For most newborns, one of the hardest parts of adapting to life outside the womb is digestion. Just like the respiratory system, the digestive system suddenly has to get to work soon after birth! Digestion brings lots of new sensations, including pain. In this first of a 2-part series on infant digestion, I am focusing on how a breastfeeding mother’s diet affects her baby. Next month, I’ll share additional tips on how to strengthen and soothe newborn digestion. _____________

We all want the best for our kids, right? We do what we can to provide stimulating environments, secure attachment, positive experiences, and good nutrition (among other things). Recently I have been learning more about the importance of a diverse and flourishing gut microbiome in setting the stage for mental and physical health. The gut micro biome is "... is made up of the trillions of microorganisms and their genetic material that live in your intestinal tract. These

I’ve been enjoying listening to a book called Willpower Doesn't Work: Discover the Hidden Keys to Success by Benjamin Hardy over the last couple months. The basic premise is that in order to make lasting changes in our lives, we have to change our environment; expecting willpower to carry us through to the final destination doesn’t work. Hardy says: “You shape the garden of your mind by planting specific things from your environment, such as the books you read, experiences

While living in Spain this year, I haven’t gotten to hang out with many newborn babies and their moms. I miss them - really, deeply, and viscerally. A couple of weeks ago, though, I got to spend a morning with a 6-week old and her mama in order to film some demonstrations of baby care techniques for my upcoming online course, Life Beyond Birth 101. The rest of the day and into the next I felt so GOOD! The time we spent together was fun; we had a good time and laughed a lot. I

Over my decade of supporting new babies and their families, I have heard so many new mothers say, “I wish someone had told me…. …what postpartum depression or anxiety actually feels like …what a good breastfeeding latch looks and feels like …how much I need to focus on sleep, and get it when I can …how to put a support system in place for meals, housework, moral support …how to care for a newborn …how to care for my postpartum body …how to balance my intuition with others’ ad

As we near the end of January and the excitement of the holidays settles, I am enjoying this New Year's wish that a friend here in Spain recently sent me. I worked with Google Translate ;) to send it to you, along with a big hug: "I do not wish you a wonderful year in which everything is good. That is a magical, childish, utopian thought. I wish to encourage you to look at yourself, and to love yourself as you are. I wish you enough self-love to fight many battles, and the

It is October in Northern Spain. The nights are rapidly becoming longer, cutting into the evenings, and threatening to continue until 9am when we take our children to school. This dramatic darkening is encouraging me to slow down. I have spent much of my adult life focused on to-do lists, being productive, and contributing to society in some way. I have to remind myself that I am creating a different pace of life for myself this year. Here, shops close from 2-5pm every da

I often encounter first-time mothers struggling to shift from the life they have known up until birth to their new realities of life with baby. Most of them have never been told about the subtleties of this shift. The to-do list, the rapid pace of life, the external achievements, and the ignoring of their deepest needs no longer serve mama in this new reality. These things are replaced with days that slip by; feeling everything deeply; becoming engrossed in your baby’s every

I recently saw the movie “Tully” and I can’t stop thinking about it. After mulling it over, I am left unsure if Tully actually existed or if she was a figment of Marlo’s (the postpartum mom played by Charlize Theron) psychosis, awakening within her the young woman she used to be. This is the same feeling I had after watching “A Beautiful Mind.” I replayed each moment, trying to separate the actual reality from reality perceived by the main character. The preview seemed like