Sacred Birth Circle | Beyond the Pregnancy Guide

Heather Del Castillo will be sharing her home birth story & the lessons she learned from the tragic death of her first son, Miles, as well as her pregnancy after loss journey with her daughter Nora in hopes of helping other families be more aware & be able to make informed decisions about their births.    Please feel free to share your experiences with home birth or stillbirth in the comments.   You can connect with Heather for grief support:  https://www.instagram.com/wellnessandgrief/  https://www.wellnessandgrief.com   Please go to pushpregnancy.org or follow @PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy on social media to join the fight to end preventable stillbirths.   JOIN OUR CIRCLE  Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more! We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way. Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.  With love, Ana    RESOURCES  If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!  DISCLAIMER  Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

Join us for the first interview of 2023 where we will be hearing the story of Jace's Journey Co-Founder, Tomeka James Isaac, who is opening up about her traumatic experience with prenatal care that led to her son's preventable death & her own life being dangerously close to being lost too. She has since become an advocate for maternal health, specifically working to address the racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. As black mothers are more likely to suffer a stillbirth & be at risk for maternal mortality, this is a critically important mission & we hope you will join us in demanding better care for ALL families.   Please watch & share this episode! It's up to us to make sure we hold the health system accountable & make sure more babies & mothers make it home safely.   #preeclampsia #HELLPSyndrome #blackmaternalhealth   JOIN OUR CIRCLE  Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more! We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way. Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.  With love, Ana    RESOURCES  If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.    DISCLAIMER  Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

It may come as a surprise to you that your baby's life-sustaining organ, the placenta, is NOT routinely measured throughout pregnancy. It's as if this necessary organ is just expected to continue growing appropriately & no one bothers to make sure. No wonder placenta related issues (including small placentas) are a common cause of stillbirth!   Fresh off the stage of the #bigPUSH2022 in Washington, D.C., where he proclaimed to bereaved parents "it is NOT the your fault", Dr. Harvey Kliman, Yale's World-Renowned MD, PhD, placenta expert is joining us to explain how the placenta can be measured with a simple ultrasound technique he & his father developed (there's even an instructional video & hand-out for providers on measuretheplacenta.org & an APP: Merwins EPV Calculator).   There's no reason why healthy babies should continue to die if our country can add this tool to our provider's toolbox. If an issue is noted with the growth of our babies' placentas, then providers can take necessary steps to monitor our babies & deliver them early if needed.   No more waiting to see what happens! We deserve better care for ALL families to have a fighting chance to bring their baby home alive. Check out this episode & share with your friends, family & providers!   Connect with Dr. Harvey Kliman: https://medicine.yale.edu/obgyn/kliman/   Resources for Measuring the Placenta: https://medicine.yale.edu/obgyn/kliman/placenta/epv/.   JOIN OUR CIRCLE Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more!    We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way.   Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!  Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.   With love, Ana    RESOURCES   If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!     If you're currently pregnant, get the Count the Kicks app now to get to know your baby's normal movement pattern & visit countthekicks.org for more information, baby save stories, & info for providers to educate their patients on this life-saving technique. To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.     DISCLAIMER   Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

After her fierce & passionate speech at the Big PUSH march in D.C., we had to invite Dr. Florescue to the Sacred Birth Circle to share more of her experience as an OBGYN who is on the forefront of stillbirth prevention.    When she learned that stillbirths can be prevented her enthusiasm to adopt the protocols that are working in the UK has helped her to reduce stillbirth rates in her own practice. She knows that not all stillbirths are preventable, but many ARE & we must do everything in our power to save those babies. In this interview Dr. Florescue shares tips for parents & providers to help reduce the rate of stillbirth in our country.    Please join us for this empowering & inspiring convo + share with others to help us save even more babies.    Follow Dr. Heather Florescue on IG at https://www.instagram.com/drflorescueobgyn/ for prenatal & prevention tips.   JOIN OUR CIRCLE  Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more!   We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way.   Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!  Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.   With love,  Ana    RESOURCES   If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!     If you're currently pregnant, get the Count the Kicks app now to get to know your baby's normal movement pattern & visit countthekicks.org for more information, baby save stories, & info for providers to educate their patients on this life-saving technique. To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.      DISCLAIMER   Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

Dr. Lj Johnson is well-known as a woman on a mission to share her functional medicine, strategies + systems to empower, educate &  motivate EndoWarriors to kick pain, fatique & bloating! If you suffer from endo similar issues, you'll want to listen to this episode now!   We’re so excited for you to hear Lj share her journey of how she’s used her own personal battles with #endometriosis as motivation to become an expert that helps empower other #wombwarriors to be able to live their best life.    Follow Dr. Lj on IG for more informative & engaging content!     JOIN OUR CIRCLE  Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more!   We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way.  Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!  Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.   With love,  Ana    RESOURCES  If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!   If you're currently pregnant, get the Count the Kicks app now to get to know your baby's normal movement pattern & visit countthekicks.org for more information, baby save stories, & info for providers to educate their patients on this life-saving technique. To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.    DISCLAIMER  Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

This conversation is special to me as Dr. Joann O'Leary has been there for me personally through parenting after loss, giving me the comfort of knowing that I can continue to mother my son, Owen (who would have been 7 this week), in a new way while noticing that the ability to grieve as a family has made his siblings into more empathetic & compassionate children.    She & her long-time friend & colleague, Clare Thorwick R.N., will be joining me to discuss all of their combined womb wisdom from many years of supporting parents through pregnancy (including the difficulties of pregnancy after loss), birth & beyond.    Clare's philosophy of trusting a mother's intuition over the machines we've come to rely on to reduce stillbirth will be particularly important to hear. I hope you will all join us to be informed by these two very wise women!     To help support the NYC Rainbow Clinic please go to: tinyurl.com/RainbowClinic2022 to donate to a family's page or create your own for a baby that you wish to honor with this fundraising effort that will help provide other parents pregnant after loss with the care they need.  Thank you!   Please go to pushpregnancy.org or follow PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy on social media to join the fight to end preventable stillbirths.  Go to TheBigPUSHmarch.org to join us in DC on 10/15/22 to demand change!   JOIN OUR CIRCLE  Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more!   We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way.  Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!  Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.   With love,  Ana    RESOURCES  If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!  To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.    DISCLAIMER  Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

The tragedy of having an unexpected stillbirth at delivery after a perfectly healthy first pregnancy is absolutely devastating. Like too many other parents, Marjorie Vail, had to find a way to survive this earth shattering loss & joined us to share how she was able to build an impactful life after loss. It’s a daily battle, but this conversation will give anyone who’s in the same tragic situation some hope that they too can find a way to honor their child, experience joy again & discover their purpose.   Aleksei would be 18 on this day & he is so missed by his parents, brother & family, but his legacy has lived on through his mother’s efforts, which include her pageantry success, volunteerism in NY & abroad, trauma therapy, public speaking & mindset coaching. Also as a Founding member & Co-Director of Awareness for PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy she has been connecting with many other passionate voices in the maternal health space to help spread stillbirth prevention information & improve pregnancy outcomes.   Join us to be moved & inspired by this powerhouse warrior momma!   To help support the NYC Rainbow Clinic please go to: tinyurl.com/RainbowClinic2022 to donate to a family's page or create your own for a baby that you wish to honor with this fundraising effort that will help provide other parents pregnant after loss with the care they need. Thank you!   Please go to pushpregnancy.org or follow PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy on social media to join the fight to end preventable stillbirths.  Go to TheBigPUSHmarch.org to join us in DC on 10/15/22 to demand change!   JOIN OUR CIRCLE  Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more! We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way. Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.   With love,  Ana    RESOURCES If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.    DISCLAIMER Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

After struggling through stillbirths, IVF & looking into options for better care for pregnancy after loss, Fernanda Sheridan was impressed by the care & outcomes of the Tommy’s Rainbow Clinic & had a dream of bringing it to America. Not long after, with the support of her husband, friends & her PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy family it became a reality!  Fernanda will share her experiences & why this legacy of hope is so important to the future of not only loss families but every family!    To help support the NYC Rainbow Clinic please go to: tinyurl.com/RainbowClinic2022 to donate to a family's page or create your own for a baby that you wish to honor with this fundraising effort that will help provide other parents pregnant after loss with the care they need. Thank you!   Please go to pushpregnancy.org or follow  @PUSHPregnancy  on social media to join the fight to end preventable stillbirths.   Go to TheBigPUSHmarch.org to join us in DC on 10/15/22 to demand change!   JOIN OUR CIRCLE  Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more! We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way. Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.   With love,  Ana   RESOURCES If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.    DISCLAIMER  Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

Have you heard baby save stories or experienced a near miss, miraculous birth that could have had a very different ending if it weren't for receiving the proper, timely interventions? Dr. Linda Burke has witnessed many of these situations & it is our hope that by sharing these stories & continuing to teach patients to advocate for themselves we can help more families have happy endings.    Please join us to hear Dr. Burke's strategies + recommendations for stillbirth prevention & improving birth outcomes. Share this episode with your friends to help more families be better prepared for any curve-balls that may come their way during pregnancy & birth.     Dr. Linda Burke MD, MS, FACOG is an OBGYN & maternal health advocate with over 3 decades of clinic experience who has dedicated her career to taking care of medically underserved women. She's an author ("The Smart Mother's Guide to a Better Pregnancy"), blogger and member of district 12 ACOG Committee on Perinatal Mortality and mother of two sons.  Please comment or DM @sacredbirthcircle if you experienced a baby save/near miss with your birth so we can share! Send us a photo & your story to be featured on our platform to help make other families aware of how critical certain situations can be in pregnancy. Thank you!   JOIN OUR CIRCLE  Make sure to subscribe to be alerted about our future episodes, which will feature honest discussions with everyone from birth workers, to birthing parents, to cord and placenta experts, to OB's, to maternal mental health providers, to advocates + more!   We understand the worries & questions you may have as a parent-to-be. The Sacred Birth Circle is your village. You do not have to walk this path into parenthood alone. We're here for you every step of the way.  Sacred Birth Circle goes Beyond the Pregnancy Guide sharing helpful, potentially life-saving, & supportive Womb Wisdom you won't hear anywhere else!   Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.   With love, Ana    RESOURCES  If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. You can join our efforts to prevent stillbirth in memory of our babies as a way to continue to parent your child after loss + make change! Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!  To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.    DISCLAIMER  Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.

Immi Walker shares her story "in hopes it’ll become part of somebody else’s survival guide".   Her family has suffered the unexpected loss of her first son, Asher, due to shoulder dystocia. She is now an outspoken advocate who is raising awareness about this preventable cause of infant loss. Their rainbow baby, Miller, has safely arrived, so she also will open up about her pregnancy after loss to offer others support & guidance through this difficult experience.   Please tune in to this episode to learn from the wisdom she has gained through her difficult pregnancies & births.  Comment to share your stories & to show support for Immi & her family.    Follow Sacred Birth Circle on IG + FB to connect with us + our community & expand your knowledge with us.   With love,  Ana    RESOURCES  If you have suffered a stillbirth please accept our deepest, heartfelt condolences & visit pushpregnancy.org/pregnancy-infant-loss for a list of resources we recommend. Rae also has a curated support website for loss families www.thebluestcircle.com. As loss parents ourselves, we understand the nightmare you have been living through. Please know you are NOT alone. Our community is here for you!  To learn more about measuring the placenta, check out our partner org's website www.measuretheplacenta.org & feel free to connect with them to find a provider willing to help with this important stillbirth prevention tool that is not yet part of standard of care.    DISCLAIMER  Our content is not intended as medical advice. This is general information regarding the subjects discussed, which may not apply to every person. Please consult your healthcare provider for your medical care or advice specifically tailored to your needs, symptoms and health. Your care team will have a better understanding of your pregnancy, birth and postpartum situation. Make sure you ask for their help and guidance.