Inspiration & Information for Healthy Families
www.BirthLink.com
Love is All
We Need

Life is all about learning to love. Follow your heart they say. To do that I must be able to listen to it. To feel is to hear. To trust is to feel. Things are shifting all around me. So much change and upheaval. So much suffering. So little love. Love is the greatest gift we can give ourselves and others. If we don't give it - it starts to shrink. It gets smaller and smaller until there is just one spark left. One small spark that is waiting for someone to breathe on it. To fan that spark back to life. To rekindle the fires of life. To feel the warmth growing inside and remember our true home.

If we don't honor ourself first then nothing can be honored. Without honor can there be love? What is honor? To trust and respect. Without trust and respect what kind of life do we have? We live in fear. Choosing to live in fear makes the fear grow. It crowds out the beliefs that nourish us. We matter and deserve to be happy. We deserve love. We are all capable of love. If our early needs are met that spark is nourished. If they are not we can reparent through choosing to love and honor ourself. It's never too late to choose love.

If we have a garden, and we let too many weeds grow, the flowers won't survive. If we don't pull the negative beliefs, from our minds, how can the garden of our soul flourish? The choice is ours. I love you. I love me. We are all beautiful flowers just trying to grow the best we can.  

 

Julie Chenevert Photography
Mommy Knows Best
The Miracle of Life also known as Birth! - Phase 3

That first gaze into your baby's eyes, makes the labor pain a far and distant memory. Maternal instincts emerge. During this phase you are delivering the placenta also referred to as the tree of life. Find a way to honor your placenta, the powerful life sustaining system. There are many creative ways to do so. More on this topic another time.

Congratulations mommy! As you hold your tiny bundle of joy in your arms for the first time something incredible happens. The biology of birth triggers a release of hormones that floods you with emotions which help establish something truly special - a deep maternal bond. This tiny being you hold in your arms is completely helpless and relying on you for all its care. The emotional attachment that you create now with your baby will lay the foundation that will help you create a lifelong bond and guide you to read your child's needs. This flood of emotion makes you hyper sensitive to baby's every discomfort or need. This response is an instinct to shelter, to care for, to feed, to cuddle, to wake up in the middle of the night and to protect your baby from every harm. This is your maternal instinct.


More to come in the next newsletter.  
Sabina - Mother of Two & Nurse

Bringing In Baby!
 
Hi Jo Anne - Just wanted to touch base and thank you for everything. we really enjoyed our call with you and felt much more equipped after it. we met with a couple of the midwives on your list and opted to go with Sarah Simmons. (she too had great things to say about the green medical practice which we are planning to use!)

We also received your book and have loved it thus far! Keep doing what you are doing. Your guidance really meant more than I can say. I've already told quite a few people about you and will continue to. 

Thank you again! We'll be sure to send a picture of our baby to you once she's here.
With gratitude - Happy Birth Options Parent

 
For more information on how you can benefit from a consultation visit our web site or call 847-733-8050 and speak with Jo Anne Lindberg. 
 


This & That 
We are excited to announce our community partnership with the Chicago Feminist Film Festival this year! They've just released their program schedule, which can be found here The festival runs March 7-9 th and is free and open to the public.

" What do the United States and Papua New Guinea have in common? They are the only countries in the world without paid family leave. American families are often forced to choose between tending to a spouse or parent with an unexpected medical emergency, or keeping their job and health insurance." The documentary ZERO WEEKS takes this big issue on & a sneak peak is screening at the Chicago Feminist Film Festival (please tag us!) on March 9 at 8:00 pm!! It looks amazing. We're proud sponsors of this festival and highly recommend checking it out: free and open to the public! Check out the trailer here: http://www.zeroweeks.com/


Business of Being Born -Tenth Anniversary!

It's been ten years since Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake released the film The Business of Being Born. There were film screenings all over the country. It was also available on Netflix. Ricki Lake had enough notoriety that she was able to get on many talk shows. Parents started to realize that they had options. They also realized that they needed to do more research! The film will be available on their new web site soon. 

BirthLink Blog Post - Over Use of Antibiotics  - Read here.

Announcements are free for BirthLink members. Just let us know!  We publish the 1st and 15th of the month more or less. 

Jo Anne's Musing

Last Sunday I had a pajama day! Every time I do this I wonder why I don't do it more often! I simply stayed in my pajamas all day and didn't have one single plan. I ate, rested, read a cheap novel, cooked, and talked on the phone. That was it. I didn't even allow myself to do any of my usual self care. The whole day was self care! I felt so rejuvenated after that it was amazing!  

Enjoy! 
 
  
 
Julie Chenevert Photography

Best birth & health wishes!
Jo Anne Lindberg MEd ABT
President & Founder