So, your guess date is a month or less away??

This message is for my clients who are expecting to give birth in a hospital and have due dates within the next month. I hope other parents will find this information useful as well! If we've only connected virtually for our appointments, now is the perfect time to arrange an in-person meeting before the big day when we will be joined by your hospital birthing team.

If we haven't discussed and noted your birth preferences let's do it this week. If you are a MAE

client please log in to MAE and request an appointment with me. All other clients just send me a text or email. I'll be sending a hospital packing list for you and your baby for the hospital (If you're a new Mama or Dad and not my client, just email me and I'll share it with you too).

Who is the hospital where I am having my baby?

I say "who" to refer to your hospital because they all have distinct personalities. Take the hospital tour. Ask questions:

• Who do you call when you believe you are in labor?

• Will someone from your OBGYN practice help you birth your baby or will it be a doctor employed by the hospital?

• Can you fill out all of your consent forms before you arrive in labor.

• Does this hospital allow you to eat?

• Does this hospital have a tub you can relax in during labor?

• When will siblings be allowed to come and see the baby?

• How many people will be allowed in the room with you during labor or during recovery in the case of a belly-birth?

Ask all of these questions and anything else you can think of before you go into labor.

What's the 411?

411 is an easy way to figure out if it's time to be heading to the hospital and giving your doula a "get ready" call. Your sensations (contractions) are coming FOUR or five minutes apart, they are lasting at least ONE minute and the pattern persists for ONE hour.

Feel free to text me anytime. I don't mind late-night calls because it's never too late to get a birthday party invitation! If it turns out to be a false alarm, that's alright... it's just a rehearsal, and practice leads to perfection.

Plan your postpartum!

I believe your postpartum care is the most important part of this journey into motherhood/parenthood. There is a saying (don't know where its from but it is true) that the forty days after your birth will affect your health for the next 40 years of your life. Plan every detail of your postpartum aggressively! Unlike birth your postpartum is something you can predict, plan and control.

Also, if you want to learn more about the cultural and spiritual side of postpartum you can sign up for my classes Masungiro and Muzvere (no additional charge for my MAE mamas and babas). We will also cover postpartum care in our individual meetings.