
Current Events: Structural Racism and Maternal Morbidity
Once a month we discuss current events in maternal health care. In this installment, we look at a study conducted to quantify the rates of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) based on the intersection of race/ethnicity and insurance status to see how they may impact structural racism. Keep reading for more …

Pelvic Mobility on Birth Ball
Pelvic Mobility Pelvic mobility is critical for comfort and for supporting your body’s ability to adapt throughout pregnancy and the immediate postpartum. Pelvic mobility is also vitally important for labor and delivery. Labor is a dance between mom and baby. Ideally, baby is head down and sort of corkscrewing …

Abdominal Massage
Abdominal massage is an old practice and remains beneficial. Abdominal massage can enhance circulation, release oxytocin, and enhance healing. This is best done lying down with knees bent or a pillow under your knees. Use your favorite oil like sesame or castor oil. We try to stay away from coconut …

5 Tips to Help with Nausea and Fatigue in the First Trimester
NAUSEA and FATIGUE often greet women in the first trimester. For the majority of pregnancies, nausea will disappear by the second trimester. Nausea and fatigue only stick around for the second and third trimesters for 9% of pregnancies (Lily Nichols Blog). Here are 5 tips to help …

Three Things to Keep Your Sanity During COVID
COVID has impacted this country beyond words and shaken our infrastructure to its core. It’s made us question many things, asked us to reprioritize, and placed heavier demands on everyone. It’s easy to see how a substantial amount of this new burden is falling on women and mothers. Many women …

Spinal Range of Motion for Pregnancy and Postpartum
This video demonstrates the general spinal range of motion for the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine. This movement is ideal for anyone postpartum and anyone in their first trimester. We love this movement for postpartum rehab to bring back awareness around strength and stability. The segmentation of this movement allows …

Current Events in Maternal Health Care: November 2020
Once a month we discuss current events in maternal health care. In this installment, we look at a report on associations between maternal and paternal common mental disorders (CMD) before and during pregnancy and offspring preterm birth (PTB) and small for gestational age (SGA). Keep reading for more details! …

B!RTHF!T + WHOOP
BIRTHFIT has recently partnered with WHOOP to optimize training performance and recovery for our clients. WHOOP is a wearable performance tracking band that measures strain, sleep, respiratory rate, and heart rate variability. Currently, there is little data on strength and conditioning training for women, and even less on pregnancy and …

Top 4 Warning Signs for PMADs (Perinatal and Postpartum Mood Anxiety Disorders)
In the past ten years of working with clients during the motherhood transition, we have had the honor of supporting people through many highs and lows. We’ve had the opportunity to observe many warning signs for PMADs early on so that we could ensure support. The motherhood transition can be …