Birth And Parenty Things: Recent Episodes
Kimberley Fernandez
So many opinions, so much advice, where is a parent to turn. Kim is a veteran doula and childbirth educator, having supported birthing parents in their birth, postpartum and chest feeding journey since 2006. With evidence based information, stories and a little humour, you will learn about birth and parenting from an expert who mixes a scientific and holistic approach to it all.
This week I go over items that would be beneficial to have to at some point, but may not be necessarily necessary to have now or at all.
Why do you do so much baby laundry? What do you actually need for baby in the first few weeks and months? What do you even wash baby's clothes in? Those questions and more are addressed in this week episode of Birth & Parenty Things.
This week we go over the must haves and tips for bathing your newborn. Bathing baby for the first time can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be.
Starting a new series on Newborn Must Haves, we look at what you will need for diapering your new little one.
If you want to know more about caring for your new baby, check out my virtual, self paced infant care class on my teaching portal:
https://torontodoulagroup.thinkific.com/courses/infant-care-workshop
We all see labour and birth as painful. We've had this notion jammed down our throats ever since movies and TV starting showing birth. But what if the pain in labour were thought of differently? As a physiological function of your body, is this pain something bad or is it a response to the extreme effort your body is going through to birth your baby? Let's discuss.
In this episode that I live streamed on Instagram, I discuss natural induction techniques you can try to use to encourage your body to go into labour, especially if you have a medical induction already scheduled.
This week I discuss some popular ways to get your labour going. We've discussed medical induction the last two weeks, now lets turn our attention to encouraging your body to go into labour on its own.
This week, still in bathroom remodel mode, I discuss the procedures and medications used by the medical care providers to "trick" your body into going into labour.
This week I'm a little late. With bathroom renovations happening I was hard pressed to find some quiet time to record. But I got lucky. In this episode I will be examining the reasons why medical inductions are done as part of a series of episodes around inductions of labour.
If you have a story to share about your induction please send it to BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
Evidence On: Pregnancy At Age 35 and Older
Due to some overwhelming life hurdles and a bout of depression, I'm giving you a quick break down of who I am and how I got here as a doula. As well as an announcement of where I will be focusing my energy in the future.
After a few months of working with several new parents I've notice a pattern in infant feeding. It's not going well. So here are three areas you can focus on prenatally to maybe make it easier for you when exclusive breast/body feeding doesn't go as planned.
This week I delve into the negative feeling you may have about your own birth, even if it was the birth of your dreams.
This week I dig briefly into episiotomies. What they are about, when they are necessary and how to avoid them. Plus I have another wee ghosty story for the spooky season.
This week I discuss Second Night, or the period of time when you get home with your new baby and how to manage it.
Resources From This Week:
St Joes in Hamilton
Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC/RLC
Fed Is Best
Sunnybrook Hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital - page 24
This week I chat about postpartum mood and anxiety disorders in the male parent. Often not talked about but more common than you'd think, we need to address that the male parent has had a new baby too. And sometimes they can struggle with the adjustment.
A quick episode on my thoughts on Pitocin.
If you are being induced check out my pre-recorded virtual class and use the coupon code: Induction10 for 10$ off.
https://torontodoulagroup.thinkific.com/courses/labour-induction-101
This week I tell my furnace maintenance story and then I give some tips for using water in your labour and delivery.
Have comments or questions please do not hesitate to email me at BirthandParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I chat about vaginal exams, consent and the benefits and risks associated with them.
Have you planned for life after baby? You've taken the classes, read the books and learned how to diaper baby. But have you considered how you are going to feel after baby comes into your life? The emotions you may feel, all the ups and downs of life after baby. This week I talk about how you may be feeling in the first weeks after baby is born and how to manage those emotions.
For more postpartum support check out my website at TorontoDoulaGroup.com
And Follow Me On TikTok or Instagram @TorontoDoulaGroup
I'm back!! Did you even think it was going to happen? I actually didn't.
But after almost a year off, and doing a lot of reflecting, I'm back. This week I'm talking about how I ruined my child, how I was called out on it by my other child and how I fixed it. Bare with me, I'm still finding my feet here.
Mentioned in the episode:
Follow me on TikTok
Check out my classes here: Toronto Doula Group Classes
Did you miss me last week? I've got a good excuse. Family always comes first. But I'm back and decided to look at where you should focus your energies in the first week or so after getting home with baby. I hope you find it helpful.
Toronto Doula Group Info and Classes
This week I discuss what to expect in the weeks to days leading up to your labour. What symptoms to look for, how to tell if its true labour or practice labour, and how to time a contraction.
For more information on classes check out www.TorontoDoulaGroup.com/About-3
For our Freebies Library check out www.TorontoDoulaGroup.com/Freebies
This week I dig into some common myths about epidurals that really seem to be holding on and persisting.
What are some myths you've heard about epidurals? Let me know, email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I delve into how stress can prevent your labour from starting and also slow or stop your labour if it happens during the labour. As well as ways to help prevent that from happening.
Were you stressed during your labour or in the days and weeks prior to labour starting? Tell me about it and how it affected your birth. Feel free to email me at BirthAndParentyThings@Gmail.com
This episode comes with a warning. I finally discuss the birth of my first son and it is traumatic. As well, I cover the NICU stays of all three of my children.
If you are pregnant, I actually encourage you not to listen. If you have had pregnancy loss, this story may hit too close to home.
I'm back!!! After a needed break to deal with some family and business issues, I'm back and hopefully better than before!
This week I take on crying. Baby's crying and yours. Because lets be honest, we are birthing and raising families in a pandemic and that is some hard stuff to deal with.
Links Mentioned In The Podcast:
www.TorontoDoulaGroup.com/Freebies
https://www.torontodoulagroup.com/about-3
Newborn Care Class
Work/Life balance is impossible to achieve! So stop trying! What if we focused on harmony, what if we concentrated on specific things that needed our attention and not worried about the other things. When we give equal attention to all the things, we will like crash and burn. So stop trying.
This week I talk about how I'm managing my work/life situation, and its not easy. And for new parents its not easy either.
This week, with my daughter as my special guest, we discuss the pressures and mental health issues facing young people today.
This week I chat about my first birth as a Doula that happened 15 yrs ago this week and the strange and weird things that my son used to stuff up his nose.
Telling my birth stories isn't something I usually do as a doula but everyone loves to listen to birth stories so I thought I would start by telling you the birth of my third child. This is the one that led me to become a doula. Enjoy. Want to share your birth story? Email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I give my ideas and tips for birthing in a hospital and making it less clinical and the time my toddlers swallowed things they shouldn't and not swallowing things they should. How to get creative with toddlers.
BirthAndParentyThings@Gmail.com to share your stories.
This week I briefly go over the first few weeks of your postpartum period. It isn't easy but having support can make it easier.
This week we hear more about the continuing saga of Uncle Harry and the recent struggles of having a newborn.
This week I stress again about the baloney in a generational sandwich, being torn between two other generations who need my help and support and I also chat about the massive benefits of skin to skin, right after birth and beyond. Skin to skin incredible and something I wish I had done more of with my own kids.
Send your comments and questions to BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I discuss the aotrocities that we have seen in the news this week and if big babies should be an automatic cesarean birth.
Do you have comments? or questions you would like answered on the podcast, shoot me an email at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I discuss what it is I do as a virtual doula and how kids and adults are being bullied in school. Teachers bullying students and other teachers is as big a problem as students bullying students.
Have questions, comments? Send me an email at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This short but sweet episode goes through the stresses of trying to be a mum to three kids, take of my elderlies, run a business and take some courses. Its not easy. I also discuss what to pack for the hospital for your birth, and offer some tips for these particular items that I suggest.
Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe, and tell a friend. And feel free to email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
A very busy week for me, sorry for the delay. This week I discuss Hypnobirthing and what its all about, I offer some non-gadget things to add to your baby registry and I have a rant at the end to discuss inclusive language and why it isn't erasing mothers but can make all people feel included in a space where they would otherwise feel excluded or unsafe.
Have comments email me at: BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I discuss how crappy being a parent in covid is, as well as how Hollywood gets birth wrong and three shows that have recently done birth episodes, The Good Doctor, New Amsterdam and Station 19. And a shout out to all the birth parents for "Mothers Day" this week.
Have a story or comment to share, email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I offer some advice on the incredibly long final weeks of pregnancy and how to manage them. And how to manage the year of firsts with your new human. It can be rough sometimes but remember your baby isn't a lump of clay but a human with an ever changing developing brain. Do you have comments or concerns? Please email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I talk about a couple of things that have come up this week, and "natural" induction methods. And the art of saying no to your child. Here's a spoiler, you just say no.
This weeks topics...there aren't any. The pandemic is finally, after a year, gotten to me, and I have no topic. But I do have several opinions on quite a bit that is going on in my world.
Send comments to BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I delve into some of the birth and postpartum books that I love and respect. I also have a discussion on how to deal with well meaning grandparents, a topic brought to me by a listener. And we finish off the episode with a couple of cute historical birthing rituals from my own Scottish and Irish culture.
If you have any thing you want to share, please don't hesitate to email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
After a very heavy podcast last week and a very crazy week I thought I'd keep it short and sweet this week with a brief episode on what to drink and eat during labour.
Did you have something special during your labour that you want to share? Then email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week, as promised, I discuss my mental health journey. Through three kids, a family history of depression and a broken marriage, its no wonder my depression is a journey. So follow along and I hope it will help, or prepare you for what may lie ahead.
This week I talk about pre labour vaginal exams and the practice of stretch and sweeps in the Birth section and in the Parenty section I get personal in a chat about being touched out after baby comes. If you have comments please feel free to email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I discuss the ins and outs of the dreaded back labour you can get from a baby is an unoptimal position and how to avoid it or correct it if it happens. In our parenting section I outline the Safe Sleep guidelines and get passionate about a particular popular product. Have questions please feel free to email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
This week I delve into the leg crossing topic of episiotomies and night terrors that can occur in your toddlers and children. Having had experience with both you will hear some stories and how to manage both of them.
This week I discuss pregnancy cravings and mother bear syndrome. Have you ever had weird pregnancy cravings? What about standing up and behind your kid when they need you? Listen to this episode to hear about my cravings, and how my mum stood up for me back in the day. Send your comments and stories to me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com
How are you managing the pandemic? This week we chat about epidurals and how we are managing virtual school at my house. Spoiler alert, not well. So join me as I answer a question asked of me in my prenatal class and how I'm helping my kids manage school in a pandemic.
Welcome to my first episode where I talk about my origins of being a doula and how I manage my own kids on my social media.
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @TorontoDoulaGroup, or email me at BirthAndParentyThings@gmail.com