edition of my international and national best selling book Natural Birth Secrets.