What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep

What if a tight pelvic floor is making it harder for baby to pass through the pelvis to be born? Your pelvic floor doesn’t just need to be strong. It needs to be able to lengthen, relax, and move through its full range of motion. And we don't get that from a bunch of squeeze and releases! That means looking beyond the pelvic floor itself. Here are some exercises that work on functional glute length and creating space through the rib cage because these areas can influence what’s happening in the pelvic floor, too. For birth, we’re not training the body to hold tighter but we’re giving it more options to move, adapt, and make space. Want more movements to support your pregnancy and birth? Grab my free workout class in my bio. #pelvicfloor #kegels #laborandelivery #childbirtheducation #thirdtrimester

Birth is way more nuanced than we've been led to believe. Every body is different, and sometimes, in an effort to make birth feel more predictable, we simplify things. Social media has a way of flattening nuance. I am so glad I gave birth before social media became what it is today, because I feel for y'all navigating all this. You hear things like: I did these 3 moves and my birth was 4 hours long with no tearing so yours will be too. Just do this magical stretch. Stop overthinking it (while giving you a lot to overthink about). Everyone is looking for the hack. The posts that do best often say: Do this one thing and your birth will go this way. But birth doesn’t work like that. The only predictable thing about birth is that it’s unpredictable. BUT that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. To me, it is a great metaphor for life. We really DO have more control than we often realize, but we do not get to control the hand we were dealt. We get to choose what we do with it. Instead of trying to control the entire outcome, we can focus on the controllables: understanding your physiology, building strength and length, exploring movement and positions, developing a more flexible and responsive pelvic floor AND nervous system, learning how your body adapts, and giving yourself more options when things don’t go to plan. You can’t guarantee a particular birth. But you can prepare. You can't control the weather on race day, but does that mean you don't train? Maybe you were not hoping for high heat or rain, but you show up anyway, and your training gives you more capacity to meet what is in front of you. That is birth prep. Not controlling the outcome. Not promising a certain kind of birth. But meeting what is with more understanding, more options, more confidence, and more peace. Birth and perinatal pros, share a hot take below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. #doula #birthprofessionial #perinatalprofessionial #laboranddelivery #birthprep

Tearing at birth. It’s a big topic and there are a lot of things to be said and maybe it’s something you don’t even want to THINK about 😬 I get that! Here’s the deal. When you are birthing instinctually... When you are choosing your position, flowing, working with your baby, listening to your inner knowing (which you gain access to at a deep level when in what I call your Labor Flow State) You will not typically find an extreme end range of motion. I have supported hundreds of births and I am telling you, we just don’t see it. But what you do see almost every single managed birth setting (such as when someone has an epidural) is extreme end range of motion during pushing. And for obvious reasons when you think about it through the rubber band example, it’s not ideal. Even less ideal when the legs are numb and there is less feedback available to know if we are pushing too far. This can go beyond tearing into other injuries to the hip. External hip rotation (knees to armpits) narrows the space ANYWAY... a story for another video. And while yes, internal hip rotation does widen the space... should we be doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years with external hip rotation (knees to armpits), just forcing the legs the other way? My answer is no! While we should GAIN ACCESS to internal hip rotation in pregnancy so we have the space and yield. We should NOT be taking this information as permission to force legs into any end range. Free the legs! #tearing #birthpositions #givingbirth #birthprep