Understanding relative vs absolute risk and can help you make decisions for pregnancy, birth, and beyond. Learn more about high-risk pregnancy, as well.

Learn more about routine prenatal exams and tests, as well as immunizations, that are offered throughout pregnancy. This includes weight checks, blood work, ultrasounds, screening for gestational diabetes, testing for group B strep, and more. Find out which trimester(s) to expect each one.

The amniotic sac, also known as the bag of waters, surrounds and protects your baby throughout pregnancy. When it comes to it rupturing, it’s not a question of if… It’s simply a matter of when. So let’s talk about when this might happen.

Learn more about how a Bishop score is calculated and how it is used in making decisions about labor induction. I also go into cervical exams and what kind of information they can provide.

There were 3,667,758 confirmed births in the United States in 2022. This blog post contains an infographic with statistics from those births on a variety of factors, like birth location and attendant, cesarean sections, inductions, epidural use, and more. Statistics like these can give us a lot of insight as to the current state of our maternity care system.

Discover some free resources that can help you learn more about planning your plate and filling it with nutrient-dense foods. I also cover some basic nutritional guidance for preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum, so you can nourish your body with the essential nutrients you and your baby need.

Understanding the structured breakdown of the stages of labor is helpful in knowing what to expect. However, the actual experience feels much more surreal and abstract. Check out the poem in this post to gain some understanding on what the experience of labor and birth can be like.

Change is a major part of the pregnancy to postpartum journey. Embracing and supporting healthy weight gain with nourishing and nutrient-dense foods during pregnancy is so important. And focusing on foods that support recovery and healing during the postpartum period is key.

This list of do’s and don’ts for postpartum visitors can be helpful for setting boundaries and establishing expectations during a vulnerable and transformative time. You can send the link for this post to anyone who will be visiting as you rest and recover from birth during the early postpartum period.

A labyrinth is a wonderful metaphor to help with mindset for the challenging birth and postpartum journey. This post explores wisdom on this from two influential authors from the birth community, as well as from a cult classic movie, starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, and some puppets from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

Welcoming a new life into your family is a significant change that comes with many financial considerations. To help you prepare, I’ve broken down potential expenses into categories to help you think about how your budget might change over the first four trimesters, covering pregnancy through the early months of postpartum, plus preconception.

During pregnancy, it’s important to know the difference between prelabor (also called Braxton Hicks) and true labor contractions. Prior to 37 weeks of pregnancy, true labor contractions are a sign of preterm labor, which requires immediate medical attention. After 37 weeks, the start of true labor contractions signal that you are in labor. Learn how to tell the difference, as well as how to time contractions.

Let’s talk about the science behind how the nervous system works, how the mind-body connection affects the birth process, and how meditation can help us to become more resilient in ways that will benefit us in pregnancy, birth, and beyond.

Childbirth education is a crucial part of birth prep during pregnancy, and there are so many options when it comes to courses and methods. It’s important to find the right fit for you. Here are nine tips to help you choose one.

Choosing a birth location and care provider are foundational decisions that can have a major impact on your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience. This post provides an overview of the main options for birth location (hospital, birth center, at home) and care provider (obstetrician, midwife, family medicine physician).

Postpartum is a time of adjusting to new roles and responsibilities. It’s a time when the focus shifts away from our own needs to those of our new arrival. However, prioritizing your well-being will have a direct impact on those you are caring for. Self-care is essential. So is figuring out how to make sure it actually happens.

There are so many opinions when it comes to birth planning. And there are so many ideas and options out there for documenting your decisions. This post, however, contains my list of five things NOT to do when planning for your birth experience.

You are the ultimate decision-maker when it comes to your body, birth, and baby, which is such an important concept to understand. This means you can choose to follow medical advice or not (and be adequately informed about your options). It’s also not always easy to make pregnancy and birth-related decisions. To help, I like to structure the decision-making process into four parts: discover, discuss, decide, and document. Learn more in this post.

Learn a little bit of history about childbirth and how the past has influenced maternity care in the United States today. This post also gets into what could be improved for the future.

Have you considered documenting your pregnancy? Read on to find out why you should and discover ten creative ideas for how to do it. From journaling to making art to documenting nature walks, there are ideas in this post for everyone!