A quality childbirth education class can help you have a more symbiotic relationship with your chosen birthing location.
In Finding Nemo, Marlin explains to his son Nemo that rubbing his body on the sea anemone that is their home helps make sure that the anemone won’t sting them when they go in and out of its tentacles. The anemone usually stings its prey before devouring it, but has a symbiotic (friendly) relationship with the clown fish that uses the anemone as their home. The clown fish get protected from other predators and the anemone gets some essential nutrients from the clown fish, all because they come together to change each others’ skin microbiome (read more science-y stuff here). What does this all have to do with learning about giving birth to human babies in childbirth education courses? I’ll tell you three ways!
1. Expectations
Knowing what to expect, especially from something that could sting you, really helps you be more satisfied with the process. Going into birth without knowing what to expect can set you up to get shocked by all the things that can and do happen. No matter where you are planning to give birth, setting your own expectations for how things could go is going to help you be better at going with the flow of birth. Taking a quality childbirth education course helps you and your partner work together better on the big day, and helps you partner with your provider because you anticipate what is coming next. Being knowledgeable about the process eases anxiety for some people too, and that’s a great thing.
2. Needs
The clown fish and anemone each give something needed to each other in their partnership; it benefits them both. Understanding the needs that you will have in labor and how the people around you can help meet them is part of any great childbirth education class. How do you like to be touched during stressful times if at all? How do you communicate your needs to your partner when you can’t speak? What are the needs of your hospital/birth center/birth team when you arrive as far as paperwork, blood work, exams, etc? Knowing before you go or before your team arrives to your house for your delivery, helps everyone be on the same page. The better the understanding of needs for everyone in the room, the better the partnership. An excellent childbirth education course can help everyone get their needs met when it comes to the big day, and even afterwards
3. Learn from Others’ Experience
How do clown fish learn to rub themselves on the anemone to not get stung? They learn from other fishes experience. (Though clearly someone had to be the first fish to figure this out and also first human to give birth, but I think you get what I’m trying to say here.) Certified childbirth educators are experienced not only in teaching childbirth education, but also in adult learning principles and techniques. Having taught both children and adults, I can say that without a doubt, they are NOT the same! Learning from an experienced and independent childbirth educator means that their content is not only evidence-based but they can also teach you about ALL the options, even those that aren’t as common (or even offered) in different birthing locations or with different providers.
When you are expecting a baby, taking a quality childbirth education course is a real must. Taking a childbirth education class promotes a lovely symbiotic relationship & helps you know who to navigate the twists and turns of labor and delivery together. In 2024, the Doula Group of Evansville will be offering in-person childbirth education courses again!! I’ll be announcing dates soon, so be on the lookout!!
I’ve learned a few things that I want you to know!
In 2014 I became a birth doula, and I’ve since attended more than 200 births at 7 different hospitals in this area. I’ve attended home births where the baby showed up before the midwife, planned cesarean births in the OR, amazing VBACs with (and without epidurals), and soo many variations between. I’ve learned some things that can be helpful for you to know, & I want to share them with you!
Hillary Melchiors PhD, MPH, LCCE, CD(DONA)
My name is Hillary. I have a whole lot of letters after my name, but I’m really the most proud of all the families that I’ve had the privilege to serve in my capacity as a birth doula. I’m the manager here at Doula Group of Evansville too, which is honestly so much fun!
In this online class, you’ll learn about different local birthing locations and what tools they have to help you during labor and delivery. Do you know which providers share call with each other and who else might be there helping at your delivery? What are the differences between locations for birth and postpartum? What about your rights as a patient? What does informed consent look like and how can you advocate for yourself? This class will also go over routine care and how to ask great questions to get the care you need.
One thing I want you to know even if you don’t come to the class: YOU are the boss! You make the calls when it comes to your care and consent is an on-going process. Nobody should do anything to your body or baby without your express enthusiastic consent. If rights are something you are really interested in learning more about, you should check out this class by Birth Monopoly. I’ve taken it and definitely learned so much helpful information as a birth worker:
I hope to see you on Monday 2/28/22 for this class, but if you can’t make it, don’t despair! I will be recording the class & it will be free to watch for anyone who signed up before the recording. I want this information out in the world to benefit our local birthing parents. I want everyone to know all their options and how they compare. I want everyone to know their rights as patients & have great conversations with their provider. This class is a step in that direction, & I hope you’ll join me.
Adding value to your experience is what doulas do, and in 2022 we are expanding to help our clients even more. We’re excited about a couple of additions to our birth doula package that we really think are going to be helpful for our clients. These are of course in addition to what was already included, and partly to fill in some gaps that will help us serve you better too.
First, we have added a client workbook! We purchased a beautifully designed workbook from our doula friend Victoria Wilson at Mother Well Doula, because we honestly love what she put in there. This workbook will help our clients throughout their pregnancy with excellent advice, and will help your birth doula know how you’d like to be supported. I was especially excited that Victoria quoted a very famous medical anthropology study in the workbook! I added a few little touches to the workbook to make it more our style, but I promise you are going to love these 42 pages of ideas, questions, & activities that will get you thinking and talking about your birth.
Cover of our birth doula client workbook
The other exciting additions we have added to our birth doula packages come from another doula and childbirth educator friend: Alice Turner! All of our 2022 doula packages now include 2 online courses created by Alice: Supporting Her & Birth Tool Box! These two classes would be $78 to purchase on their own, and they are now included for all our birth doula clients. We know that a quality childbirth education course can help clients feel prepared for pregnancy, labor, delivery, & postpartum too. Birth Tool Box is a full evidence-based online childbirth education class that is ready to watch whenever you have time! We’ve also seen some pretty amazing partners who would really like to learn specifically how to be more supportive for labor and delivery. The Supporting Her online class will help them learn all kinds of techniques and tips for helping on the big day.
FREE Access for Doula Group of Evansville Birth Doula Clients ($78 value)
The Doula Group of Evansville 2022 Birth Doula Package includes:
FREE interview to choose your birth doula
2 prenatal meetings with your chosen birth doula
Unlimited support via phone, text, email
Online client resource classroom
Birth Doula Workbook
FREE access to Birth Tool Box & Supporting Her
1 meeting with a postpartum doula
In-person birth doula support for labor and delivery
1 postpartum visit from your birth doula
We’re so excited to be able to keep expanding our offerings to help birthing families here in the tri-state area. We attend births at 7 local hospitals and work as a team to make sure that you will always have a qualified and approved birth doula to support you at your birth. We would LOVE to talk to you about how a birth doula can support your family as you journey from expecting to beginning.
This training will change the way you think about helping pregnant people!
Mark your calendar, because we are soooo excited to announce that we are hosting a Spinning Babies training for birth professionals on Saturday March 12, 2022!!
Spinning Babies is a unique approach to birth developed by midwife Gail Tulley that uses movement and positioning to help humans birth babies more easily. You can read so much more about the approach on the website, but I am here to tell you that I have been a HUGE fan of SB ever since I first became a doula. I regularly use many of these techniques like side-lying release & shake the apple tree! The SB website is one of my go-to sources, and honestly I’m so excited to get to do some hands-on learning with the widely traveled and revered trainer Tammy Ryan.
I love the approach of figuring out how technology and nature can work together to make birth better. I’ve been dreaming of getting a training here in Evansville! I know we’re going to have great interest from nurses, midwives, doulas, chiropractors, doctors, and so many more who can benefit from learning these techniques and upping their skills to help even more. I would be absolutely happy to talk to you about why I think this is an important training for Evansville, IN especially!
Don’t wait!
Spots will be limited to 30 participants for this one day training! There is an early-bird discount of course. We would LOVE to see you there if you are a birth professional nearby. (Psst, if you’re coming in from out of town, let us know and we’d love to meet you too!) We’re excited to host this event for our birthing community here in Southern Indiana!!
Mandy Rodenberg now has her prenatal yoga classes online in a FREE YouTube channel.
So many in-person events have been cancelled during this pandemic, and prenatal yoga has unfortunately been one of them for safety concerns. Mandy Rodenberg turned that lemon into some great lemonade by recording her yoga classes for students to watch and move along with her for FREE on YouTube! The first time I met Mandy, I felt and instant connection with her, and I am certainly not alone. I have had so many clients tell me that her soothing calm voice helped them during their pregnancy, and her prenatal yoga classes are an amazing chance for them to connect with their bodies and their babies. Mandy is a gifted yoga instructor, and all around fantastic human. Mandy let me ask her a few questions, and I think you can see from her answers why so many people love her.
Q & A:
Doula Group of Evansville: Why are you passionate about the restorative and healing properties of yoga practice, especially for the perinatal period?
Mandy: During my 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2009, we were asked to write a paper on ways yoga benefits and heals the body from injury. My teacher at the time allowed me to instead write about how yoga movements ease a mother throughout pregnancy and childbirth. My research solidified my passion for helping bring yoga together with the most life changing and amazing experience a woman will go through. Prenatal yoga will help moms start to understand the connection of mind and body and how and what movements make her body feel safe and nurtured and comfortable. She can use these tools to breath through a tough labor or even preparation for caesarian. She will learn to mother herself.
Doula Group of Evansville: What special training have you taken for prenatal yoga instruction & why is that important?
Mandy: I completed my 200 hour teaching certification in 2010 here in Evansville with Chris Crews as my teacher. Before I was even pregnant, I participated in a prenatal yoga class with another local teacher, Leslie Ward. I began teaching prenatal yoga in 2011, 6 months after giving birth to my daughter. In 2015, when I traveled to visit friends in Denver, Colorado I completed my Prenatal Yoga Certification at Belly Bliss Yoga. The training empowered me to focus on what pregnant mothers CAN do, instead of focusing on what they can’t. The teachers covered more that just the basics of yoga. One taught us about birth trauma and how to listen without taking on the emotions, but witnessing them for her. One afternoon class was all about the benefits of doulas and they put us through a simulation to help us to better understand the empowerment a doula gives the mom. The training was so much more than I expected. Truly though, my best teachers are my pregnant moms. By them reaching out to me, letting me know their own struggles and discomforts, I am able to be a better teacher. I usually teach live classes in 6 week sessions, and no two have been the same in all 5 years. I did also have the pleasure of teaching while I was pregnant with my second child, that was the best.
Mandy Rodenberg, prenatal yoga expert
Doula Group of Evansville: What sparked your interest in creating a YouTube channel to house such awesome resources?
Mandy: My husband, Andrew, and I both teach yoga at several locations here in Evansville. We were both home during the shut down in March and were wondering how we could continue to stay connected to our clients. We decided to try making videos that we could make available to everyone. We have resumed some in-person classes this past summer, but we have some clients that don’t feel safe returning to class. With our videos we hope to stay connected to our clients in hopes they do return to class when they feel safe. My prenatal yoga classes at Deaconess Women’s Hospital have not yet resumed since the shut down. The need to limit the number of people coming into the hospital is paramount to the safety of moms and babies, so all classes have been canceled for the time being. This year has been so stressful for everyone, I knew pregnant moms would need yoga and relaxation now more than ever.
Doula Group of Evansville: How did your own pregnancies, births, and postpartum experience influence your yoga practice?
Mandy: I am an anxious person, and had no idea until my first yoga class. I sat on my mat with my legs crossed and the instructor said to quiet your mind and focus on my breath. I had no idea that I was thinking all of the time. I still struggle with it. That was my biggest challenge with the birth of my first child, just trying to fully relax, to give in. I was fortunate to have great birth experiences with the support of my husband though. My pregnancies were both pretty blissful. I walked 3 miles nearly everyday and practiced my yoga, more so with my first pregnancy for obvious reasons. My second pregnancy I had the wonderful opportunity to teach prenatal yoga to a lovely group of mommas. I loved how we all mothered and supported each other. They would call me afterward to talk about their birth and give me support for my big day, which by the way I was still nervous about even though it was my second birth. My experiences guided me to form a style of yoga that simply focused on learning how to make your own body feel better through movement and relaxation. Sure my practice builds strength and flexibility too, but listening to your own body’s cues is what will help you through your toughest moments in labor, birth, and even motherhood. Yoga has helped me in every aspect of my life, but especially for motherhood. The postpartum period, or fourth trimester was really challenging for me. I realized that I just couldn’t do everything I could before. I think of my yoga practice the same way. I do what I can and when I can’t always roll out my mat, I try to be kind to myself about it. It’s hard. We moms have so much on our plate. I try to live my yoga, by breathing at traffic lights, watching my children play, enjoying nature, and trying to be in this moment.
Doula Group of Evansville: What is your favorite way to connect with clients in a virtual space?
Mandy: I have so far had most of my connections with clients through facebook messenger and posts. It warms my heart to have someone describe to me how they benefited from one of my classes. Comments help me to understand my audience’s needs. You can always click on the like button at the bottom of the screen and subscribe to my channel. Likes show me the most popular videos, and I can make more like them. You can leave me more personalized feedback in the comment section below on each video. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for this opportunity, Hillary to connect with moms. Ladies, you are in good hands with The Doula Group!
Prenatal Yoga Benefits
According to the Mayo Clinic, Prenatal Yoga has the following benefits to practitioners:
improved sleep
reduced stresss and anxiety
increased strength, flexibility, & endurance of muscles needed for childbirth
decreased lower back pain, nausea, headaches, and shortness of breath
Online learning is so quickly becoming the norm, even for childbirth classes. We are looking forward to a time when we can meet in person, but for now, online learning is where it is. We know that you will find Mandy’s YouTube channel a great stand-in until she can resume teaching in-person prenatal yoga classes. Have you tried prenatal yoga?
Evidence-based online courses for learning about childbirth, feeding your baby, and postpartum planning.
Everything might feel upside down right now, but learning what you need to know when you are expecting doesn’t have to be a scramble! In the past few years, there has been a wealth of information for expecting families that has moved online. I know that online learning isn’t everyone’s preferred method, BUT it can be really great, not just for times when we are in the midst of a pandemic. Online learning can be a great way to work around busy schedules. It also allows you to learn about things privately that you might not want to discuss in front of a group of strangers. Learning about what to expect is a great way to mitigate fears.
I have searched the internet and found some great online courses for learning that I am honestly excited to recommend to you. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it will definitely get you started in looking at online courses. (Full disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission if you click through and buy things.) I am only posting links to evidence-based courses that I am happy to send my clients. I will try to keep updating this list when I find more great online classes too!
Childbirth Education
Lamaze has 6 different online courses for expecting parents:
Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC): Informed and Ready here
If you are looking for a great overview, you should check out Alice Turner’s FREE class Birth A to Z here. This is filled with videos about all kinds of topics that you might not find in every birth class.
The Birth Nurse has an entire Lamaze course already online, if that is something you have been searching for. She also co-teaches a live class called Fearless Birth, Delivered where you get a fun box of tools in the mail and live instruction. You can save money on both these courses by using the coupon code: BIRTHGEEKS. Mandy’s YouTube Channel is chock full of information too!!
If you are looking for a more comprehensive online learning class with a natural focus, you should check out the Giving Birth Naturally Courses here. I have also had clients rave about Mama Natural’s online childbirth education course that you can find here.
Thinking about trying out hypnosis for labor? Check out this course by the Positive Birth Company here. This class is inexpensive and includes printable content as well as downloadable tracks to listen to in labor.
Supporting Your Partner
Adriana Lozada, of the Birthful Podcast fame, has this great course that promises to take partners from clueless to “I got this!” Check out The Birth Partner’s Ultimate Labor Support Toolkit here.
If you loved Birth A to Z with Alice, you should definitely check out her course just for partners called Supporting Her here. She’s even added a new labor practice module recently due to the pandemic!
Feeding Baby
Bonnie Holt Logsdon is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant that I know in Louisville, & she has some great new online courses to check out here. These include a FREE 2 hour breastfeeding basics class, as well as low cost classes on back to work pumping & starting solids too.
Lactation Link has some great classes too that you can find here on brestfeeding basics, hurdles & how-tos, & pumping and storing breast milk too. You can get 15% off their courses when you use this coupon code: doulagroupofevansville15.
If you want to learn more about feeding your little humans, first of all you should go follow the Feeding Littles pages all over social media, because they are great for information! But if you want to learn more about feeding babies and toddlers the healthy way, check out their online courses here. You can use our coupon code for $10 off the courses too: DOULAGROUPOFEVANSVILLE
Postpartum
Oh yeah, there are courses for that too! Adriana Lozada has a postpartum planning worksheet that you can get just by giving her your email address here. She also has a great class called Thrive With Your Newborn: Postpartum Prep Course that you should check out here.
Online learning options have come so far recently. I hope you will consider checking these things out, especially if your planned class got cancelled recently due to COVID-19. Preparing for birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum helped ease my anxiety and take some of the worry out of it all. I hope that these classes will be able to do the same for you.
If these online learning opportunities still leave you wondering how they compare to our local options, I would love to talk to you! As a doula and childbirth educator in Evansville since 2014, I am a professional at helping people navigate the local birthing scene. Happy learning!
Learning about helpful tools for birth before you get there can mean you know what to ask for and how to use the things available to you! This can improve your confidence and birth experience.
Not all labors and deliveries are the same, but using tools can be a great thing for almost every birth. The same tools don’t work for every situation but learning what is available, when, and how to use them is really helpful! **Don’t worry, none of the tools in the picture are used for labor or delivery.** No matter where you are planning to give birth, there are tools that you can use. These are my top 3 most helpful tools for birth!
The Birth Ball
The birth ball is really just an exercise ball that gets a fancier name in labor and delivery. There are a ton of ways to use the birth ball during pregnancy, labor, & postpartum. These are very versatile and helpful tools for birth. You can use it by sitting and bouncing with less upward pressure while you still have a baby inside. You can lean on it. Kicking it works too. You can do all kinds of things with this ball. (I advise against sit-ups on it while in labor.) The birth ball opens up your pelvis and keeps you out of bed while laboring. Moving your hips in a circular motion keeps you moving too. I’ve had several clients just want to bounce on it in labor. I spent months postpartum bouncing on a ball to keep my firstborn happy. Ask for the ball when you arrive at the hospital! If you are planning a home birth, you should plan to purchase one in the right size for you.
Peanut Ball
Every time I see a yellow peanut ball, I cannot help but think of minions while simultaneously wanting to draw a monocle on them. Peanut balls might look funny, but there is science behind these amazingly helpful tools for birth. Contrary to what some might believe, you can absolutely use a peanut ball if you do not have an epidural! They are great for parents with epidurals too though. Peanut balls help keep your pelvis open while you are resting. There are all kinds of positions for using this ball. Learning about how to use it to shorten your labor before you go is a great thing to do. Seriously, ask for the peanut ball! I will warn you that if you don’t have an epidural, using a peanut ball can be uncomfortable, but it can also be very effective.
Bed + Squat Bar
Staying out of bed is a great thing for while you are laboring, but hospital beds can also be helpful. I love to request the squat bar attachment to the bed for laboring and pushing. I also like to call them Go-Go-Gadget Beds because of how many different positions and options they have. This is why the whole bed plus the squat bar is really a helpful tool for birth. Squatting has all kinds of benefits for birth, but it can be exhausting if you try to do it without breaks or without preparing yourself. You can even use a squatting position for pushing or wrap a sheet around the bar to pull on while you lean back. There are lots of possibilities when you know your options and how to use them.
FYI: If you are planning a home birth, finding places to squat and learning to do a supported squat with your partner or doula are great alternatives to the bed. Looking around your house and finding places to do all the best birth positions is something I always like to do at prenatal visits with home birth clients. Bonus: your midwife might bring along some of the things from my wish list below!
Ropes or silks from the ceiling for more upright birth positions
Can you think of more tools you wish you had access to for your birth?
The bottom line is this: There is no one set of helpful tools for birth that will work for everyone. Having more tools in your tool box and knowing how to use those can give you more options. Practice using these tools if you can, or even just watch some helpful videos. You can bring more tools with you too if you’d like. Heck, even dancing can be a helpful for birth!
If you’d like to come learn more coping techniques, including getting to practice with these balls before labor, we have a class for that! Spend 3 hours on a Saturday morning learning more tools and non-medical coping techniques for labor and delivery. Here are the dates and links to sign up if you are interested:
An excellent childbirth education class is worth your time and money! Learning about the path that many have trodden before you is a GREAT thing to do. Evidence-based childbirth education classes help parents prepare for labor and birth by teaching pain-management strategies, while also providing information on informed consent for the pre-labor and labor processes. Classes can help instill confidence in parents’ abilities to cope with labor, which is pretty priceless! Childbirth education helps lower fear and anxiety regarding labor and birth, and has been shown to be a critical factor in reducing early elective delivery by induction. Don’t just take my word for it, read the policy brief that my certifying organization wrote. Not all childbirth education classes are the same, which is great because not everyone learns the same way or needs/wants to know the same information.
January 25th-31st is International Childbirth Education Week
2020 is the very first year of celebration for International Childbirth Education Week. I am so very proud to have helped start this movement & to be one of the first endorsers of this important week. Childbirth educators are special people that love to talk about the pelvis and cardinal movements. We love to dispel myths about childbirth and set the record straight when we hear or read people spreading misinformation. My style is more to pull the listener to the side to say, “you know that’s not really how that works,” and then explain what I know, rather than trying to correct someone’s grandma who just told them to rough up their nipples with a towel. (That’s totally not something you need to do BTW!)
I LOVE teaching childbirth education classes!
Those little A-HA moments are priceless. I love helping students know all their options. Helping people grow their resource list for who to ask and where to go is great too. A skeptical student converted when they try a double hip squeeze is awesome! There is nothing like the faces of satisfied students who feel more confident. Their emails with baby pictures and birth stories touch my heart.
Upcoming classes
I am currently only teaching private childbirth education classes that include 6 very full hours of instruction in my office space or your home. A 96 page binder full of information, handouts, & worksheets is included. Relaxation techniques, massage, movement, positions, & how to use tools will of course also be covered. I promise we’ll practice the breathing techniques that everyone seems to expect from Lamaze too. You can find more information on pricing and contact us here if you are interested.
If group classes are more your thing, in 2020 we have 4 group classes scheduled for “Natural Coping Techniques for Labor and Delivery.” This is a 3 hour class where we focus on how to deal with contractions without pain medication. This is not a “tell you what to do” kind of class. This is more of a “give you some ideas” kind of class. Importantly, it also includes snacks & is only $30/couple. Here are the links to sign up if you’d like to join us for a Saturday in 2020:
Taking a childbirth education class is something that everyone should try. Even if you hate it, at least you and your partner will have something to laugh about on the way home. There are a ton of online options too if in-person isn’t you thing, and FREE ones too. Here is the Lamaze FREE class on increasing labor confidence and here is my friend Alice’s FREE online class Birth A to Z! No matter what kind of childbirth education classes you choose, INFORM YOURSELF!! You will increase your confidence even just to ask more questions, and that’s a good thing!
A recent study found that taking a childbirth education class improves birth outcomes. People who took a childbirth education class in this study were three times more likely to have a vaginal birth. Taking a childbirth education class helps improve confidence and skills for coping with labor and delivery. Childbirth education is still important, no matter what kind of birth you are planning.
Group & Private Classes Available
Coping with Labor Naturally is a 3 hour group class that covers the basics you need. The next one will be Saturday February 8th, 9am-noon, and you can sign up here. I will also teach this class in April, July, & October in 2020, so stay tuned if you are interested but not quite ready to sign up yet. This is a great class to bring your partner so they can learn ways to help you in labor. You will also learn which tools to bring with you and which to request when you get to the hospital.
If group classes aren’t your thing, maybe a full private childbirth education class would be right for you. Full private childbirth education classes have 6 hours of private instruction in your home or at my office space. I am a Lamaze certified childbirth educator who only uses evidence-based information. Yes, we will talk about the hee-hee-hoo-hoo breathing, but I cover everything from pregnancy nutrition to birthing positions to postpartum healing. I’m also an experienced birth doula, so I know the ins and outs of the local birthing scene too. This 6 hour class comes with a 96 page spiral-bound book of handouts and articles packed full of information for parents too!
I also have the option of a private 3 hour birth planning only session. This class is easy to customize for your needs and specific situation. I’m happy to cover whichever topics you might be interested in learning about, and help you come up with a plan. This is a great option for people who might be shy or have a very specific situation that needs specific information. This is also a great option for those birthing at home, who might want all the comfort techniques and help writing a transfer birth plan. Contact us directly to schedule a class and get more information!
Online Options
Maybe you’re really busy and would prefer an online option? Lamaze has some great online courses that are inexpensive and evidence-based.
Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC): Informed and Ready here
There are other online courses as well that I like, but I will say that most people benefit from some in-person, hands-on learning too. No matter how you choose to learn, taking the time to prepare for childbirth is a GOOD thing to do. Refreshing your knowledge and skills, even if this isn’t your first birth, are also good uses of your time and energy. I’m always happy to recommend books to read too! Childbirth education is important. Childbirth education is helpful. Childbirth education is worth your time.
Maybe it is all the feasting we do around this time of year or the wonderful possibilities of a fresh start in the coming new year, but I always start to rethink my fitness routines and nutrition strategies. For my final local connection blog post of the year, I want to introduce you to my friend Casey Thomas-Hardesty of Two Peas Wellness. Casey possesses a wealth of information about health, nutrition, and fitness. Growing a human is hard work, and Casey helps you feel better both during and after pregnancy, no matter how long it has been.
Casey Thomas-Hardesty is a mom of 3, certified Nutritional Therapy Consultant, Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism Coach, and the owner of Two Peas Wellness, LLC. Her mission is to help you take the stress out of nutrition and fitness, heal your relationship with your body, and gain knowledge to make confident and informed decisions for your health and happiness. She specializes in gut health, core and pelvic floor health, and pregnancy and postpartum nutrition and fitness.
I asked Casey a few questions to help us get to know her and Two Peas Wellness a little better:
1. What is your favorite thing about your job? I absolutely love when I see women learning to trust their bodies again. When they aren’t scared to move, can do activities they love but were previously told were out of reach, or when they gain freedom in their food choices. It’s so rewarding to me to watch them grow.
2. What do you wish people knew about your business? I wish women knew the importance of having a properly trained coach for their prenatal fitness and postpartum recovery, no matter if they are a high level athlete, weekend warrior, or a mom that just wants to be able to chase after her kids. Research clearly shows that fitness and movement is important during this chapter, but we are learning that HOW you move is much more important than WHAT movement you are doing. The how isn’t taught in any traditional fitness certifications. Having a coach that truly understands the spectrum of considerations that impact pregnant and postpartum women, including core and pelvic floor health, mental health, and delivery method, and can help you translate that to real life can be invaluable to your postpartum recovery and long term health. That is what I do at Two Peas Wellness!
3. What is the most stressful thing about your job? Being a full time entrepreneur at Two Peas Wellness is definitely hard. I left a job that was the majority income for our family to pursue my passion. It’s so worth it though to be able to do what I love and help women in the process.
4. What is your favorite thing about living in the tri-state area? I love the small town feel, especially for raising my family. We also have a lot to offer with holistic and traditional health services, activities, and entertainment.
5. Where can people find you if they want to learn more about your services? On Facebook or Instagram at @twopeaswellness or visit my website at www.TwoPeasWellness.com
Casey not only knows her stuff, but manages to be both very professional and personable at the same time. She knows the stresses and worries of motherhood because she has been there x3. She has specialized training and expertise that so many fitness and nutrition experts are sadly lacking. She is approachable and never makes you feel bad about whatever choices you have made for your nutrition and fitness. You may have a new person in your life, and you may feel all rearranged, but Casey can help you navigate the physical newness too! Contact Casey at Two Peas Wellness to book a consult and learn more, and tell her we sent you.
