Ease the way after a difficult start for baby and mother

Birth is an intense experience – physical and emotional – for almost all of us. Birth may be joyful, yet most mothers and babies do not have adequate birth support surrounding them to ease this natural process.

Resolve the intensity of the birth journey

As your baby is making her journey through your pelvis, she finds a very snug fit between his head and the bony passages. In an optimal birth your baby will adjust her head position and spine as she travels through, and the malleable bones of her head will slide slightly and often overlap to accommodate the snug opening. Your baby’s cranial bones (mostly cartilage at birth) are very flexible and strong, so she is resilient in this normal process.

However, often the intensity of labor is great. Intense labors may affect your baby’s ability to easily maneuver the birth canal. Very long labors, very short labors, and hard, induced labors may force his cranial bones to overlap. Other interventions, such as forceps or suction, also typically displace the bones of your baby’s head. Craniosacral therapy gently resolves physical and emotional challenges of your newborn’s birth.

Bring displaced bones into natural alignment

Displacements of cranial bones, spine, ribs or hips may create problems with breastfeeding, poor positioning of eyes and ears, unusual head shape or postural alignment. Uneven ears can lead to retained fluid in the ears, with increased ear infections or language delays. Uneven eyes can create stress as reading loads increase in future school years. Early spinal misalignment can lead to permanent conditions like scoliosis. Yet all these misalignments can be gently resolved in the first months. Craniosacral therapy provides the light touch suitable from your baby’s very first days.

Resolve issues from C-Section

While there are some myths that a Caesarian section is easier than vaginal birth, this is not the case for either you or your baby. To protect both mother and baby, the cut to the mother is minimal and the opening is as small as possible, requiring that the baby is strongly pulled out. This strong grip on baby’s head often displaces his bones. Vaginal birth jumpstarts the craniosacral rhythm. Babies who have been born by C-section don’t have this rhythm well established. Craniosacral therapy gently invites bones to fall back into position and brings in easy, nourishing cranial rhythm. Your baby takes the lead in her process of resolving her difficult birth.

As well, if your baby didn’t have the opportunity to go through the vaginal passage, he was not able to do his developmental movements of birth. These mastery movements underlie your baby’s developing abilities to regulate emotions, develop attention asset, and sets the template for how his learning takes place.

Relieve birth trauma

Birth trauma covers a wide range of experiences, including both shock and physical injury. Only the person experiencing an event can know whether she has experienced a shock. A mother may find herself deep in post-partum depression after a difficult birth. Your baby may cry inconsolably or be extremely passive, having problems of bonding, breastfeeding or developmental delay. Development may be put on hold if your baby is deep in shock, as safety is the first concern of the organism. Supporting the home of the brain, craniosacral therapy provides nourishment and support for your baby.

Set the template for lifelong learning

A child’s birth experience creates a lifelong template for learning and for processing experience. A child’s poor birth experience or early trauma may show up later as behavior problems or learning challenges. With the help of developmental movement therapy and craniosacral therapy your child can resolve both emotional and physical experiences of intense birth or trauma. (Masgutova and Bainbridge Cohen)

Somatic therapies and education

I provide gentle, effective hands-on somatic therapies and guide your child in playful developmental movements for newborns, babies and on as a child grows. Hakomi emotional release provides gentle, resonant touch for you and your child to heal trauma. With articles you can help your baby with body-mind integration from the beginning.

What to expect in a session for your baby

Essential wellness for mother and child

Body-mind integration from the beginning

After one session she was a different child

I am completely committed to breastfeeding, but I could understand why someone would try formula or give up breastfeeding altogether.  I just never allowed myself to consider that an option.  At our day three appointment our midwife talked with me about craniosacral therapy. Although I had heard of it, I didn’t know what would be involved or how it would work.  I knew we needed help, more than just the breastfeeding advice I had received to that point.  After three days of very painful feedings and feeling totally exhausted, I emailed Catherine in the middle of the night.  I now know that we made a great decision to work with Catherine, and looking back, I wish that we had gotten in touch with her from day one.

After my 4am email, Catherine visited us that same day.  In our first session we saw Úna work through some of her birth issues, and Catherine pointed out that Úna’s crying during the session was her way of telling us how hard the birth process was for her.  It was difficult to watch, but I could see that we both needed to work through some of the trauma of the birth process, both physical and emotional.  At the end of our first session with Catherine, Úna was already a different child – her hands and face were relaxed, her eyes were bright and open, and she seemed generally content and calm.  I felt that Úna had been relieved of much of the tension and anxiety that she had been holding on to.

 

 

 

Vastly more comfortable

After our work with Catherine, Úna has a much better latch, more open suck, and she is settling in to a better rhythm. She is more comfortable and relaxed in her eyes and hands, and while breastfeeding. Nursing is vastly more comfortable for me, too. We are still a work in progress at 8 days, but now I am very confident that we will get to the place where it is natural and easy for us both.

I am so glad that the resources were here for us, and that we didn’t hesitate in contacting Catherine.  Since we worked with her, my husband and I have talked to so many women friends who say that they just suffered through the early days or even months of breastfeeding, only to ultimately turn to craniosacral therapy for help.  I know that some people are able to work it out with their babies right at the beginning, but for the many others who are suffering through painful breastfeeding, I can’t recommend Catherine strongly enough.   –  Adrianna

Trust & empathy

The communication between Alden and I has improved greatly since we last met, and his latch looks so much more open and accepting now. I have also tried some different positions when holding him for nursing, as you recommended, and it has been quite an amazing turnout! My breasts feel relieved and a bit more regulated only after a day.

 

I cannot begin to thank you for all that you did, and the amount of time you spent to work through Alden’s distress and birth experience. I think he knew he had the best support and felt nothing but trust and empathy on your part, all of which I attribute to why his session was so open and successful. Thank you! I will be studying the home program for some time, and look forward to assisting Alden with an easier transition into the world. – Rachel