I'd like to think I know a thing or two about birth. I've attended dozens of births, read hundreds of birth books, and observed a number of birth classes. In fact, I wrote my undergraduate thesis on how what "we" say to pregnant women can affect their perception of the outcome of their labor.

So when students ask me what kind of birth class to take, I have a few opinions on the subject. 

Consider the benefits of live, in-person childbirth classes:
- In contrast to books and media classes, live classes are interactive which means you get your questions answered, but also those of other students. Questions you didn't even know you had! 
- You get to move around. Rather than just looking at pictures or video of birth positions, you can actually move and get feedback from the instructor.
- Accountability to attend each class for you and possibly your partner, too. Even the best-laid plans to read books or finish seminars at an individual pace can quickly be usurped by the parts of birth preparation you think are more fun, like baby registries, showers, and assembling baby furniture.

Five reasons to look beyond the hospital (for class):
Sometimes hospitals offer a very inclusive and tremendous birth class, but often they are short and focus on the hospital procedure rather than the robust variety of topics and perspectives you're likely to get at an independent childbirth class.

1. You learn about birth (which is a normal thing, BTW). Literally everyone walking around out there was born, so this happens.... every day! You will learn about how your body will move through different stages of labor, learn tricks and tips to make yourself as comfortable as possible, and so will your partner.

2. You will meet other couples who you will get to know for many weeks. Most hospital-based classes are a little shorter and much larger in numbers than the other classes, which means you don't get the opportunity to connect with the other couples. This is great for partners who don't get the connection at prenatal yoga, and often don't seek out other parents-to-be. Many times these childbirth classes hold reunions a year later. If you don't yet have a village, this may be a great place to start forming yours.

3. Lending Library. Your hospital may also have a lending library, and certainly your local library has hundreds of books about birth. How will you choose? An out-of-hospital childbirth instructor often has a few go-to books that they know students appreciate and will typically lend them to their current students at no additional cost. 

4. Personalization. Hospital classes typically need to cover a list of particular objectives, which may or may not be relevant to you. Independent childbirth classes are more fluid and customizable. Depending on where you live, you can find classes for high-risk mamas, first-time mamas, single mamas, mamas of multiples, lesbian mamas and more. Even if your class isn't specific for a particular group, your instructor will quickly learn about your values and help offer the information you're looking for.

5. They acknowledge that birth can happen outside of the hospital. They will not force an out-of-hospital agenda on you, but if you are the kind of person who is curious about the differences, they will share them with you. I know several mamas who planned their births in the hospital and wound up spontaneously delivering outside of the hospital because they could not transport in time. An independent childbirth class prepares you for the spectrum of birth possibilities.

Questions to ask the teacher:
Do you have any preference about where I choose to birth my baby?
Can I ask you questions outside of class, via email or phone?
Do you have a lending library that I can use?
How many mamas/couples will you accept in a particular class?
What is your birth-background?
Where were you trained as a childbirth educator?

How to tell if the teacher is one of your people:
Do you welcome same-sex couples?
Is there a faith background that you utilize in your teaching?
Will I be uncomfortable in your classes if I do not share your faith?
Will we be using art in this class?

Kari Kwinn, ERYT500, RPYT, Doula, Midwife's Assistant is one of Enso's co-owners. ​​

A few years ago, my husband and I tried a vegan diet. I'm not a diet professional, and am not giving you nutritional advice - but I will share some flavor and texture-based food hacks that I discovered in that time. Am I suggesting you do the same? Not at all. But since the most common dietary irritant of the exclusively breastfed infant is dairy (in mom's diet), I get the please-help-me-cut-dairy-for-my-baby-even-though-I-love-it-more-than-coffee plea on a weekly basis.

​Before you cut dairy or any other food group from your diet, please consult a lactation or nutrition professional. Not Dr. Google. As you cut dairy, you often cut calories, and this can mean you're not getting enough food (and therefore cannot offer as much to your little one). 

Step One: Banishment
If you're cutting dairy, you have to cut ALL dairy. Review all packaged products for the highlighted, bolded word MILK either in the ingredient list or in the allergen disclosure below. Put those items into a special place for your other family members to enjoy and use a large marker/tape to label the item so you do not consume it.

Step Two: The Cheese Situation
Refuse to eat artificial cheese. Trust me, don't bother with it. Soy cheese is horrific on a good day. Some vegans I know enjoy the Daiya non-dairy cheese made from pea protein, but I think it tastes like expensive plastic. Instead, replace cheese with things that also taste good.

Pizza: use no-cheese pesto, caramelized onions, olives, artichoke hearts, and other salt/fat combinations to replace the salt/fat you're missing from the cheese. Also note you'll need to eat more pizza because of the number of calories and amount of fat you're missing.

Quesadillas: instead of cheese, use hummus in your quesadillas. Just hummus, maybe some black beans, salsa, peppers, onions, etc. Prepare as usual. It's delicious.

Dip: this accidental invention comes courtesy of my bro-in-law who lived at our house for nine months and ate his weight in salsa every week. Combine equal parts salsa and hummus and use as a chip dip or veggie dip. No, it isn't queso, but it is rich and tasty.

Sandwich/burger/wrap condiment: try avocado, roasted red peppers, sunflower seeds, olives or other tasty treats. The exception to the artificial cheese is tofutti cream cheese. I'm sure it isn't good for you, but it tastes and feels like dairy cream cheese (and is equally unhealthy). If you're seriously craving a creamy spread on your sandwich, this will do.

Step Three: With Cookies?
There are lots of delicious non-dairy milks out there. Some are healthy, and some are essentially soda. I recommend having a variety of milks available, from soy to almond to hemp. Note that most non-dairy milks have little protein and are fortified with vitamins (and sometimes sugar). Hemp and soy have the most protein while coconut and almond are tastier. Use some for cereal/oatmeal/baking and others for a latte.

Step Four: I Will Scream
Avoid the soy ice cream and almond ice cream (I think they're icy and not satisfying) and head straight for the coconut stuff. It costs twice as much and has just as much fat and sugar as the dairy kind, and it tastes just as good if not better. Yogurt is another story. It's hard to find good yogurts, but you can find something that will do if you mix in some granola or fruit. At least we know they have their priorities straight?!

Step Five: Family Recipes
The most alarming thing we realized when we went dairy-free was how much our cooking and meal planning relied on dairy. Try some new stuff! I've found many good recipes online.

Step Six: Dining Out
Go ethnic. Try to find some Thai, Japanese, or Kosher food (since they will not mix meat and milk in the same meal, you know you can easily avoid dairy). Take Out!

Hope this helps! 

Kari Kwinn, ERYT500, RPYT, Doula, Midwife's Assistant is one of Enso's co-owners. ​

So you're on bed rest. That's the pits, especially at a time when you'd love to be out preparing for baby or moving your body. If you're my yoga student, we're going to miss seeing you in class (but it's ok, because we'll see you at Mom & Me soon enough)!

You can still practice SOME* yoga, although perhaps not a physical practice and not with us in class. It might sound a bit hokey (but that's ok, because I'm a yoga teacher and I'm allowed to sound a bit out there), but you can spend some time sending out good vibes to baby. Let them know they are in a very safe place with lots of people looking out for you two, and ask baby to stay in for a little while longer. You can focus on your breathing... sometimes when things get crazy and you can hear your heartbeat in your ears it is good to think:

Inhale: "Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in."
Exhale: "Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out."

Do this over and over again. If someone forwards you an email about something scary, delete it and then do this breath.

Try Ovarian Breath:
Imagine there is a long, golden cord wrapped around your hips and pulling into the center of the earth. That is holding you steady, just like baby's umbilical cord is holding them steady.

Now imagine that little flecks of light are rising up your spine as you inhale. Once start to exhale, allow that light to pour over your face, your heart, and back into your baby. Continue breathing in this way, never holding or restricting the breath.

There is a bit of science behind this... baby's endocrine system picks up on hormones from your endocrine system (and vice versa) so working towards the calmest state possible can have real results. 

Actual physical movements*
Less active:
- Ankle circles (each direction)
- Ankle extensions (push heel, ball, toe, curl your toes like you're grabbing something, and then pull the foot back to starting position)
- Wrist circles (interlace all fingers and make figure eight shapes with your wrists) go both directions
- Slow baby ab hugs. Slowly tighten your belly muscles inwards to hug your baby, then slowly release. Take several seconds for each.
- Arm stretches (using a belt, like a bathrobe belt, hold your arms overhead like the Y in YMCA with the belt between them. Move the belt forwards in front of you, then back behind you. It will kind of look like jumping rope).
- Keep the belt and do tricep stretches. Same grip, but now one hand is overhead and the other is by your low back. Your thumbs will face one another along the belt. Switch sides.
- Butterfly pose (sitting with soles of the feet together and knees open)
- Roll a tennis ball over any tense muscles you can reach, or put it into a sock and use that as a handle. Consider the hands, feet, calves, upper back, and really anywhere you can reach. You might be surprised to learn what is sore.

More active:
- Hands and knees, gentle "cat/cow" postures or just stay on hands and knees a bit
- side-lying leg lifts or stretches

*please, for the love of Pete, double check any and all physical activity with your provider. Bed rest can mean a number of things and can be prescribed for many reasons. Make sure you are doing what is best for YOU and YOUR babe. Take this list to your provider and verify that each and every action is ok before you try to perform it. Your provider may have additional exercises, too.

If your friends want to bring you things, say YES and TELL THEM what to bring you. 

Kari Kwinn, ERYT500, RPYT, Doula, Midwife's Assistant is one of Enso's co-owners. ​

I have only a few tricks up my sleeve, but making date balls is one of them. If you've been to Dad & Me yoga or Breastfeeding Basics, you've probably enjoyed these tasty treats. They are good for you, especially at the end of your pregnancy (I'm not making that up, it's science!). I'm finally sharing the "recipe" with you… but as I've said before, there is no real recipe. Just follow your heart!

1 c dates (pitted)
1/2 c walnuts (any nuts will work)
1 T coconut oil

Optional (pick and choose):
- Food grade orange oil
- Vanilla extract
- Cocoa powder
- Flaked coconut (unsweetened)
- Dried cherries, blueberries, or cranberries

Add ingredients to a food processor, and process. Roll into balls. Roll balls in dried coconut.

That's it. Not really a recipe, is it? 

One thing I've learned: don't roll the balls in cocoa powder. It makes a mess when you try to eat them. Nuts and coconut work really well.

Kari Kwinn, ERYT500, RPYT, Doula, Midwife's Assistant is one of Enso's co-owners. 

We’ve all heard that it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to raise a new mama. This motherhood thing isn’t exactly the most intuitive or easiest thing in the world, believe it or not. It took me until my third trimester to even step foot into a prenatal yoga class. I wasn’t sure I needed a prenatal yoga class; I had a regular home practice and that was good enough for me. I wasn’t sure how much benefit an actual yoga class, held outside my living room, would be. I also had some reservations stepping into an environment with so many pregnant women after spending many years trying to get pregnant; I wasn’t sure I would be able to relate to my fertile counterparts. I thank my lucky stars I took the leap and stepped into Kari’s prenatal yoga class when I moved to Colorado Springs.

The women I met in prenatal yoga are some of my closest new mama friends now almost a year later. We graduated from prenatal yoga to postpartum yoga and our numbers doubled (in the form of our new babies). I’ve also been able to meet women I didn’t overlap with in prenatal yoga when they graduated into our Mom and Me Yoga class. We’ve been able to talk about everything. And I mean everything from BLW to breastfeeding to sex after birth to sore nipples to everything in between. These are the women who are supportive no matter what topic comes up. When I had trouble breastfeeding my son and used a finger feeder/supplemental nursing system Mom and Me Yoga was the first place in public I used the finger feeder when my son was 6 weeks old. It was my safe place. Now when my son isn’t sleeping (very often), and I’m about ready to rip my hair out and cry at the same time those ladies have my back. Some times all you need to hear is ‘keep on doing it, mama, you’re rocking motherhood.’

Internet support groups and forums are nice, and I believe they have a place in this world. But a hand on your shoulder and a friend with tears in her eyes who really gets it, who empathizes with you so perfectly is a thing of beauty. For me yoga was the place where I connected on so many levels with my wonderfully supportive, open minded, beautiful Mama Tribe. I don’t care how you build your mama tribe, where you find your mama friends, but it is important to go out there and find those women. They need you as much as you need them, even if you don’t know it now.

And to my Mama Tribe: Thank you so much for holding me up, giving me a shoulder to cry on, and a good laugh on this awesome, crazy journey called motherhood. You have no idea how deeply and profoundly you have affected my son and me.  

Michelle is mama to a sweet nearly one-year-old boy. She also teaches Baby Led Weaning at Enso.

I've hated ketchup for as long as I can remember. Something about the consistency. The pureed consistency just creeps me out. The thought of having to wash my brother's ketchup-laden dishes as a child still grosses me out.

When I was pregnant I thought a lot about how we were going to raise our baby. The thought of offering solids caused me anxiety even before I even laid eyes on my son. While at a La Leche League meeting a woman mentioned the term baby-led weaning (BLW). I was still pregnant at the time, but I made a note (in my phone - pregnancy brain is a killer, ugh!) to look more into this feeding technique - mainly because it meant no purees. The baby eats what the family eats, more or less. I was confused by the term 'weaning' but it's used in the British sense here - you aren't stopping breastfeeding or formula, instead you are merely introducing solids to complement your baby's main source of nutrition: breastmilk or formula. The baby is offered baby-appropriate pieces of food and the baby chooses what to eat (or not eat).

The idea of skipping the purees really appealed to me, and the more I researched baby-led weaning (BLW) the more I feel in love with its simplicity. Here are some reasons my husband and I decided to do BLW when our son was ready for solids:

1. My husband and I have struggled with our weight most of our lives. In the past we consistently ignored hunger cues, overate, and felt the need to clean our plates. We don't want our son to have those issues; with BLW the baby is in control. He eats as much (or as little) as he wants with no coaxing or bribing from us. Sorry, no hungry baby birds or airplane spoons here. He's learning how to listen to his body and how to use food to satisfy hunger (not some other emotion or to please his mommy and daddy).

2. I really love cooking meals for our family, and in general we eat pretty clean. Since our son eats pretty much what we're eating I'm extra cognizant to make sure the meal is as healthy as possible. That little extra bit of accountability ensures our family is eating well, even when I'm tired or just plain lazy during meal prep. It also means I do more meal planning and less frantic 'Oh, crap, it's 4 PM; what are we going to eat for dinner tonight?!'

3. My husband and I were guilty of eating dinner on the couch sometimes. It's a hard habit to break, but now that we eat at the table with our son (most nights) we've been able to reconnect and talk with one another instead of zoning out in front of the TV. And our couch is cleaner since no one eats on it anymore!

4. As I mentioned before, we love to eat, and I love to cook. During dinner I want to actually eat my delicious meal while it's warm and not have to wait until I'm done spoon feeding my son. Sure, we need to pause our meal to pick up a cup off the floor or to give our son a second helping of food, if he wants it, but for the most part everyone is enjoying dinner at the same time. Meal time is a pleasurable time to connect with each other.

5. Finally, our fat Chihuahua could not be more pleased about our choice to let the baby be in control of feeding himself. One drawback with letting a baby be in control is the mess, oh the mess! A dog definitely comes in handy if you plan to use BLW.

Are you thinking about Baby-Led Weaning? What interests you about BLW? Have you used BLW with your child? Why did you pick BLW? Do you want to learn more? Check out the calendar to see when the next BLW workshop is being offered. 

Want to more? Sign up for author Michelle's Baby Led Weaning Workshop.

Michelle is a first time mom with a background in adult education who does copious amounts of research on all things baby. She loves cooking and creating healthy, homemade meals for her family as well as adding to her cookbook collection. She's been enjoying her family's BLW journey and wants to share the fun with you. If you love what she writes, visit her on her blog The Well Adjusted Pessimist. 

Whether you're expecting or have a new baby in your life, the internet can be a deceptively unhelpful resource. We're the most educated, informed generation on earth with access to facts, statistics, and internet flotsam, and while this can be beneficial in certain circumstances, it can also be overwhelming, confusing, and scary.

Dr. Google is not your friend.

Let me first say, I do this all the time. I google all sorts of crazy things all the time, including things I think might be wrong with me or my birds. It almost never brings me peace, usually always consumes hours of my time, and frequently leaves me feeling rather silly if I land in my doctor's office because the burst blood vessel in my eye is, “probably from looking at a computer screen for too long.”

So where do you go when you have questions and are not certain where to find the answers? First, I recommend your provider. If you're pregnant, your doula can often be a good resource for information. If you've taken an independent childbirth class, you can often email the instructor and they'll get back with you more quickly than your doctor's office, even if you're six months postpartum. And what about your prenatal yoga or belly dance class? These can be good starting points.

If all of those resources are unavailable, I recommend the following sites for good, reputable information.

Evidence-Based Birth: if you're trying to make sense of whether or not to start an induction, this can be a helpful resource that compiles the most recent scientific evidence and clearly states the difference between standard of practice (what people do because that's what everyone does), evidence-based practice (what scientific studies suggest are best practices), and opinion.

La Leche League: this site is well developed and crosses many cultures and scientific/regulatory agencies. It isn't posted by someone with a financial interest, but by a group that believes that breastfeeding is best. You can usually find tips on things like solid foods, fussy babies, and even a few things about pregnancy on their site.

The Mayo Clinic: written for consumers rather than providers, this site can help you understand your concerns in plain English. It borders on Dr. Google, but is at least fairly reputable.

Message boards, social media, and groups are fantastic for planning outings, learning baby-friendly recipes, deciding where to vacation with your baby this year. I've seen so many mamas needlessly upset or worried because of medical advice they received from an unnamed source, or casual commentary that wasn't explained well.

Need other resources? We are always reading and sharing great information on our Facebook page. And if you're up for some more academic reading, we can usually offer you a pointer or two or can help find someone who can.

Kari Kwinn, ERYT500, RPYT, Doula, Midwife's Assistant is one of Enso's co-owners.