Our deeper understandings of birth may come to us from the most unexpected sources, and at the most unanticipated times. During a stretch when I was selling insurance, I found myself in a very unusual place: a stud farm for some of the most valuable horses in the world. One of the stalls emanated energy that felt like so much like birth, I peeked in the large horse box. It was a familiar scene, but with a four-legged mama; a swollen mare was pacing restlessly in the afternoon quiet, deeply breathing and blowing. Her unborn foal was already worth about three million dollars (in 1990 dollars!) because of the lineage it shared with two Triple Crown winners. As horseman explained the barn birth I was about to see, it was entirely shocking how MUCH better it was than humans experience in modern hospitals!

Canker sores are small mouth lesions that unfortunately cause great pain! They often last a few weeks, but here are many approaches that you can add to your family’s ‘natural medicine chest’ to ease the pain, speed healing and prevent reoccurrence.

The adrenals produce over 50+ different hormones which affect nearly every system and organ of the body. Our capacity to handle stress is greatly reduced when these glands become dysfunctional, they dysregulate in response to the extreme pressure to produce enough of the body’s primary anti-stress hormone, cortisol. Here are the epidemic symptoms that nearly everyone seems to have, and four simple things you can do today to start restoring healthy adrenal function.

Here’s a quick summary of the PFAS issue, and natural options to effectively relieve our bodies of PFAS’s toxic accumulation and reduce our continued exposure. Tap water is confirmed to be a major source of contamination, and there is specific mineral supplementation to consider in helping to shift the bio-burden of PFAS out of the body.

Pure, clean air is increasingly less common, which is challenging our families’ health. Whether from large scale wildfires to industrial pollution, having some options and idea available will improve your kid’s health, lower anxiety for all, and support your informed and proactive protection. Download our free eBook, “How to Protect Your Family From Poor Air Quality, Naturally!”

Adrenal deficiency is a very real effect of the modern life we’re living, and the consequences include symptoms that are now rampant among my midwifery clients, such as disrupted sleep, anxiety, racing thoughts, heart palpitations, allergies, elevated blood pressure, depression, headaches, and decreased tolerance to stress, just to name a few. The very good news is that real change can be felt quickly through precise supplementation and small changes made with awareness. The first step is to have a new understanding about the scope of stress that is our life - let’s start with this fascinating ‘stress inventory’ that you can take right here!

Mothers & babies sometimes struggle with yeast or thrush infections after birth. These fungal overgrowths are much more common now than even in the last decade, due in large part to the routine use of antibiotics at birth at least 30% of the time. While yeast is not usually a ‘serious’ problem, it can cause a very serious level of discomfort and pain for mothers and babies both. The infant’s digestion may be disrupted over the long term, and if they are being breastfed, mama’s commitment to breastfeed may also erode.

“What life skills are your kids working on? What do you think 10-year-olds should be able to do?” It’s no secret that it’s a crazy, challenging, full-time job raising our children to be capable, contributing adults. And in the rush of coping and surviving, it's super easy to feel overwhelmed in that critical middle ground where our children develop essential life skills . I’d call it the window between the delight of infants starting to walk, and the anxiety of teens starting to drive. Yet, it's during the stress of everyday life that these practical skills are cultivated and honed.

Herbal baths have traditionally been used by midwives to help mothers and babies soothe and heal after birth. Sometimes however, birth does not go as hoped and planned. There may be grief about small details, or tremendous pain from difficult circumstances. It was in response to these challenging times that mothers and I came up with “The Do-Over Bath.” In this case, the herbal bath is also used as a ceremonial time to honor the closing of a chapter, and to make room for an emotional reset.

Cleavers also known as Lady’s Bedstraw, has a long history of use in folk medicine. Cleavers ability to assist in moving lymph and breaking up fibrous tissue makes it a wonderful herb to be considered when there are fibrocystic breasts with cysts or other congestion in the lymphatic system. It is mild, entirely non-toxic, easy to harvest, and is actually very valuable plant medicine. Cleavers are considered very helpful for mastitis or other swollen lymph in the breast.