breastfeeding & lactation

Today we’re talking about Placenta Encapsulation! Our guest today is Michaela Shaw, the woman behind Ostara Birthwork & Botanicals. Michaela is a full spectrum doula serving families in Central & Eastern Massachusetts as well as Rhode Island.
She is also a graduate of the Holistic Herbalism Program at Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine, Asheville, NC and has studied permaculture + sustainable... Read more

In this episode, we talk with mother of two, Danielle Blanchard, about navigating pregnancy, Cesarean births, NICU stays and breastfeeding as a Type 1 diabetic.  After discussing the difference between gestational diabetes and Type 1 diabetes and then Danielle shares the interesting story of how she was diagnosed as toddler. 

We discuss advice she received while planning to get pregnant,... Read more

Recorded Wednesday, March 17, 2021 and today we are talking with our friend Emma O’Brien, long-time birth and postpartum doula and clinical herbalist. In this episode, we talk with Emma about how her interest in herbs started and her journey to become a clinical herbalist. We discuss contraindications for herbal use, facts about using medicinal herbs and particularly herbs in pregnancy like red... Read more

On today's Babies in Common Show, we interview our friend Brittany Falcone, a chiropractor in Worcester, Massachusetts, who specializes in pregnancy and pediatric care.  Brittany shares her interesting story that inspired her to become a chiropractor and then we talk with her about what chiropractic care is and isn't...and what certain chiropractors with specialized training can do for pregnancy,... Read more

Recorded Wednesday, March 3, 2021.  Today we spoke with two special guests about the new Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Law (abbreviated PFML) and how to best prepare for parental leave after the birth of your baby!  Our guests are Amanda Hemm and Sarah Douglas from Soutiens.

QUESTIONS we asked Amanda and Sarah:

While this law does offer many different types of family and medical... Read more

Recorded Saturday, February 13, 2021 and our guest today is Caitlin Calonge (Ca-LAWN-gee).

Caitlin grew up in Cambridge and Everett, MA. She found out she was pregnant with her first baby the summer following high school graduation when she was 18 years old. 
She jokes that she has “literally had almost every job in the world.” She has worked as a waitress, in sales, as a public housing... Read more

Recorded Wednesday, February 3, 2021. 

Our guest is Jessica Shephard, who talks with us about her two homebirth experiences and how choosing homebirth was a big surprise to her Ecuadorian family!  

Jess was born in Ecuador and moved to the United States when she was almost ten years old and now lives in Central Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters, Gianna (2) and Lucia (7 months) who... Read more

Recorded Wednesday, January 27, 2021.  Our guest today is a local nurse, homebirth mom and friend, Alicia Randall!

Alicia grew up an Army Brat, then served as a combat medic for the US Army, providing medical treatment for wounded soldiers during 2 Iraq tours in 2006 and 2010. She met her husband, also a veteran, while serving in the army in Iraq and they married in 2009.  

She now has three... Read more

Recorded Wednesday, January 6th, 2021.

Our guest today is Yasmin is an IBCLC-lactation consultant in private practice in Mumbai, India.  Yasmin is also a biodynamic craniosacral practitioner, international speaker and filmmaker.   

During this episode we learn more about what inspired her to make her film, Untying Breastfeeding, and we talk about tongue ties, breastfeeding support, care... Read more

Recorded 12/30/20

Join us as we interview Aline Bourdeau, Melissa's Memere! Aline gave birth to four children and shares the details of what it was like to learn about menstruation, getting pregnant and giving birth before describing what birth was like in the 1950s (and 1960s).  You don't want to miss out on this episode--she's quite the storyteller and such a hoot!   Yes, it's a bit of a long... Read more

The words we use matter! Join us today as we explore the words we use when talking about feeding and parenting.  We're joined by International Board Certified Lactation Consultant Renee Beebe, who lives and works in Seattle, Washington. You can find out more about her at http://www.second9months.com Read more

Listen in as Emily, a nursing mom of 5+ years, talks with us about planning to breastfeed while on a significant medication, navigating postpartum depression, what it’s like to nurse the same child for 5 years, and about the concept of respectful parenting.  Emily has been a middle school English teacher for 14 years and recently finished her second masters degree in Counseling Psychology with... Read more

In this episode we continue answering listener questions about feeding babies. Read more

Today is Wednesday, October 21, 2020 and we will be discussing the TummyTime Method with its creator, occupational therapist Michelle Emanuel. Michelle comes to us with more than 20 years of experience as an occupational therapist who worked with babies in a neonatal intensive care unit and in pediatrics and eventually saw the need for a private practice, where she also weaves her passion for... Read more

Recorded on Wednesday, October 14, 2020.  

Melissa and I answer questions from the Babies in Common community about feeding babies...breast, bottle and solid foods.  We put the word out we would be doing this and had folks in our Facebook groups contribute!
 
We dispel myths that exist about feeding babies and share information that every expectant and new parent should know.  

If you have... Read more

Join us as we learn from Sejal Fichadia, a certified  infant massage instructor and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant who is also an experienced postpartum doula and certified TummyTime Method instructor. Originally from India, she now lives in Oregon with her husband and kids.  She’s currently offering online infant massage and TummyTime Method classes, so check out her... Read more

Join us in discussing inducing lactation with private practice lactation consultant, Alyssa Schnell, IBCLC, the author of Breastfeeding Without Birthing: A Breastfeeding Guide for Mothers Through Adoption, Surrogacy, and Other Special Circumstances.

To learn more about Alyssa's services, book and offerings for parents and professionals, see Breastfeeding without birthing. Read more

Join us as we talk with Dr. Amy Brown, professor and prolific author, about what influences how we feed our babies, breast, formula and solid foods! 

Amy Brown, PhD is a professor at Swansea University in Wales, where she oversees the master of science program in Child Public Health.  She started her studies in psychology and the arrival of her first baby sparked her interest in the barriers... Read more

Join us as we talk with Kelly Shultz, mom of two, about how she navigated through a challenging year (and more) of nursing, continued through her pregnancy, had an unusual birth with her daughter and then tandem and extended nursing with both of them. Read more

Join us as we talk with Cynthia Cohen, Director of Client Relations for the Mother's Milk Bank Northeast, about human milk banking--why it's needed, how donors are screened, how milk is processed, how families can receive banked donor milk and how you can support the work of the milk bank.   Read more