#HimynameisRowan

Make a wish!

then: Make a Wish!

Over twenty years ago I became a massage therapist, and soon after that went to The Farm to train as a midwives’ assistant. In the space and time and bellies and pregnant peeps between then and now I learned the art of gently asking and coaxing a body to labor, especially when the labor wants to start but is held in check by a block. I figured this out in my massage room, one client at a time. I also listened to when someone had an old “(mid)wives tale”, cause many times they had truth in them. I’m teaching now, teaching folks how to whisper their labor, teaching other birth workers how to #LaborWhisper, and possibly our work will shape how our community treats a pregnant person. #Eachoneteachone

IMG_6353_zps3oitkiob

Now

This is how I can help:

  1. If you need help getting your labor started, poke around on the site, starting here, see if you can DIY it, sometimes thats all it takes. A little insight and some boundaries go a long way.
  2. Take my course, labor whisper yourself. Launching 4/2016     In the interim hop into our FB group  if you have a question.    
  3. Need more? I have a self course in the works, but in the interim I’ve trained a bunch of snappy Houston area birth workers, many that are available virtually, to help with one on one sessions. Pick your Whisperer right over here.

xoxoxo, Rowan

Labor Whispering, How to Go About It

Labor Whispering is persuasive, not a choke hold. And thats what I see or hear most times, ” I just want to meet my baby, I’m impatient.” Let me clue you in here sister (or brother,) throwing your best tricks to early in the game gets you a tired crabby uterus and a crabby tired pregnant person.

um, calm down?

um, calm down?

Walk because its good for ya, dance cause its joy inducing and helps promote fetal positioning, but eating ALL THE FOODS and doing ALL THE MOVES and ALLL THE TRICKS and ALL THE SUPPLEMENTS and ALL THE ALL THE ALL THE will just exhaust you and largely render them ineffective for when the appropriate time would be for a little coaxing. WHAT DO WE WANT?!! A BABY!!! WHEN DO WE WANT IT?!! NOW!!! So instead, a better approach is to go through the Labor Whispering 4 steps, or rather review the four reasons people don’t go into labor, and see what you can do proactively to get body and mind and community ready. Approach it from a a peaceful and chill heart. Cause doing everything you can since 37 weeks makes you and everyone around you bananas, and many times when baby comes at 41 plus weeks you are exhausted and emotionally strung out, and thats BEFORE the intensity of the newborn time. Guess what thats a setup for? Post Partum depression. And that for sure affects bonding  and the foundation of your family. That shiz is no joke. So my love, calm down, settle your pants, practice your deep breathing, walking, yoga, Dancing for Birth, and Spinning Babies. Review the  reasons labor does not start, and work through the blocks, set the boundaries, stop the vag tv. All of it. A watched pot never boils, even when you are banging the crud out of it with a spatula.

Sierra Looking Down

Relaaaaaaaax.

I believe in you, Rowan

Vag Tv

“Vag Tv is sneaky, often well intentioned, and can totally slow your labor roll. Come to this group prenatal class to get the 411 on how you too can prevent Vag Tv, sidestep its dire consequences, and spot it a mile away. Presented by Rowan TwoSisters and the Secret Society of Labor Whisperers.” This is the intro on a FaceBook event for a group prenatal class  for Sacred Journey Midwifery that I’m presenting with my other Labor Whisperers in Jan. And it occurs to me that Shannon Stellhorn’s living room isn’t going to hold all of us. All of you. All of the women who need to know that the hyper-scrutiny and all the “Have you had that baby yet?” are actually labor stoppers. STOPPERS. As in do not pass go. Like I know I’ve totally written before about going into labor , but let’s just look at it again.  Review. There are four kinda general reasons that people don’t go into labor,

  1. The due date is crap ~Arbitrary, a guestimate. And people get MARRIED to that shiz. Calm down people, its just a a shot in the dark. Every woman, every pregnancy, every weather pattern is different.
  2. Its all in your head ~  Something emotional/mental/energetically is slowing the roll. EX? Vag TV!
  3. Let’s Get Physical! So maybe fetal malposition (due to a number of things), tight pelvic floor, broken and now stuck pointing inward  coccyx.
  4. We don’t actually know, but somethings up. ~And this is where we do everything we can to get a preggers person as ready as can be with our protocol, so that if you need a little help from our (medical) friends, that we’ve cleared the way for any medical intervention needed to be as effective as possible. Collaborative not combative.

Vag Tv is a shining example of getting so much hassle that your body doesn’t feel safe enough to do its job, like kick into labor. Vag Tv is when you are no longer a person, but a giant belly/crotch combo, and everybody has their 2cents on your birth, your belly size, your birth plan, your partners involvement. It can look like the constant social media posts asking about the baby, or text messages, or unsolicited comments, especially those involving crap birth stories. The solution to Vag Tv is boundaries. No joke. Because if your body doesn’t know you are going to keep it safe and taken care of, the Oxytocin may decide hide and not come out and play. So I came up with a plan.

  1. Take you one of these, this is my girl Angela Andrea, she bakes cakes.

Andrea Selfie2. Then go back and take a sticky note, or a piece of printer paper and stick it up right where your phone would be.Oh, you can write on it too, something clever or witty or, I know, a picture of a bird!

Bird pic

I think we can all see why I didn’t pursue a career in art.

3. ok, take the pregnant selfie again.Beth & BirdBoom, there you are. The perfect profile pic for all your social media posts. Genius, eh? Don’t forget to include the hashtag #laborwhispering, then maybe all your social media peeps can come tell me what a B I am for coaching you on having good labor boundaries. Whatevs, I have friends. When to take it down? When you have one of these!

Baby Violet

Baby Violet. She’s looking right into our souls.

Xoxoxoxoo, Rowan