Birth Announcement

Announcing the birth of

HappyMomma Truffles™... A Birth Story©
Kim Collins, DoulaMomma & Gayle Lemke, Shakti Ma were talking about chocolate causing the release of Oxytocin, the love hormone. Kim wondered about combining Red Raspberry Leaf tea (a uterine tonic for reproductive health), Nettle and chocolate to make a treat for women, perfect for pregnancy and birth. Gayle agreed and said “Let’s do it”. So they met with local handmade chocolatier Nadine Kerstan, Chololate Polka Dot & these truffles were born!

HappyMomma Truffles™ can be specially ordered...contact Kim.

Study finds vaginal birth makes for more responsive mothers initially

The study, as seen here and here, reminds us why we must seek to avoid unnecessary cesareans and promote a less technocratic model of birth. Of course this is not all new information, we have seen related ideas in the works of Sarah J. Buckley, Michel Odent & others. It means we need to find ways to get moms and babies reunited as soon as possible after necessary cesareans (all 10-15% of them) and give additional attention with lactation support and other care to try to guard against the potential fallout from a cesarean (or for that matter, plain ol' intervention-filled birth of any kind).

"We found a significant difference in activity in certain cortical and subcortical areas of the brain in this group of mothers who delivered vaginally compared with those who delivered by cesarean section. Broadly speaking, the cortical brain regions are believed to be important for regulating emotions and empathy," principal investigator James Swain, MD, PhD, FRCPS, told Medscape Psychiatry.

....While the mechanism is not entirely clear, researchers believe vaginal stimulation caused by vaginal delivery results in the release of oxytocin, a neuropeptide that is a key mediator of maternal behavior in animals.

Cesarean section, said Dr. Swain, may alter the neurohormonal experience of childbirth and therefore may decrease the responsiveness of the human maternal brain in the early postpartum.

The investigators are currently looking at 3- to 4-month postpartum data to determine whether these effects of vaginal delivery on the maternal brain endure. Although the final analyses are not complete, Dr. Swain said preliminary analysis in this healthy group indicates the contrast between the 2 groups may not persist, suggesting that mothers who deliver via cesarean section may eventually "catch up" to those who deliver vaginally.

-- Medscape Medical News

nice turn out

Good to see all the ladies who came out to the birth open house today at Shakti. It was cool to meet these (obviously self-selecting) women where are open to change or doing what it might take to have the births they want.
And the chocolate truffles by a local chocolatier, (Nadine Kerstan/Chocolate Polka Dot) on which Gayle Lemke (director of Shakti Ma) and I collaborated were fantastic! Remember, chocolate helps get the oxytocin flowing!

For more of those truffles and more empowering information on birth, don't forget to save the date & register for the October 12th event we are doing at SOPAC: "Conception, Pregnancy & Birth ...the journey that shapes our lives", with screenings of Orgasmic Birth & The Business of Being Born, and what promises to be a mind-blowing seminar with Anna Verwaal.

Scroll down to the bottom of this blog page to see all the details.

Like Oxytocin For Chocolate

I was just speaking with a pregnant mom who was beating herself up for her chocolate cravings and hunger level in general. She's fit and quite slim, but her current care provider (wrongly) suggested to her that pregnant women should gain no more than 20 - 25 pounds...well, that's a topic for another day, but I assured her that she should not be restricting healthy food, as she's growing a human being, so it makes sense that she's hungry!...And some chocolate can actually be good for us. Not only that, but it can help get our brain in the blissful place it needs to be to conceive, give birth to and mother a baby. It's all about the oxytocin!
Plus, doesn't it make sense that experiencing joy is good for growing a baby?