Happy hump day! Today we get to chat about one of my favorite interventions for women – both outside pregnancy/postpartum or during pregnancy/postpartum periods. We’re talking pelvic floor therapy! Are you already doing your Kegels now? Let’s do it! What is the pelvic floor? Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles at the bottom…

Hello Monday. We had a lovely weekend that involved playing outside in the snow and the SUNSHINE! There’s an unsaid contest in the neighborhood for the neighbor that can pile up the most snow at the end of their driveway and make a makeshift sledding hill for all the neighborhood kids. I think the biggest…

Happy Friday! I am so excited for this Friday – it’s the first Friday in a long time that I’m not working a 24 hour shift – in other words, I don’t have the prospect of being awake at 2am. Hooray! Let’s start off this Friday Five with a book recommendation! If you need a…

Happy hump day and holy icicles! Those suckers are hanging precariously over my back door. They’re pretty dangerous come April so we go out and smack them all down once the first snow starts to melt. It’s kind of like baseball practice but with ice and a shovel. I personally find it incredibly satisfying! Today’s…

Hello Monday. And thank you daylight savings time for throwing off our weekend a little! The babies and I both took an extra nap yesterday (no complaints there!). The upside is that it was a whole lot lighter in Alaska on Sunday than it was on Friday. And light is awfully noticeable in a state…

Here’s the Friday Five a little late! I came off recovering from a viral URI this week and a 24 hour shift yesterday that was busy – three new babes were welcomed into the world by three rockstar mamas! 1. Taking care of you! Yep, this first one is did you do something awesome for…

Dear Alaska, it’s real white out there these days. The six inches of snow this weekend were unexpected. The icicles on our deck our four feet long now. Mmkay, just wanted to let you know that this is the month where winter turns to spring…in case you forgot. Bring on the break up. Happy Monday!…

Thank goodness it’s Friday! This week knocked me flat on my back. I picked up a viral URI at the hospital last weekend, then nearly coughed a lung out earlier this week working through said URI, to the baby getting hand, foot and mouth at the day care Thursday. The day care part was funny…….

Happy Wednesday! I’m still flying high from our awesome Disney trip last month and an awesome birth over the weekend that sang midwifery hallmarks to the top of our Alaska mountains. The mama had prepared for birth so well and during her contractions, she was so stoic you could barely tell she was contracting. I…

Happy Monday! I am coming off a weekend of working 48 hours on the labor and delivery deck and I am TIRED. My mamas this weekend did outstanding and we had some really amazing births. The tiredness is totally worth it! Onto today’s post… Over the past few weeks, the student spotlights have been wildly…

Oh Friday! This Friday is the start of a long weekend of call for me. I’m trying to imagine spring, sunshine and flowers blooming through the few feet of snow Alaska received this week. I think we used the snow blower 3 times already before Friday (and by we, I mean the husband did most…

The annual pilgrimage to your women’s health office has always been looked down upon by generations of women. I want to take a look at the well woman visit is different light and see if there’s not more benefit to the visit than a breast exam and a Pap smear. Let’s break the visit down…

I get asked all the time if I was a midwife before I had babies – and I was! I was a midwife for just over 2 years before my daughter was born. I don’t think that having babies makes you a better midwife, but I do think birth gives you insight into many things…

Happy Valentine’s Day! The husband and I believe in eating chocolate every day – so we’re not big fans of the holiday for the candy and the flowers – but we are doing Valentine’s Day with our three year old daughter this year and she is beyond excited. She thinks Valentine’s Day is a combination…

Did you catch part 1? If not, check it out here before reading part 2 today. This was a fun post to put together. To me, this is the every day climb up on Mount Midwifery to make the midwifery profession stronger. It takes every woman, every midwife and every person in between to encourage…

This week I was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers – Modern Mrs. Darcy – and her post on things that are saving her life right now. I get asked all the time – how do you do it? I promise I am not super human. I do have a number of things built…

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Today’s post is short but the takeaway is this: whenever you have a chance, lift up midwifery! Here’s how I think I look most days: 5 foot-6 inch, certified nurse midwife, probably in scrubs and Danskos; in the hospital or clinic; and most definitely with a cup of coffee that was warm two hours ago…

Happy Friday! This was a moose right outside the window of my unit last summer. Every time I see this picture I think – this moose is demonstrating Alaska’s version of hands and knees. Well done moose! For anyone that’s curious, this is a young moose, maybe a couple years old. 1. Kellymom.com: This resource…

Oh my. You’re a midwifery student and clinicals/apprenticeships are finally in sight! I’ve been precepting nurse midwife students for five years now and have noticed some trends along the way amongst the midwifery students. In that vein, I’ve decided to write a list of the things I keep saying over and over to my students…

Oh snowy Alaska – you are so pretty. The babes and I went to a little town called Girdwood last week to go to the outdoor zoo (yes…. outdoor zoo, in 0 degree weather, in January – you read all of that correctly). The full moon over the mountains and town was too pretty to…

Happy Friday! I’m so glad Friday is here. I had a 24 hour shift in the middle of this week in which I was awake 23 of 24 hours. You know you’re tired when you just lay down on the bed, glasses on, shoes on, and pass out without even thinking about falling asleep…only to…

Happy Friday! I’m dreaming of warm weather and flowers blooming, instead of the icy darkness that is Alaska this week. And boy is it cold…it was -15 degrees F this morning…get your act together Alaska. Also, only in Alaska do people call over the hospital system: “Please be advised, there are two moose at the…

For this Women Ask Wednesday, I want to share about a sweet tradition called the Blessing of the Hands ceremony. I first found out about this tradition in my midwifery program. In my prior years of nursing I had no idea this existed! My midwifery cohort consisted of 8 women and we gathered together for…

Today we have our first Midwifery Practice Spotlight! Elizabeth is a midwife that works at Community Health Centers of Pinellas in Florida. See her answers below! I personally loved her piece of advice to women (and her hope for midwifery!). Interested in sharing about your practice? Check out the original post. Where is your practice…

Happy Friday! It has been such a COLD week in Alaska. I’m ready for the temperature to be above zero. Please and thank you. This is a busy Friday Five. I stumbled across a lot of different fun things this week and wanted to share all the goodies! This page contains Amazon affiliate links for…

Oh you guys! I’m embarrassed I didn’t even know about this little gem of a product until AFTER my second baby (in all fairness, the company was only started in 2018). I was walking about the unit of the postpartum unit after my son was born and ran into our lactation consultant. She said congratulations…