Holistic Pain Relief in Pregnancy: Your Guide to Comfort & Self-Care

Embracing the Journey of Discomfort✨

Feeling aches in your pelvis, legs, or back during pregnancy can be humbling—but it’s also a powerful opportunity for growth. These sensations invite you to lean into mindful breathing, self-compassion, and deeper connection with your changing body.

Who Can Help (Think Natural Therapists!)

Before diving into self-care, consider reaching out to trusted holistic practitioners:

• Chiropractor or osteopath — reset pelvic alignment

• Massage therapist (deep tissue, Thai, Rolfing) — ease muscle tension

• Homeopath — custom herbal or flower remedies

• Acupuncturist — targeted needle therapy

• Therapeutic yoga instructor — build strength and ease tightness

🌿 Round Ligament & Groin Pain

Sharp pangs in your groin—especially when walking or stretching? Here’s how to soothe and prevent them:

• Rest, then rock: Lie on your back, knees bent, or get on hands & knees and gently rock your pelvis

• Soak & soothe: Warm Epsom salt bath with lavender or herbal blends, followed by Tiger Balm and a hot/cold pack

• Support: Use a pregnancy pillow and maternity belt, like the Bellefit supportwear

• Strengthen: Practice pelvic-floor exercises—bridge pose with mula bandha (root lock) on a yoga block builds core support and tone

🔙 Upper & Lower Back Care

• Upper back: Breast changes can strain your shoulders. Wear a supportive bra and stretch regularly with shoulder rolls.

• Lower back: Weight shift, ligament loosening, and posture changes contribute to discomfort. Try:

  • Prenatal belts (e.g., Baby Hugger)

  • Gentle yoga postures (cat/cow, sphinx, bridge) - I teach this in my online yoga classes.

  • Mindful lifting and posture (tuck in your pelvis, avoid high heels)

🔥 Sciatica Relief

Sciatic pain (sharp, radiating from your back down your leg)? Try:

• Exercises: Hamstring stretches, spinal twists, standing hip openers

• Stay active: Daily walking, swimming, low-impact movement

• Anti-inflammatory diet: Whole foods, turmeric-rich meals, hydration (64 oz+)

• Targeted yoga: Tailored stretches to decompress irritated nerves

Smart Movement & Body Mechanics

• Rest when needed: Lighten your load—delegate more, schedule breaks

• Posture check: Stand and walk with lifted abdomen, tucked pelvis, relaxed shoulders

• Sneakers, not heels: Flat, supportive footwear—barefoot at home feels amazing

• Lift right: Bend at knees, use core support, avoid twisting

• Safety first: Take extra care on slippery surfaces, add non-slip mats

💤 Supportive Sleep & Rest

Comfort while resting is essential:

• Bedding: Firm mattress or board; pregnancy pillow for side sleeping

• Environment: Cool (mid‑60s°F), dark, quiet—blackout curtains, eye masks, white-noise machines

• Rituals: Early bedtime, gentle stretching, warm herbal teas, and peaceful wind-down routines

🧘 Healing Through Breath & Relaxation

Pain often arises from tension. Here’s how to ease it:

1. Deep abdominal breathing – In for 4, out for 4

2. Box breathing – In 3, hold 6, out 6, hold 3

3. Relaxation scan – Tense and release muscles from head to toe

4. Ujjayi breath – Gentle ocean-sound breath awareness

These techniques calm your nervous system and teach your body to relax into sensations, not fight them—a vital skill for labor and beyond.

🛠️ At-Home Remedies for Back Pain

• Massage oil blend: Arnica + St. John’s wort + cramp bark + essential oils (ginger, lavender, or rosemary)

• Heat or ice: Alternate cold packs (first 24–48 hrs) with moist heat (showers, Epsom baths)

• Healing yoga pose: Legs Up The Wall—rest on your back with legs up against a wall or bolster for 10–20 minutes.

• Herbal support: Tinctures like cramp bark, skullcap, St. John’s wort, plus turmeric for inflammation. Reputable brands of the supplements and remedies I recommend include any of those in my online holistic apothecary.

• TENS unit: Safe, drug-free pain relief option (often works well during labor too)

🌀 Supporting SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction)

SPD can feel intense, but these gentle supports help:

• Chiropractic care + support belts (Bellefit, Baby Hugger)

• Pelvic floor activation before movement

• Gentle repositioning: Keep legs close and move slowly when turning or rolling

• Seek help: If walking forward hurts, backward feels better—consider physical therapy or crutchesTo release stress and trauma energy often responsible for chronic issues, do conscious connected Clarity breathwork and experience miraculous healing and transformation. Also check out Brandon Bays’ book The Journey, and her website. These are all extremely effective mind-body cutting edge methods that have also lead to transformational healing for thousands of people around the world.

🧠 When Pain Persists or Feels ‘Off’

While many aches are pregnancy-related, check in with your provider if you experience:

• Severe, persistent pain

• Fever, bleeding, bladder/bowel changes

• Leg swelling/redness (possible blood clot)

• New or unusual symptoms

Chronic pain solutions may involve mindful emotional work—think The Mindbody Prescription or Clarity Breathwork to release underlying stress and trauma.

📅 Your Personalized Well-Being Plan

1. Gentle movement – Yoga, walking, swimming

2. Core & pelvic care – Strengthen with awareness

3. Supportive gear – Maternity belts, pillows, sneakers

4. Healing tools – Massage blends, heat/ice, TENS

5. Breathing & mindfulness – Your daily reset toolkit

6. Rest intentionally – Sleep earlier, nap strategically

7. Connect & empower – Video guidance or local sessions

📞 Let’s Connect

Need personalized guidance? Book a video consultation with me—we’ll chart a gentle, effective plan tailored to you and your baby.

Pregnancy is a time of profound transformation. Your body is working hard—reward it with kindness, awareness, and nurturing care. 💛
You’ve got this, mama..

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Let Me Help You Create The Happiest Birth Experience Of Your Life...

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Regardless if you are planning a birth at home, a hospital, a birth center or need a cesarean section, or if you are taking another childbirth education class…

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Let me show you how to…

• Understand the sensations of your body and connect your intuition with how your body is communicating and leading you towards what to do during labor

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• Speak your truth from your heart in a way that deepens your relationships, sets clear boundaries, and has people listen to you and support you before, during and after pregnancy

• Trust yourself, connect with your body wisdom andcommunicate with baby in belly

• Connect with natural time and sync your body and mind up with your unique biological clock for ease from pregnancy to postpartum

• Reprogram negative patterns, stories, and beliefs that undermine your confidence, strength and self trust so you can rock your birth

Physicians and midwives around the world recommend my teachings to their pregnant clients and many Doulas across the country learn the secrets of blissful birthing from me to supplement their Doula Training & Certification process!

To learn more, visit:  LOVE YOUR BIRTH Online Childbirth Course!

It is based on my years of experience, as a midwife and yoga teacher, helping thousands of women tap into their calm and live and birth from a place of grounded relaxation and joy. 

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Check out my Natural Birth Secrets book 2nd edition as your reference for more in depth information on holistic modalities for all common discomforts and ailments on your entire journey to having a baby - from preconception, through pregnancy and postpartum, as well as breastfeeding and newborn care.

HOME POSTPARTUM CARE: LETS TALK BREASTFEEDING

POSTPARTUM CARE AT HOME: YOUR BREASTFEEDING GUIDE

Congratulations to you and your family on the birth of your baby! You did it!! You are a rockstar, superhero, however and wherever you birthed. Now it is time for some postpartum care. But through it all, do what you can to go with the flow. Tune into your body and your baby’s natural rhythms. Embrace it all as a normal healthy phase of your life as a new mama, shared with mamas around the world since the beginning of time. Try to have fun with it and keep your sense of humor. 

Welcome to the postpartum period, the fourth trimester, a period of healing and adjustment, of getting to know and comfort your baby, and mastering breastfeeding. All your baby needs now is love and breast milk. If you are unable or choose not to breastfeed, consider feeding baby pumped breast milk, or donor breast milk from registered milk banks. Breast milk is the ideal food for your baby, although organic goat milk formula is most similar to human milk and you can discuss best alternative options with your pediatrician. 

The rest will follow naturally, as you learn on the job, take guidance from wise experienced others, and let Baby be your teacher. As in pregnancy and birth, trust your instincts and your heart. But, do not hesitate to ask for help and support as needed. Hopefully you prepared in your pregnancy so that you are well supported during this sensitive time, as it has always taken a village to raise a baby as well as new parents. A postpartum doula is a must if you do not have family and friends to help you. 

Below are some helpful hints to make the next few weeks of breastfeeding easier and more comfortable, so you are more able to heal, enjoy and reflect upon your extraordinary new miracle. The most important advice is to slow down, stay in the moment, try to resist the temptation to do, do, do...and just be, be, be. Trust that you will heal and get into your breastfeeding routine, as you are perfectly designed to do, given the proper care and support.  Do not hesitate to reach out to an IBCLC lactation consultant sooner rather than later if there are breastfeeding issues beyond what your midwife or doula can help you with.

Nutrition for Postpartum Care & Breastfeeding

Maintain at least the same healthy nutrition as you did in pregnancy, especially now for recovery after birth, and during breastfeeding. This will help you to make good quality milk, and nourish your baby as well as yourself. Make sure to eat at least three whole food varied healthy meals and snacks, and even a little bit more than you would normally consume. And keep well hydrated with at least 64 ounces of water daily. 

Traditional foods for the early postpartum weeks across cultures typically include soups and stews with a lot of vegetables, including the starchy ones like sweet potatoes and winter squash, stew meat or chicken, and whole grains like barley and oats. Also, do eat plenty of eggs, seasonal fruits and vegetables. Much nourishment can be added to fruit/veggie smoothies, soufflés, whole grain hot cereals, and breads/muffins like zucchini-apple, banana-date or carrot-raisin, enhanced with almond flour or chopped nuts and seeds, nut milk, and eggs. 

Herbs and Supplements

Make sure to supplement your diet as in pregnancy, with herbs, vitamins, minerals, omega threes and probiotics to complete nourishment not supplied by diet alone. This will aid in your recovery and help supply all of your and your baby’s nutritional needs. Do increase iron foods and take an herbal iron, especially if you were anemic in pregnancy, have low iron stores, lost a lot of blood at birth, gave birth by cesarean, and/or are still anemic. 

Do continue your nourishing pregnancy herbal infusion to your diet but add alfalfa and red clover. You can have a support person make this by:

1. Blending a handful of dried Nettle leaf, a handful of dried Red Raspberry leaf, a pinch of Alfalfa, large pinch of Red Clover, and several Rose Hips. 

2. Add a pinch of Comfrey to help with healing. (optional) 

3. Brew in a mason quart glass canning jar of boiling water 1-4 hours. The longer the brew, the stronger the taste and effect.

4. Strain, and drink plain or lightly sweetened with Rose Hip infused honey and/or a splash of fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice.

5. Enjoy hot or cold, up to 4 cups per day.

 You can make it in larger quantities and store in the fridge.

There are some nice herbal breastfeeding teas like those made by Earth Mama Organics and Traditional Medicinals. Use two bags per cup of tea to get the benefits. You can have your special someone make your own delicious, nourishing combination of herbs that helps with breastfeeding and enhances the nutritional content of your breast milk: 

1. Mix a handful each of dried Chamomile blossoms, Catnip and Blessed Thistle, a pinch each of Fennel seeds and Fenugreek powder or seeds, and a few dried Lavender flowers.

2. Put 1 tablespoon of the mix in a cup, fill with boiling water, and steep for 10-15 minutes.

3. Strain in the glass mason jar, and drink plain or lightly sweetened with Rose Hip infused honey, and a dash of anise. 

4. Drink 1-3 cups daily.

Although it is a challenge postpartum, it is so important to avoid fatigue by making sure you are getting extra needed sleep by going to bed earlier, sleeping later, or taking naps when baby naps. A few hours of broken sleep each night is never enough to prevent that feeling of exhaustion and overwhelm from sleep deprivation. When sleeping, lay down on a firm supportive mattress, on top of a bed board if needed. Some women find the floor or a futon helpful. A MUST is to use an excellent full body pregnancy pillow for additional support.  

An excellent pregnancy pillow is not only most supportive, they are also ergonomic and deliciously comfortable for safe sleep. Mamas say they make them feel like they are literally sleeping in a cloud each night. And they love that pregnancy pillows still helps them postpartum to find a comfortable position to rest, sleep and even breastfeed.

My favorite pregnancy pillows are full body U shaped all in one pillow, with an attached pillow for between your legs or to wrap your legs around. They are designed to cradle your head, back, belly, hips, and legs in optimal alignment. No more tossing and turning, pulling or straining. pregnancy body pillow adapts to your body’s pressure points, promoting blood circulation, reducing back pain and hip strain while maintaining natural spinal alignment for deeper, restorative sleep. It releases your body pressure, effectively relieves back and hip pain as well as leg swelling so you can sleep more deeply all night long. Full body pregnancy pillows are designed to replace the need of multiple bed pillows. It hugs your entire body and conforms to both sides, perfectly support the head, shoulders, the entire back, belly, sides, legs - even the knees, feet, pelvis and hips.

If you can not fall asleep, practice the corpse pose or yoga’s most important savasana experience, or simply lye down in a quiet space for at least a half an hour just focusing on breathing in and breathing out, keeping your focus on your breath or between your inner eyebrows, while literally melting your muscles and releasing any tension in your body scan with each exhalation. Even 20 minutes of this is like a 2 hour power nap for the body.

This is also supportive postpartum and can be used as a nursing pillow to assist in finding comfortable alternating and varied positions for breastfeeding that also support your back, neck and shoulders.

Breastfeeding

Note ways to prepare for breastfeeding and common myths to be busted, as well as  5 essential tips to get the breastfeeding going.

Your newborn baby’s stomach is tiny, like the size of a cherry the first few days, a small apricot at one week, and a large egg at one month of age. Only tiny amounts of milk are tolerated initially. Expect your baby to drink about 1-1 ½ tsp per feed on the first day, 1½-2 ounces by one week, and 2 ½-5 ounces per feed by one month of age. This is just what you have to give. 

The liquid gold colostrum that your breast produces makes no more than a few teaspoons per feed, but when your full breast milk comes in, you will have more than enough to accommodate. Often women have a misconception that they do not have enough milk when they have exactly what baby needs, and they get into a tension and supplemental feeding cycle that actually does decrease supply. 

If you had labor or birth complications, needed epidural or spinal anesthesia, baby was birthed by cesarean or had to be in the intensive care, establishing breastfeeding can be more challenging at first but you can do it. Get help by a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) as soon as possible if there is any difficulty. Baby-friendly hospitals should all have them on staff, or you can ask your midwife, pediatrician or local La Leche leader for recommendations. If you need additional guidance to boost low milk supply first follow these steps. All you may need to do is keep nice and calm with baby skin to skin and nurse more frequently, avoid formula and glucose water, and do not use pacifiers until your breastfeeding is well established. 

You can increase emptying if needed, which boosts your supply, by using a double electric breast portable Willow pump every 2-2½ hours for 15-20 minutes, but know that a healthy baby is the best breast pump. If you do pump, freeze the milk for later use, like when you need to go out or want a break from a nightly feed. Take herbal combinations like More Milk Special Blend, drink non alcoholic beer or Hops tea and several cups Sesame milk daily. You may need to add increased amounts of the individual herbs like Goats Rue, Blessed Thistle and Fenugreek, 2-3 capsules each up to 3 times per day, or add the tincture of More Milk Special Blend, 2 ml 4 times per day to increase your supply. 

Treating Breast Engorgement

Your breasts will begin filling with milk and can become engorged by the third or fourth postpartum day whether or not you are breastfeeding. Initially, you may notice that your breasts become larger, fuller, heavy, lumpy, slightly tender and warm. They may leak milk and you may notice a short-lived low grade fever. The skin of the breasts may be pulled tight and become shiny, hard, painful and throbbing, and the baby might be less able to grasp the nipple.  

Suggestions to minimize discomfort with breastfeeding include:

• Practice early, frequent breastfeeding (on demand or every 1½-3 hours) without supplemental bottles for at least the first month. The breasts will learn to replace only what baby takes. (This is a good reason not to pump significantly in addition to nursing initially, as breasts will replace that too). Allow the milk to run freely into a bottle from one breast as the baby nurses on the other side. The bottled milk can be frozen for a later nighttime feed your partner can give Baby to give you some needed sleep once engorgement resolves.

• If Baby is having a hard time latching, try manually hand expressing a small amount of milk before nursing. You can also do so afterwards if still uncomfortably full after each feeding.

• Rub Arnica oil gently over breasts, except nipples, then apply a comfortably hot washcloth/compress or stand under a warm shower 5-10 minutes before nursing.

• Gently massage breasts downward while nursing using Arnica massage oil or lotion.

• If you are uncomfortable between feedings, you can let comfortably hot shower water run over your breasts and massage them downwards using a fine tooth comb dipped in soap, or gently hand express just a small amount, or soak your breasts into a sink full of comfortably hot water. If engorgement is severe add 1-2 ounces of Marshmallow root tincture to the water. 

• For severe engorgement, apply cold packs just during the short term period of extreme discomfort. Ideally, make these by defrosting frozen cabbage leaves rolled over with a rolling pin.

• Apply cold compresses of Comfrey (soak washcloths with the tincture and store in the fridge). You can try comfortably hot Comfrey compresses and add Parsley tincture.

• If you are not nursing and need help drying up your breastmilk, drink lots of Sage tea and do not pump. 

Report any areas of increased heat, redness, swelling and severe pain; fever over 100.4 after the first few days; and chills, headache and generalized aches like you have the flu.  

Sore Nipples

Your nipples may be tender or downright sore during the first week or so of getting accustomed to breastfeeding your baby, whether you are a first time mom or have nursed successfully before. You may also feel some pain, usually lasting no longer than one minute, each time the baby latches onto the breast in these early weeks, which lessens as baby nurses. If your baby is improperly sucking, or incorrectly positioned, your nipples can become very sore and the pain is intense the entire feed.

Suggestions to minimize nipple soreness are:

• Remember this pain is temporary as your nipples adjust to normal healthy breastfeeding, and use your tools from labor and breathwork to breathe and relax into the sensations rather than to fight them. This actually helps tremendously.

• Have an experienced person observe for proper positioning, latch and sucking during breastfeeding from the beginning, especially if you have severe nipple pain during the entire feed and your nipples are very sore.

• Release the baby’s suction with your finger before removing the nipple from the baby’s mouth anytime you need to stop the sucking, especially when the latch is shallow.

• Soak nipples in a cup of 0.9% physiologic saline solution, then expose breasts to fresh air 20 minutes after each feeding, ideally in the sun, in front of a 60 watt light bulb, or a blow dryer. Yes, spend some time topless.

• Apply some breast milk to the nipple.

• Avoid synthetic breast creams and nipple shields.

• If mild, massage plain organic Cocoa Butter, Almond oil or Vitamin E onto the nipples after each feeding. If without relief, apply homeopathic calendula cream or herbal salve made with Calendula, Marshmallow,  Aloe Vera, and Chamomile, or Lanolin designed for sore nipples after each feed and gently remove any residue before nursing. Apply pure Aloe Vera gel to the cracks and cuts, as well as Comfrey, but wipe off before nursing so baby does not ingest it. Try several formulas and see what feels best for you.

• Nurse more frequently for shorter periods of time.

• Alternate positions of nursing each feeding to vary pressure points on the nipple.

• Initiate nursing on the least sore side. You can nurse only one breast a day to allow the other to heal, pumping the sore breast to relieve engorgement during each nursing session. Then nurse the alternate breast the next day (pumping the other), and continue this until nipples have recovered.

• Take a daily bath or shower, washing nipples with water only (no soap).

• Wear all cotton bras, avoid tight bras, and minimize the use of breast pads. If breast pads are occasionally needed, use organic bamboo or cotton washables or nontoxic disposable breast pads without plastic, changing when wet to keep nipples dry.

Report to your practitioner if your soreness lasts longer than a week or is getting worse, if your nipples are cracked and bleeding, or severe nipple pain persists during entire feed indicating a latch issue.

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Need more help from me?

Check out my online Love Your Birth comprehensive prep course for pregnancy through birth, postpartum and breastfeeding - an insider’s Guide to the joys and challenges of recovering from birth and getting the breastfeeding in these modern times created by a seasoned holistic nurse midwife who has seen everything! Learn simple tricks of the trade to make the journey to motherhood more holistically healthy and fulfilling.
You will have direct access to me through the Love Your Birth course Guides if you bundle with a coaching call with me and I can help you:

• Help yourself breastfeed healthfully and successfully

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• Understand holistic modalities on breastfeeding issues

• Get the support and tools you need for stress reduction

• Answer questions and make informed decisions

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If you need more personal guidance, schedule a consultation with me.

My Natural Birth Secrets book 2nd edition has helpful tips as well, and is an excellent resource in adjunct to the Guide.

Naturally Choosing and Determining Baby's Sex

To try to conceive a specific sex, there is a costly, invasive and controversial way of preimplantation genetic testing when doing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or boy/girl sperm sorting with intrauterine insemination (IUI) - although not as full proof.

There is no research or science to back the effectiveness of other natural methods. The theory behind a few of them is that girl producing sperm move slower than boy producing sperm, but last longer. So, if you want a girl, try to have sex 2-3 days before ovulation, as they will still be in the fallopian tubes when egg is released. If you are trying for a boy, timing sex as close as possible to ovulation theoretically is more likely to work, as the boy carrying sperm swim faster to the egg but don’t last as long.

Another theory is based on biochemical cyclic changes in a woman’s body favoring girl or boy carrying sperm, leading to the opposite conclusion above. Having sex 2-3 days before ovulation is more likely to be. girl, 4-6 days before ovulation is more likely to be a boy, but this is confusing as male sperm are unlikely to survive that long.

There are people that swear by either of the two methods, claiming it worked for them consistently, but others got opposite results and again it’s not backed by the research. Same with sexual position - missionary for a girl baby, doggy style deeper penetration for a boy baby to help the faster swimming male sperm real their goal before the girl sperm. There is no harm in trying any of these natural methods, just no guarantees it will work.

When it comes to determining baby’s sex in pregnancy, contrary to popular thinking, sonograms can make mistakes and are not 100% accurate, possible north of 100% when done mid pregnancy, depending on the skill of the sonographer to identify the genitals of boys and girls, as is also effected by baby’s and the umbilical cord’s position. The noninvasive DNA blood test is way more accurate 98-99%, as it detects fetal blood cell chromosomes in maternal blood.

Then there is the magical surprise, not knowing as was done through history until the actual birth, when mama and her partner are encouraged to discover it for themselves. You do not need to go with the modern flow of knowing if you are carrying a boy of girl before birth and “gender“ or sex reveal parties.

I get a kick out of the old wive’s tales about detecting sex in pregnancy - some still currently practiced, like rate of fetal heart, how mama is carrying, what she senses within, and cravings. Some do swear by them, but they are myths, not reliable according to the science, research and literature.

There was actually a study based on mama’s intuition that showed it was correct about half of the time, the same accuracy as flipping a coin.

I knew an obstetrician who said he had some fun with this and made an “educated” guess, was able to detect boy or girl to mamas in his practice, but write the opposite sex in the chart. He was always “right” because either what he told mama was correct, or the opposite was in the chart, she must have been mistaken or heard him incorrectly. They always had a laugh. No reason not to have fun with this.

For more on fertility awareness to boost your chances of getting pregnant naturally, best preconception lifestyle practices read my Natural Birth Secrets book 2nd edition. It is doctor and midwife recommended guide for all stages of birth, from natural family planning and preconception, to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Whether birthing at home, hospital or in a birthing center - even if this is not your first baby - experience the unique approach on how to have a deeply positive, empowered, and joyful journey. Included are effective holistic and natural remedies for common issues.

Once you get pregnant, prepare for the birth of your dreams with my comprehensive holistic online Love Your Birth prep course Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum. I’ve taken everything I’ve learned, trained, and supported women locally for over 28 years in my private practice and I’ve poured all of my love, passion, knowledge, and experience into creating something truly special for you… my new and updated Love Your Birth Pregnancy, Birth & Postpartum Guides. Same Beloved Content Plus Over 20 Added Bonus Videos! Buy Here Now!

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Whether you’re an experienced or new parent, there are hours of videos, workbooks, and PDFs to answer all of your questions. Everything is searchable, so you can just type or talk and it’ll bring you right to the exact moment in the video where I answer your question. It’ll blow your mind! If English is not your strongest language, you can even change the captions or even the audio to the language you prefer. You can get the Love Your Birth Prenatal, Birth & Postpartum Guides - ALL of the guides for a limited-time offer of 50% off -> RIGHT HERE!

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. I give my full heart and all I know in everything I do to support Mommas.

Upright Physiologic Vaginal Breech Birth

So grateful to Dr. David Hayes OBGYN @breechwithoutborders for their amazing continuing education workshop to thoroughly review the data and teach skills of attending vaginal physiologic breech birth globally. Some key take aways are: 📣Modern US clinicians and hospitals, and other countries that follow US, where only cesarean is taught and practiced for breech - please get back your skills and follow ongoing current impressive research and guidelines of other western countries where upright vaginal breech birth is being heavily studied and practiced as the norm, as it has been among community out-of -hospital midwives around the world through history.

More & more mamas don’t want c-section and all the risks associated with major abdominal surgery for them, their babies, and future fertility as the only option, and are seeking safe alternatives. Breech presentation occurs at term ~ 4% of the time ,vast majority are called frank with hips flexed, legs extended upward. Sometimes they can be turned head down to vertex presentation, sometimes they can’t and are breech for a reason. It’s very rare for a term baby to stand in the uterus, presenting one or two feet first - which is usually NOT footling (a common misdiagnosis) but complete or incomplete breech - hips flexed, buttocks in pelvis like a frank breech but one or two legs flexed, with one or two feet dropped down. These presentations in healthy pregnancy are fine candidates for term vaginal breech birth. It’s crucial for providers to know when to keep hands off, support mamas own movement and pushing efforts, upright positioning, how to resolve uncommon stuck arms, shoulders and head behind the pelvic bones, monitor baby’s condition, expedite birth and effectively resuscitate baby if needed.

Significantly less invasive maneuvers are required in physiological breech birth in upright positions with improved outcomes for mamas and babies. For mamas, breech birth is often claimed to be easier than birthing babies in head down position, with less injury to pelvic floor muscles and reduced tearing. Those I’ve attended all went well. The trouble and poor reputation associated with vaginal breech birth are mostly caused by unskilled providers, keeping mama on her back, impatience & pulling - which skewed the data of the older term breech trial they still quote. If you have a persistent breech baby know you have options. Get true informed consent!

If you’ve been told that your baby is breech at your mid pregnancy anatomy scan, know that baby is still swimming and it is likely they will be head down by term. If baby is breech later in the third trimester, don’t freak out. There are many ways to gently and lovingly ease your baby into vertex. Since there is slightly greater risk to breech babies born vaginally and by cesarean, and many people do not have providers near them who are skilled to attend them for a vaginal breech birth, it is ideal to try to encourage baby to turn head down.

Towards the end of pregnancy, the baby settles into its favorite position. Ideally, this position is vertex, meaning that its head is down towards your pelvis and its bottom is high up in your abdomen.

Less commonly, the baby is breech (with its head up and its bottom down towards your pelvis).

It’s not always known why a baby is breech at term. Sometimes it has to do with:

• Relationship between the shape of the baby and the shape of mom’s uterus or pelvic bones

• Location of the placenta

• Issues with the umbilical cord

• Excessive amniotic fluid

• Lax abdominal or uterine muscle tone

Labor and birth does carry more risk of complications when the baby’s head is not down towards the pelvis, even though breech is a variation of normal. So, when a baby is breech by the 30th week of pregnancy they should be encouraged to convert to the ideal vertex position. That said, the majority do turn by themselves at the beginning of the ninth month.

What to do When Baby is Breech

If your baby is breech at 30 weeks, consider doing a couple of the following exercises 10-15 minutes 2-3 times each day until your baby turns.

1. Belly massage. Massage your abdomen GENTLY in the natural direction the baby will turn. But stop if you meet any resistance, and never attempt to forcefully turn the baby yourself.

2. Visualization. Close your eyes and imagine your baby with his or her head moving down in your pelvis.

3. Coaxing. Play classical or relaxing instrumental music by your pelvis, so that the baby will turn towards the soothing sound. Or shine a flashlight by your pelvis, so that the baby may move towards the light.

4. Go for a swim. Swim laps and do some handstands in the pool.

5. Pelvic rocking. Shift your pelvis up and down and side to side while on your hands and knees.

6. Act like an elephant. Walk around the house on your hands and feet.

7. Bridges and inversions. If you have an established yoga practice, go upside down with any of the inversions, using props for supportive modifications. Headstands and downward-facing dogs work wonders.

Beginners should start with bridges. To do this, simply lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor approximately 1 ½ - 2 feet apart and your knees bent. Elevate your hips 9-12 inches higher than your shoulders. You can support yourself in bridge with a yoga block under your sacrum.

Alternatively, lie on your front in the same “upside down” position, keeping your weight on your forearms and knees wide, with your bottom in the air. Lying on three pillows or a beanbag chair can help further elevate your hips.

Or, lie bent over the edge of a sofa or top of a staircase with your legs on the floor and your body lying down the sofa or stairs. Support your body with your hands or forearms so that your torso is inclined upside down.

Gently roll your hips side to side while in any of these positions.

Taking homeopathic Pulsatilla 30C will help the above exercises be more successful. Allow 4-5 pellets to dissolve under your tongue 3 times daily for 3-5 days. As with any homeopathic remedy, avoid eating or drinking for 15-20 minutes before and after.

Natural Remedies for Breech Babies

In addition to exercises that help your baby move into the best birth position, there are a few techniques that can be administered by care providers. If you’ve tried the above suggestions without success, look for a practitioner that practices one of the following.

MOXIBUSTION

Find an Acupuncturist or Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine who has had success turning  breech babies to vertex with moxibustion. The technique involves burning certain herbs close to the skin at specific acupuncture points.

WEBSTER TECHNIQUE

A chiropractor trained in the Webster Technique can use this sacral adjustment to help facilitate the pelvic alignment needed for your baby to get into birth position.

MANUAL TURNING (External Cephalic Version)

If all else fails, you can opt for having your baby turned manually if the right conditions are met (such as no cord around the baby’s neck or short cord, adequate amniotic fluid, and healthy baby as detected on ultrasound with a normal fetal heart beat). Sometimes this is can be easily done in your birth practitioner’s office at 34 -36 weeks, especially in a woman who has delivered vaginally before, while carefully assessing the baby’s heartbeat. It has a high rate of success in skilled hands and supportive conditions.

Experienced midwives can turn breech babies. Most obstetricians prefer to do it in the hospital, often with medication to relax your uterus, ultrasound guidance, and continuous fetal heart monitoring. But it can safely be done out in of hospital settings while monitoring baby.

Ask for a wedge pillow to support you in a tilted pelvic lift position, or a bed that can be placed at an angle, with your legs higher than your head to help baby out of pelvis. Also, having it down while in deep meditation being supported in a pool of water has been effective and a wonderful experience.

Once the baby is turned to the head down position, stop inverting yourself, wear an abdominal binder at all times to prevent the baby from turning back to breech.

If your baby insists on being breech as you approach your due date, discuss your options with your provider. If they are not supportive of your choices for a vaginal breech birth, find a different practitioner, optimally one who has the essential skills and philosophy of birthing breech babies vaginally when appropriate and safe to do so. You can ask for recommendations at Breech Without Borders.

A baby lying in the transverse position, however, can only be delivered safely by cesarean section.

For more information on having the birth of your dreams, check out my Love Your Birth comprehensive signature prep course Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum

If you desire personal guidance, schedule an online or in person coaching call with me.

Gestational Diabetes Screen & Alternatives

Gestational diabetes is rare in the healthy population. Occurring in about 6% of pregnancies, it’s incidence is increasing largely due to the growing obesity, insulin resistance and adult onset diabetes, poor diet and lifestyle habits in the United States. There is much controversy around gestational diabetes, how it is screened for and diagnosed, and whether universal screening improves outcomes as opposed to testing when there are risk factors. If you do have it, however, treatment that includes appropriate actions like maintaining ideal weight, enhancing nutrition and exercise habits does make a significant difference in reducing the serious health consequences for both you and your baby.

In the US, it is standard of care that all women are screened for gestational diabetes at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy, although in some other European countries, only women with risk factors are screened. Screening that is most common involves giving pregnant women a “Glucola” drink that has 50 grams of sugar in the form of dextrose, and then testing blood sugar an hour later. Many holistic providers and the families they serve are concerned about this potentially toxic drink laden with chemicals that may make them feel sick, harm them and their babies, and can be associated with false positives that label them unnecessarily as high risk. This increases stress and angst, leads to more testing, monitoring and potentially other risky interventions. They want alternatives.

While it is within your right to refuse the test, you may want to consider screening for gestational diabetes in another way and discuss your concerns and options with your provider. If your provider is unwilling to work with you on this, consider switching providers to one who will. Although we do not have enough evidence that alternative screens are as accurate as using the more extensively studied Glucola drink to screen for diabetes of pregnancy, alternatives are not to be easily discounted, and may be a viable option in the low-risk healthy population. 

It is recommended according to evidence based care, but you have the right to make an informed decision to decline. The evidence does support screening for diabetes of pregnancy (GDM), as the benefits of accurate diagnosis and treatment outweigh any potential risks of the screening blood test.  Treatment does impove health and birth outcomes, whereas untreated abnormally high blood sugar levels in pregnancy carries substantial risks to mamas and babies. In the early 2000s, the US  only screened those with risk factors, but since the rates of GDM are increasing, and rarely found in those without risk factors, it has become standard to screen everyone. In the UK, only those with risk factors are advised to get the one 3 hour glucose tolerance diagnostic test. There is disagreement on the best screen to use, and what numbers are diagnostic. In the US, standard of care is to use a two step process in which the pregnant mama drinks 50 grams of a Glucola drink made of dextrose and blood is drawn 1 hour later.  Some practitioners and labs use 140 as the cutoff blood sugar level indicating a positive screen others use 135, and some use 130. The lower the cutoff number, the increased number of false positives along with a slight increased ability to diagnose true GDM, whereas the higher the cutoff number the opposite effect can result.  So it depends on the cutoff number your provider and lab uses, each showing different degrees of sensitivity and specificity. Levels of 135-140 are considered normal according to the Mayo Clinic, ADA, ACOG and other highly medical sources.

There is an option for screening for gestational diabetes by home testing. This involves checking your fasting blood sugar at home when you wake up in the morning, and then again 1 hour after eating your usual breakfast, lunch and dinner. While approved for monitoring blood sugar once diagnosed with diabetes, this method of screening is less studied and without clear standards. It is also more cumbersome and costly, as you need to get the supplies to do it, then take the time to get it right and keep records to discuss with your provider at your next prenatal visit. 

I discuss natural alternatives to the chemically laden Glucola drink in my Natural Birth Secrets book 2nd edition….but here are some basic tips if you want a more natural approach.

Alternative Gestational Diabetes Screening Options to Glucola

Starting three days before your appointment, increase complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, sweet potatoes and winter squash.

The meal before the test should only contain protein, vegetables, and unsweetened dairy. A veggie cheese omelet is a great choice! Avoid sweetened foods, fruit, and carbs. If this last meal before the test is lunch or dinner, you can eat a normal breakfast, but avoid carbs or sweets for the rest of the day.

Fresh Test is a new organic alternative that is also said to taste good, with only three ingredients. It has exactly 50-grams of glucose yet is void of unnecessary artificial additives, and is laboratory tested to be virtually equivalent to the Glucola without the unhealthy ingredients. To make your own drink that is most equivalent to Glucola without the chemical additives, dissolve 50 grams of organic dextrose in 8 ounces of water. You will need to do some math. If there are 20 grams of dextrose in 2 Tbsp for example, then you need 5 Tbsp of the powder. You ideally want dextrose, as it is the sugar made from corn that makes up the Glucola drink, and it is most bioidentical to the sugar in your blood called glucose. Therefore, it is the best alternative to screen for gestational diabetes as the standard Glucola drink does, according to the laboratory parameters designed and tested for this purpose.

Another alternative is to drink an equivalent amount of pure corn syrup dissolved in your tea, since the sugar in corn syrup is dextrose. You can find organic non GMO varieties in the health food store, but you still need to do some math, to get 50 grams of sugar total. 

Reputable research indicates that you can instead, eat 28 all natural organic jelly beans or enough that equals 50 grams of sugar, which is studied to be a reliable alternative to the 50 gram glucose beverage. It is not standardized as is the Glucola drink, amounts and types of sugars vary with each product, so you need to do the math and make sure you are eating 50 grams of sugar. The study was relatively small but results can certainly be considered.

Other less ideal options are iced tea, organic Gatorade or a cola drink that has 50 grams of sugar added in the form of added table sugar or dehydrated cane juice (sucrose) - similar to the kind of sugar in jelly beans. They are not a first choice because they are not as extensively researched, the form of sugar is different than dextrose, and thus may have a different effect on your blood sugar levels and test results, designed to screen for diabetes based on your response to dextrose. 

The blood test to screen for gestational diabetes was studied and formulated to test your reaction to ingesting 50 grams of dextrose. Sucrose is made up of 50 % glucose and 50 % fructose. You will need to read ingredients and nutrition labels to use an alternative, an important skill to develop anyway. And you still need to do some math, as the nutrition label might say something like 23 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving. 

When going for sugars that are not dextrose extracted from corn, you can choose any sugar sweetened drink without added fruit juice. Fruit contains a different type of sugar called fructose that makes the test less accurate as it has a different effect on your blood glucose levels than does dextrose and sucrose. If you can not find or have no time to figure it out and have low risk of gestational diabetes, Snapple 16 oz raspberry peach drink is second choice. Although it is mainly sweetened with sugar (sucrose), it does have a little fruit juice, which again is mostly fructose.

Coconut water is another, but less than ideal option, as it contains sugar in the form of mostly sucrose and glucose, and it does have some fructose as in fruit. ZICO coconut water 16.9 ounces has 20 grams of sugar, so you would need to drink 2 ½ bottles. Honey is another alternative, but it is also not made up of an equivalent sugar - it is sucrose and fructose. Again, you need to read the label. Different honeys have different amounts of sugar per serving size. 

Hopefully there will be more studies on these alternatives, but for now, are listed here to consider with your provider, if for some reason you can not take the dextrose or corn syrup equivalent and you are healthy, with healthy weight and lifestyle, with low risk for diabetes. 

45 minutes before your appointment, eat the jelly beans or drink an amount that equals 50 grams total of sugar, then nothing until the blood test, which will be drawn 1 hour after you consumed the drink or candy.

If you have time, do some form of exercise like taking a brisk walk for 20-30 minutes after drinking, but before the test.

Bring a high protein, whole carbohydrate and healthy fat snack to eat after the test if needed, to keep blood sugar stable. This will help you avoid unpleasant symptoms once your blood sugar drops, like shakiness, lightheadedness, fatigue, anxiety and irritability.

Rest assured, most healthy pregnant women (about 94%) do not have gestational diabetes. A positive screen simply means you need more testing to confirm it or rule it out. And if you do have it, you can learn how to keep your blood sugar normal throughout the rest of your pregnancy and life. 

If you need more guidance,  schedule a coaching call with me.

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