About Integrated Pregnancy and PostPartum Care

Imagine personalized body work and ritual that begins during pregnancy or even before conception, bodywork provided in the first days after childbirth, to assist the process of integrating your birth experience and the changes that you are experiencing postpartum. Imagine rituals that immerse you in beauty and prepare you to go forth as the warrior, the gentle, generous, giver of life, and the strong, creative person that you are and always have been. Imagine foundational care that supports you in self care and growth in your new role. Imagine such care followed by community gatherings with other new moms and birth parents, for learning and sharing.

That’s what you experience with Integrated Pregnancy and Postpartum Care: monthly self care visits with body work alongside monthly group gatherings in the oasis of care that is Sacred Good Medicine in the U District of Seattle. The good news is that your care can begin at any time you desire; either during pregnancy or after the birth of your baby.

Individual Integrated Pregnancy and PostPartum Care visits

Every Integrated Pregnancy and Postpartum Care visit is different as each is based on what you need at that time. At your individual personal monthly visit, we will talk and learn what it is you wish to work on that day. You may have one specific thing you want to focus on and we can focus on that, though, sometimes, getting to the root of one concern may require more than one type of work.  While the work will usually involve Craniosacral Therapy and Ancestral Hands on Healing, there might be other needs, including more talk, art therapy, walking, or planning. You might choose a vaginal steam, an herbal tea, or one of various therapies that might be appropriate depending on your own situation and needs, including limpia, or other ritual. You may request or require a closing ceremony, pelvic floor work, or a sacred bath. You may just want a soothing postpartum hands on healing treatment for pleasure and relaxation. You may need to work out a dissatisfaction with your labor, your baby’s birth, or even your own birth! I’ve had people work out past lives on the table, so whatever you need to do, we will work on.

Monthly Integrated Pregnancy and PostPartum Care group gatherings:

Monthly gatherings will include a variety of activities and topics depending on what participants have indicated  that they need, over the course of the month between gatherings. Possibilities include discussion of specific topics or challenges and relevant support and resources. They will usually involve a physical activity, such as walking the labyrinth, dance, core alignment, or learning self care tools. Spiritual and soul work are an important part of IPPC and you may be engaged in making birth art, creating a ritual, making items for yourself and for your baby, or spiritual discussion and exploration.

For a more comprehensive list of the skills, practices, and services you might experience through Integrated Pregnancy and Postpartum Care, please scroll to the bottom of the page.

For more information, click this button to make an appointment for a complimentary 15 minute phone consultation, to learn if Integrated Pregnancy and Postpartum Care is right for you.

WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM INTEGRATED PREGNANCY AND POST PARTUM CARE?

Well, probably you would. This is for anybody who wants more attention to their bodily and spiritual integrity during pregnancy or after birth. During pregnancy, all the organs in your pelvis and abdomen move over and up and around and get a little compressed to make room for the growing baby. All your muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints get loose to make it easier for the baby to pass through your pelvis at the time of birth.   Before your baby comes, the weight and bulk of the baby and all the looseness can sometimes lead to some of what are called “common discomforts of pregnancy”, ie. sciatic pain, loose hips, joint discomforts, digestive discomforts, such as reflux and constipation.  Regardless, after the baby is born, everything needs to go back into a functional and comfortable alignment while things are still soft and movable. One of the things the bodywork does is help with balance and alignment during pregnancy and help everything to get back into alignment after birth, during the time that connective tissue is regaining strength and integrity postpartum.

Physical conditions addressed by Integrated Pregnancy and PostPartum Care:

diastasis recti

pelvic floor dysfunction or strain

urinary incontinence

fecal incontinence

pelvic pain

pain with intercourse

diminished libido

lower back pain

pain with extended sitting or standing

pain unrelated to reproduction, or pelvis:

headache

neck or shoulder pain

pain from injury, chronic or acute

scar tissue remediation from episiotomy, tearing, surgery, Caesarean section, laparoscopic surgery, or other causes

sacral pain, SI joint pain

sciatic pain

Emotional and Spiritual Care

It’s not just physical. You may need care of your heart and spirit. You know how things change with pregnancy and birth. All of your relationships shift just a little as people decide how to interface with you and your new priority: the little one. Some people stick around, some people can’t make room in their lives or minds for a new baby. Some people surprise you and walk the entire journey with you. You may have concerns with your birth that you need to address and resolve. You may be reconsidering your original decisions re: returning to work or staying at home. You may be wondering how you are going to remember to be you in the coming months and years of parenting. You might have concerns about how you will parent. And you may be wondering how you can combine all your interests and passions with the all consuming role of motherhood and new parenthood.

Emotional and Spiritual conditions addressed by Integrated Pregnancy and PostPartum Care and Ancestral Hands on Healing:

changes in self image

changes in relationships

uncertainty about how to move forward and who you are now

resolving unhappiness, dissatisfaction or unsettledness about your birth experience

fear about the future

support relating to post partum depression

concerns about bonding with your new baby

resolving concerns, regrets, disatisfactions with previous births and pregnancies

fears about parenting

breastfeeding concerns

coming back into yourself after birthing and early parenthood

Through craniosacral therapy, somatoemotional release, and Ancestral Hands on Healing, you can experience physical alignment and also emotional and spiritual alignment as you access your own inner wisdom so that you can begin to uncover, identify, and release stresses and beliefs which no longer serve you, and begin to navigate some of these transitions.

Some of the skills, practices and services you might experience through Integrated Pregnancy and PostPartum Care include:

Craniosacral Therapy

Ancestral Hands on Healing

Abdominal Massage: Maya, Ancestral, visceral, Mercier, external uterine massage (whatever you are needing)

Breast Massage and care

Self Care teaching

Lymphatic drainage

Dry brushing

Holistic Pelvic Care or intravaginal massage (not during pregnancy or early postpartum)

Vaginal/perineal steams

Curanderismo

Limpias

Ritual

Soul Retrieval

Spiritual Cleansing

Spiritual Baths

Healing Ceremonies

Listening, Reflecting, Counseling

Allopathic Care

Use of herbs, teas, nutrition

Chakra care and balancing

Art, creativity

Dance

meditation

Prescriptions may or may not include

         herbal

         pharmaceutical

         nutritional

         activity, life style change

         spiritual practice

         meditation/prayer

         Ancestral work

         Education/information

         Labyrinth

Forging community

community support

resources

asking for help

Integrated Pregnancy and PostPartum is for you no matter HOW postpartum you are

What if it’s been a while since you had your baby?

Some people hold that there is a three month window for effective postpartum care. But that isn’t true at all. As with most health care, it’s wonderful and best if you can get the care you need when you first need it. It saves you a lot of time and discomfort. But if you didn’t know what care was needed and your community didn’t know to offer it, it wasn’t possible to receive it.

If you didn’t receive the postpartum care you wish you had, you can still benefit now that you have greater understanding. Our beautiful bodies are like our beautiful spirits and minds: we are resilient and can make change and grow, long after the “golden window”. You may also have the added “benefit” of having experienced the result of little or no postpartum care, making it clear to you what you want to work on.

Even years after giving birth, it is possible to reactivate the vitality in your pelvic bowl, revitalize your flow of energy, help to realign your organs if needed, and reconnect and integrate your physical and spiritual self with your experiences and beliefs. That’s what Integrated PostPartum Care is about.