who we are Archives - Better Beginnings

When Breastfeeding Feels Broken

As postpartum doulas, we aim to support our clients and their families in whatever capacity is most helpful. Oftentimes breastfeeding is of utmost importance to these families, so naturally we spend a lot of our time working alongside parents to help them achieve their goals. While we do see a lot of success, this success usually happens in contexts that are not ideal, and with a lot of troubleshooting along the way. We find many mothers working through difficult and traumatic birth experiences, feeling overwhelmed by so many (often conflicting) opinions, or experiencing pain, all while trying to maintain an around the clock demand to feed the baby.

Planting Seeds

We trust, as the little seeds do, that we will bloom where we are planted. Those early days postpartum are a time of great transition. Give yourself grace, as you learn about your baby and your baby learns about you.

Expecting? 5 New Year Resolutions for You

Welcoming in a new year is always a big deal, but this year, we are also welcoming in a new decade. If you’re expecting a new baby (or multiple new babies!) in the new year, here are some new year resolutions that might feel particularly relevant.

5 Ways To Parent For the Planet

With the Amazon rainforest burning, the arctic melting, and worldwide climate strikes happening, we are left to wonder what we can do to address this often-overwhelming and anxiety-producing outlook on the future of our planet. While there are certainly large-scale changes that need to be made, sometimes legislation and the discussions of world powers can leave us feeling a bit helpless as individuals. So, we wanted to focus this month’s blog post on five ways that parents can promote a healthy Earth in the choices we make every day. Read on for some simple (though not necessarily easy!) things you can do as a family to parent for the planet.

Postpartum Doulas and The Fourth Trimester

The fourth trimester is the time when a baby is changing and developing rapidly—as if they were still in the womb—for the first twelve weeks or so, while their parents also change and develop rapidly to learn their baby and learn themselves in their new roles as parents of this baby.

Let’s Take Back Postpartum

The word “postpartum” should not be synonymous with depression, but should conjure images of bare, soft skin, little baby snores, mother’s hair spread across a pillow, hot tea, warm baths, and a “village” unobtrusively bringing meals to nourish and sustain the growing family.

Why Better Beginnings?

Why is Better Beginnings the best choice for postpartum doula care in the Twin Cities? We are not a very large agency, and while large agencies have their benefits, there are some real perks to working with a smaller company when searching for postpartum and lactation support for your family. Postpartum is our passion. We are focused on all things postpartum. We don’t try to do everything from pregnancy through birth and beyond, because we believe the postpartum time, in all its unique needs and challenges, deserves a focused, attentive approach.

Better Beginnings For More

As we near the end of 2018, I am pleased to announce a very exciting change we are implementing to the way we do business. When I founded Better Beginnings in the spring of 2013, my main goal was to help other moms and families after they had a baby. My own experience of the postpartum time was challenging, and I recognized a gap in care for families, as so much emphasis and attention is paid to prenatal care and childbirth itself, but very little formal care is provided in the days and weeks following birth.

It’s not an end. Its a beginning.

We all know this life is not always easy. It turns out that the beginning of life also is not always easy. A new baby’s arrival is a joyous event, and there are some families for whom welcoming a new baby is relatively straightforward, without much challenge and with few obstacles. However, most families quickly discover that a new baby usually means at least some level of difficulty, if even for bits of time here and there. Feeding, sleeping, parenting decisions, and adjusting–both expectations and even relationships–all present potential hurdles, even as those first days and weeks race by. The postpartum time, then, is both a golden, fleeting, unique experience, and also unknown, uncharted territory with each new baby.

Call us: 651-747-6954

TWIN CITIES | DULUTH | ROCHESTER