Preterm Labour and Maternity Reflexology

Preterm labor occurs when regular contractions result in the opening of your cervix after week 20 and before week 37 of pregnancy.
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Preterm labor can result in premature birth. The earlier premature birth happens, the greater the health risks for your baby. Many premature babies (preemies) need special care in the neonatal intensive care unit. Preemies can also have long-term mental and physical disabilities.
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The specific cause of preterm labor often isn’t clear. Certain risk factors might increase the risk, but preterm labor can also occur in pregnant women with no known risk factors.

Signs and symptoms of preterm labor include:
Regular or frequent sensations of abdominal tightening (contractions)
Constant low, dull backache
A sensation of pelvic or lower abdominal pressure
Mild abdominal cramps
Vaginal spotting or light bleeding
Preterm rupture of membranes — in a gush or a continuous trickle of fluid after the membrane around the baby breaks or tears
A change in type of vaginal discharge — watery, mucus-like or bloody.
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You might not be able to prevent preterm labor — but there’s much you can do to promote a healthy, full-term pregnancy. For example:
· Seek regular Reflexology care
· Seek regular prenatal care
· Eat a healthy diet.
· Avoid risky substances (smoking, alcohol, illicit drugs)
· Consider pregnancy spacing.
· Be cautious when using assisted reproductive technology (ART). If you’re planning to use ART to get pregnant, consider how many embryos will be implanted. Multiple pregnancies carry a higher risk of preterm labor.
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If your health care provider determines that you’re at increased risk of preterm labor, he or she might recommend taking additional steps to reduce your risk, such as:
· taking preventative medications
· Managing chronic conditions. Certain conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, increase the risk of preterm labor.

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Labour Priming and Maternity Reflexology

Labour Priming in natural therapies works differently than it does in Allopathic medicine. Allopathic medicine calls it Labour Induction, which is by definition a medical intervention to artificially start labour, either with medicines (pitocin, cervadil…) or procedure (membrane sweeping, artificial rupture of membranes …).
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How Reflexology for Labour Priming works is through learned protocols we check in with birther and babe to ensure everything is in order for a good and natural birth. If this is the case, then Reflexology for Labour Priming can start a process that wasn’t starting itself for whatever reason (anxiety by mom, anxiety of babe, imbalance of hormones or interrupted communication channels between uterus and pituitary/hypothalamus). If everything and everyone is ready, the birther and babe can expect action to begin anywhere in the 48 hours post Reflexology Session.
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If, however, some finishing touches still need to be applied or if the birther or babe have some last minute processing to do or whatever the reason for delay of labour starting, Reflexology for Labour Priming helps put the finishing touches on, helps any processes sort themselves out etc and Labour will not start until everything is sorted accordingly.
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Reflexology for Labour Priming can safely be received anytime the birther is 37+ weeks and has the “go ahead” from their obstetrical care provider . Generally these protocols are applied after 40 weeks to help avoid any medical intervention in birth.
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Regular Reflexology throughout the whole pregnancy is shown to reduce 1st and 2nd stage labour times, reduce sensation associated with birth (pain), and speed healing times postnatally. Regular Reflexology throughout gestation can also encourage natural onset of labour, negating the need, in many cases, for natual or allopathic “induction” procedures.

MULTIPLE THERAPIES WHILE TTC:

Is it OK to see other Therapists?

Maybe one of the more frequent questions I am asked by my clients is “is it ok to also have other therapies while having Reflexology” and the answer is an unmitigated, “Yes, but not within 24-48 hours of each other.”

A good number of my TTC clients also receive Acupuncture treatments or Mayan Abdominal Massage or Chiropractic – all therapies that are also proven to aid in the regulation of the body’s health and encourage Fertility.

But why the 24- 48 hour proviso?

Allowing 24-48 hours between the therapies ensures that any system that is trying to heal itself does not become overloaded by too much attention from multiple treatments in too short a time frame. Giving the therapy time to be affective and the body time to heal between treatments will ensure no mixed signals occur and healing is as linear as possible.

In every other way, all of these therapies work in such a similar way that they work to complement each other and speed the healing process for the body.

Best Wishes
Gloria

HONOURING YOUR CYCLE: Menstruation • Winter • Days 1-7

Do you hate your period?

Do you dread its’ presence every month? Do you feel shamed and dirty every time you menstruate? Has someone scoffed at you or made a joke about “that time of the month” when you’ve showed any type of emotion other that what they felt was acceptable at the time? Maybe you’ve made the comment yourself, maybe you’ve berated yourself for feeling things more intensely during the time leading up to your bleed and for feeling sad and withdrawn during your bleed.

In Western Society – likely you learned about your period (if you were lucky enough to not start menstruating before grade 6) in a sterile Sex Education class in which the boys snickered and made groaning noises the whole time and the entire experience was embarrassing and medically sterile – lacking any emotion or room for deep conversations that should be held over this type of information – and you just couldn’t wait for it to be over!

If you are a mainstream family – likely periods were something that were shushed and hushed and not acknowledged as an everyday fact of life for 50% of the population. Likely you would shamefully hide your sanitary product in your sleeve or your purse as you snuck to the bathroom to tend to your dirty chore.

I want you to consider the possibility that you could love your period and honour your whole cycle. I’m not talking about the dancing in a field of daisies in a white muslin gown “love your period” idea that menstrual products ads pedal in a desperate attempt to get you to buy their wares. I mean to really understand it, to acknowledge its’ separate parts and what that means for your everyday. I mean to know your body and its’ deepest workings so that you immediately know when something is not right.

There is so much more to our Menstrual Cycle than PMS and bloating and moodiness and inconvenience. Our periods can teach us so much about how we have been treating ourselves, if we have been nourishing ourselves properly, and whether we have been respecting ourselves and honouring our own personal limitations.

So, what happens during our Menstrual Period or Moon that makes it something to celebrate?

Menstruation • Winter • Days 1-7

Our senses are heightened – taste, smell, sight, touch, and hearing, and as a result we are more aware of everything around us. We dream more! Bright vibrant and often prophetic dreams! Our energy has more inward focus which makes us less emotionally available for those around us. We go into hibernation, rest and repair. And we are in a process of death and rebirth – of this cycle to the next one, which makes this the perfect time to replace habits and intentions that are no longer serving you with new ones. And you will know what those habits and intentions are, because your intuition is heightened and you can see things more clearly during your Moon!

No wonder women who are in their Moon time are often considered prickly, sensitive and moody. Everything in their nature is telling them to recede, to spend time alone, to be quiet and reflective, and yet external demands of family, work, friends don’t just disappear. But doesn’t the knowledge of why you are feeling or reacting in a certain way change your actual feelings around that reaction if not the reaction itself?

So how can you honour your Moon time and even make it something you look forward to?

– Set aside a parcel of quiet time for yourself every day during your Moon to read or journal or just take a hot bath
– Prepare nutritious meals ahead of time and freeze them so you are spared this work when you are not feeling your best. This is an excellent practice if you have others who rely on you for nutrition during this time.
– SLEEP, sleep and more sleep. Sleep more hours during the night or schedule in a nap each day.
– Slow Down! Don’t expect to be as productive during your Moon as you are in other phases of your cycle.
– Schedule a self-care appointment each month during your Moon time like Reflexology or a Massage. Maybe you’d prefer a pedicure. Give yourself a reason to find joy in this time.
– Drink plenty of hot fluids that include ingredients like ginger, hawthorn and hibiscus. Go ahead and treat yourself with a little honey.
– Consider natural and organic cotton menstrual products or use a menstrual cup or cloth pads. Mainstream “cheaper” menstrual products come with the cost of more cramping and heavier flow as toxic chemicals and plastics (BPA and BPG) are situated right next to very tender mucous membranes.
– Recognize that any cramping and clotting (excluding Endometriosis/Adenomyosis pain) is the result of poor diet, increased stress and shoddy self-care and vow to do it better during the next cycle.

Period Pain

Painful cramps and major discomfort with your period, a major bell ringer for Hormone Imbalance, is common but not NORMAL.

Feeling muscle soreness or awareness similar to that of muscles after an invigorating work out is normal for the uterus during menstruation as it is actually contracting and working to shed the endometrial lining in preparation for your next cycle. Cramps and debilitating pain mean something is wrong… And it’s 99% chance your hormones are not in balance.

Things to do to rebalance your hormones:
· clean up your diet, remove added sugars, junk or fast foods, reduce wheat and maybe even remove milk
· get active! I don’t mean you have to train for a marathon, but take a walk or do yoga or ride your bike. Something small EVERY DAY will start making a difference.
· talk to a herbalist or naturopathic doctor about whether there’s some natural supplements, like Vitex (available at @goodnnatural ) you can add into your new healthier life that will expedite the healing and balancing
· seek hormone regulating therapy (like REFLEXOLOGY) and be consistent in your treatment plan.

R E M E M B E R : The imbalance of one cycle can follow you for the next 3, healing takes time, give your new routines the precious time they need to start working.

Things to do for the period pain in the meantime:
· drink warm fluids, lots of them, particularly ginger based or Hawthorne or Rosehip
· go for a walk to improve circulation
· take natural tinctures of 50/50 Cramp Bark and Black Cohosh (in water) for the pain, it’s much safer than Ibuprofen and just as effective if taken properly (available at @hollow_reed_holistic )

#womenshealth #periodpain #hormonebalance #reflexology #certifiedreproductivereflexologist

Thyroid and Fertility, a Testimonial

Dawna is an early 20’s woman who knew since she was a little girl that she wanted to be a Stay At Home Mom with a house full of children.

Shortly after the birth of her 2nd child, Dawna’s thyroid function went off the scales and Western Medicine struggled to stabilize it. She was advised that she would not be able to conceive again while on Thyroid medication and her Thyroid fluctuating so wildly.

Dawna approached me to see if Reflexology could help her.

Using the highly evolved and evidence based Hormone Balancing Protocols of Barbara Scott’s ReproFlexology, I was able to facilitate Dawna’s body ability to stabilize itself and in 4 short weeks (not typical results) her levels were normal and she was able to regain control of her fertility.

Here is more, in Dawna’s words…

” I had my second child June of 2016 and after about 3-4 months I started losing a lot of weight really fast , I was concerned because I had already lost most of the “baby weight” and was now just losing more. I was losing about 18lbs every 2 weeks.

I ignored this though.

I was alway REALLY hot, like REALLLLLLY HOT.

Ignored that too thinking it was just my hormones.

Then my right eye started giving me problems. It would blink slower, close and stay closed and get super lazy. It would happen at about 8pm every night and with time it got earlier and earlier.

Finally I went and saw my dr and he tested my thyroid.

My levels were at 167 and are supposed to be under 4.

I was started on meds right away but had to give up breastfeeding due to the medication being unsafe.

The meds worked for a few weeks but then my levels went too low, and then too high and they never remained at a normal amount.

My dr knew I wanted to start trying to get pregnant soon, so they were trying everything to get the levels under control.

Nothing worked.

My son was almost about to turn one and I knew at his first birthday I wanted to start trying to conceive.

I reached out to Gloria and she told me she could help me, it would take 6 weeks of seeing her. 1 session a week.

I did it.

After 4 weeks my levels were tested and for the first time they were normal .

After my 6th session I decided to continue seeing her because I loved it so much.

April was the first month my levels were normal

May was the first month I had a normal period.

May is the month I got pregnant! My son hadn’t even turned one yet.

I was scared because of the risk of miscarriage with thyroid issues. I still am scared. But I’m 9 weeks pregnant and everything is going well so far, and I’m still seeing Gloria and my levels still remain normal.

The dr’s are shocked that my levels didn’t jump high with pregnancy.

Dawna “

Seed Cycling for Hormone Balance

Hormone Balance, or imbalance, affects women across all the stages of menstrual life.

From the very beginning stages, a young woman approaching Menarche starts exhibiting signs of surging hormones, mood control issues, headaches, increased appetite, acne… fast forward to a woman who has been menstruating for a few years already and she is experiencing Pre Menstrual Symptoms like back pain, tender breasts, mood control issues, increased appetite, cyclical acne…. a New Mother, recently birthed and hormones having a hard time normalising, experiencing frequent bleeding well past the time of lochia, perhaps she is experiencing mood control issues as well and not sleeping well even when babe is sleeping, and a Peri Menopausal woman, night sweats, anxiety rushes, tender breasts, lack of sleep in luteal phase, loss of libido and all of the above symptoms as an added bonus… in the majority of cases these hormonal imbalances can be addressed and significantly improved if not resolved through natural medicines and natural foods.

Seed Cycling is one very easy and delicious way at addressing hormone imbalances.

Simply stated, the different types of seeds you eat during the different parts of your cycle have properties that will naturally begin balancing your hormones.

Now not every cycle is 28 days, as my clients know VERY well, [soapbox time] .

“Normal” cycles run from 21 to 35 days. To best calculate your follicular and luteal phases if you have a regular cycle, take your cycle length and subtract 12 or 14 (the number of days in an ideal luteal phase) to get the number of days in your Follicular Phase.

So if you generally have a 35 day cycle (give or take) you likely ovulate around Day 21-23. if you have a 21 day cycle you likely ovulate around Day 9-11.

If you are dealing with a more serious diagnosis like PCOS or Secondary Amenorrhea, this can still be VERY beneficial for you. You likely (especially if you are TTC) are already tracking your cycle in a Period Tracker of some sort (I recommend Kindara to all of my clients due to ease of use, adaptability and easy share function). Simply follow instructions for Follicular Phase until you have a positive ovulation indicator, then carry on Luteal Phase instruction.

So how does one go about Seed Cycling?

Here’s a cute infographic (that i couldn’t find an original source for so if someone knows, PLEASE educate me)

During your Follicular Phase (Start of Bleed until you Ovulate)
1 tbsp. freshly ground flax seeds: full of lignans that block any excess oestrogen.
1 tbsp. freshly ground pumpkin seeds: high in zinc which supports progesterone production.

During your Luteal Phase (After Ovulation until your next bleed)
1 tbsp. freshly ground sunflower seeds: high in selenium for hormone metabolism and liver detoxification.
1 tbsp. freshly ground sesame seeds: full of lignans that block excess oestrogen

Now, before you run out to your local Bulk Barn to load up on these tasty treats which are sure to send you into hormonal bliss, lets discuss FRESHNESS and ORGANIC!

I am not a huge pusher of organic, not because I don’t believe true organic is beneficial, rather because I know things marketed as organic AREN’T always, but they DO always carry a higher sticker price. So unless you are able to grow your own FRESH and ORGANIC seeds (and please, if you are, send some my way), find a reliable source for FRESH and ORGANIC seeds, like your local health food supplier (not grocery chain)… I stress FRESH because ground seeds lose their nutrients quickly enough that you don’t want something that’s been sitting around in barrels or bags for a long time. For maximum effectiveness, fresh is your best bet. I say (in this case) ORGANIC because why would we put something grown with hormone altering chemicals into our body as a way to regulate hormones… silly question, I know, you already thought of that yourselves because you are one smart group of readers!

Now, how do we consume these amazing hormone regulating tasty treats?

How about:
– on a bowl of hot breakfast cereal
– as a salad topper
– mixed into your 5% Greek Yogurt
– on top of that zucchini noodle coconut amino stir fry you just made

the possibilities are as endless as your Pinterest Search options.. now GO, DO!

Gloria Laing – Reflexology Therapist and Doula
Reflexology for Women’s Health, Fertility, Maternity, Birth Support