Mothering the mother
Conception
You can prepare for conception by clearing old emotional and physical restrictions. I can help you to foster your own earthy spirit, as you open to receive and generate the vital spark of new life. I can provide you with pathways to increase internal energy by awakening your endocrine system, to tap into your energy meridians with qigong, and to deeply relax through hands-on bodywork.
Pregnancy
Each baby that comes into your life makes you a mother anew. I can help you adjust as both your body and your heart are getting stretched. With practical support I help you welcome both your coming baby and your own changes as a woman and mother.
I offer prenatal care to help women prepare for birth, and to relieve discomforts of your back, spine, belly, head and shoulders. With craniosacral therapy and myofascial toning I bring your baby and your uterus into good alignment for easier birth. I provide guided journeys inward to connect with yourself and your baby. You can connect with your baby as an active partner for birth. These somatic experiences give you a direct mindful sense of your baby.
Birth
I provide doula support to help you prepare for natural birth, attend your labor and to establish breastfeeding. I provide prenatal care that can make a tremendous difference in your birth, by helping your baby to line up for good presentation and easier passage through the birth canal. I provide essential information on evidence based care for women to support your vision for birth.
Postpartum
Postpartum is a time of tremendous adjustments for your body and emotions. Your little baby is utterly dependent on you and your partner. In the first days establishing breastfeeding and good care for yourself are paramount. I provide post-partum support that can make a tremendous difference in how easily you can adapt to the flood of changes taking place in yourself, your baby and your family.
Somatic therapies and education
I provide somatic therapies, including craniosacral therapy and myofascial toning to relieve physical discomforts and for deep relaxation, with Hakomi and mindfulness to support healing emotional wounds. I offer guided somatic movement and imagery to bring you into connection with yourself and your baby. Articles can help you prepare for birth and your coming baby.
Essential wellness for mother and child
Body-mind integration from the beginning
Relief
I was first recommended to Catherine during my second pregnancy. Her cranial-sacral therapy was wonderful for some hip pain and facilitating a great birth. – Anne
Ripe & glowing
Within two sessions Robynn found complete relief of pain in her lower back and between her shoulders. She also felt relaxation overall and reported that she felt GREAT.
Plan A: Wishes & desires
Learning Spinning Babies activities and practicing them during pregnancy helped me feel a lot of relief from changes in my weight distribution and uncomfortable positions. The rebozo and other lifting techniques really helped me then.
Some of the activities felt awkward at first. Just looking at the website was not enough. Catherine walked us through them, then my husband and I did the activities on our own. I’m glad we practiced them at home, so we could get past the embarrassing parts of ‘How do we do this?’ (…..continued)
Partnering
At one of our prenatal visits we played a partner card game that Catherine invented, which got us talking about expectations of each other during birth. This led to us talking it over in the following weeks. When we played the card game again on our own, and I laid out the my cards, Jon said, ‘Whoo, you are expecting a lot of me’. I saw that was true. I had put out a lot of cards!
We had some good, very real conversations then. Being upfront with each other, we were able to stay open and get on the same page about how we envisioned partnering together for birth. (…..continued)
Alert for bonding & breastfeeding
When your baby has a natural birth and is placed skin to skin on your chest, she and you are most able to bond and begin breastfeeding with ease.
Birth coach
During labor we could refer back to the alignment activities we had done for weeks to provide some comfort. These familiar activities gave both Jon and me a focus and goal of what we were going to do when a contraction came on.
The coaching and hands-on experience that Catherine gave was invaluable, especially as I had hip issues. Without her there I probably would have had a lot harder time during labor. Catherine was a real asset, as she understood body alignment so well and was able to pick up on what my body needed. (…..continued)
Plan B: Ready for the unexpected
Catherine was a calm presence. She sat quietly, waiting and observing with us, and let us do our birth together. She was provided a guiding helpful hand when we were not sure what to do.
The planning that we had done in prenatal sessions became so important when we had unexpected turns at the birth. We first put our wishes and desires in place, and in our second session we talked about we would want if we had to go to a Plan B.
Talking in advance about variables of what could happen made us better prepared when our baby had to be transferred. Jon went with her until I could join them. Even with this unexpected event we were able to make most of what we wanted happen in our birth. – Melissa & Jon