On today’s show we will be discussing and busting some infertility myths with Kate Rosenkranz, a dear friend of Melissa’s who had an infertility journey before a successful pregnancy. Kate had to undergo a complicated surgery and one round of in-vitro fertilization and two failed transfers before conceiving her son on transfer number 3. She later conceived her daughter on the first transfer. Kate shares her story and what she learned from her journey (and what she has learned from many others wh...
Aug 02, 2021•55 min•Season 2Ep. 67
Today we speak with Ketura’h Edwards-Robinson, a native Bostonian who is currently working in her home city as a Nurse Practitioner, primarily in the area of Women’s Health. One thing that makes Ketura’h special is that in the past year, Ketura’h trained to become a birth doula and is now serving clients in her community with Accompany Doula Care, a local doula agency that has developed a model of care where their doulas are reimbursed by the client’s health insurance, which is helping address h...
Jul 11, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 66
Although today’s topic is not only utilized by LGBTQIA families, they are one of the biggest groups that do! This episode was recorded at the start of June, which is Pride Month, and with this episode we are celebrating just one of the many different ways to make a family. Our guest today is Certified Nurse Midwife Marianne Pelletier, who was inspired to enter birth work after the birth of her own children. After becoming a nurse, she worked for 12 years in labor & delivery in both a hospita...
Jun 22, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 65
In this episode continue our conversation with birth and postpartum doula Arlene Lammy of New Wave Perinatal Services ( https://www.newwavedoula.com ). In this episode, Arlene elaborates on how she would like to “change the narrative of the fourth trimester” and how postpartum is actually forever…and how we need to embrace a longer recovery and a new phase of life. We discuss how comparing our experiences to the experiences of others and comparing our baby’s development to a previous baby or som...
Jun 01, 2021•42 min•Season 2Ep. 64
In this episode we're talking with birth and postpartum doula Arlene Lammy of New Wave Perinatal Services ( https://www.newwavedoula.com ). Warning: this episode is full of beautiful stories and laughter! You'll quickly notice that Arlene is a master storyteller, and you'll be drawn in, as we were, to learn how her West Indian family and culture influenced how she experienced her nephew's birth and how her immigrant parents described the births of Arlene and her sisters. She also brings in how b...
Jun 01, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 63
Today we’re talking about Placenta Encapsulation! Our guest today is Michaela Shaw, the woman behind Ostara Birthwork & Botanicals. Michaela is a full spectrum doula serving families in Central & Eastern Massachusetts as well as Rhode Island. She is also a graduate of the Holistic Herbalism Program at Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine, Asheville, NC and has studied permaculture + sustainable cultivation practices throughout Central America and the US, and is a practicing herbalist. Pl...
May 05, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 62
Today we’re talking about grandparenting with Dee Moore of MoreThanGrand.com ! If you are are NOT a grandparent, YES, this show is still for you, as you’ll gain some good insights into what grandparents are going through and ideas you can share with them BUT it’s also helpful for grandparents, so we do hope that you’ll share it with ALL the grandparents in your life, whether they are related to you or not! In this episode we discuss boundaries, building a relationship from a distance, what grand...
May 05, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 61
Recorded Sunday, April 11, 2021. We are talking with Liz Sheehan Castro about the legislative effort that has been launched to get childcare to be FREE in Massachusetts. Liz works for the SEIU Education and Support Fund (ESF), which is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization founded for the purpose of developing and managing worker-centered education, training and professional development programs. [SEIU = Service Employees International Union] Liz has worked for the SEIU Education and Support Fund si...
Apr 15, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 59
Join us as we take a few minutes to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Babies in Common Show and reminisce about how it was started and we talk about how you can help keep us going!
Apr 08, 2021•2 min
In this episode, we talk with mother of two, Danielle Blanchard, about navigating pregnancy, Cesarean births, NICU stays and breastfeeding as a Type 1 diabetic. After discussing the difference between gestational diabetes and Type 1 diabetes and then Danielle shares the interesting story of how she was diagnosed as toddler. We discuss advice she received while planning to get pregnant, diabetes challenges during pregnancy and pressures she felt about her first birth. She shares the emotional pro...
Apr 07, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 58
Recorded Wednesday, March 17, 2021 and today we are talking with our friend Emma O’Brien, long-time birth and postpartum doula and clinical herbalist. In this episode, we talk with Emma about how her interest in herbs started and her journey to become a clinical herbalist. We discuss contraindications for herbal use, facts about using medicinal herbs and particularly herbs in pregnancy like red raspberry leaf and black and blue cohosh. We also talk about herbal use during lactation. This is a mu...
Mar 30, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 57
On today's Babies in Common Show, we interview our friend Brittany Falcone, a chiropractor in Worcester, Massachusetts, who specializes in pregnancy and pediatric care. Brittany shares her interesting story that inspired her to become a chiropractor and then we talk with her about what chiropractic care is and isn't...and what certain chiropractors with specialized training can do for pregnancy, including the Webster Technique. We also discuss how chiropractic care helps with immunity, sleep, di...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 56
Recorded Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Today we spoke with two special guests about the new Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Law (abbreviated PFML) and how to best prepare for parental leave after the birth of your baby! Our guests are Amanda Hemm and Sarah Douglas from Soutiens. QUESTIONS we asked Amanda and Sarah: While this law does offer many different types of family and medical leave benefits, today we are going to specifically be talking about the part of the law that provides paid...
Mar 08, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 55
Recorded Wednesday, February 24, 2021. Our guest today is Kelly Bowen, DO, an obstetrician/gynecologist who practices in a community hospital in Central Massachusetts (and used to work with Melissa!). Today Dr. Bowen will answer many questions: What is the difference between a DO and an MD? How long should someone wait to get pregnant again? What is an IUD and why is it a great option for busy parents? Postpartum sex: why is there vaginal dryness and what else should parents know about postpartu...
Mar 07, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 54
Recorded Saturday, February 20, 2021 and our guest today is Becca Parrish Snowdon, a psychologist who specializes in evaluating children to determine if they would benefit from additional services at school. After receiving her bachelors degree from Duke University in Psychology and Human Development, Becca worked in a private school for children with special needs and eventually went on to earn her masters degree in school psychology from Northeastern and her PhD in School and Counseling Psycho...
Feb 25, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 53
Recorded Saturday, February 13, 2021 and our guest today is Caitlin Calonge (Ca-LAWN-gee). Caitlin grew up in Cambridge and Everett, MA. She found out she was pregnant with her first baby the summer following high school graduation when she was 18 years old. She jokes that she has “literally had almost every job in the world.” She has worked as a waitress, in sales, as a public housing coordinator, as a personal trainer, and even started her own business called “The Crunchy Home.” But she really...
Feb 20, 2021•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 51
Recorded Wednesday, February 3, 2021. Our guest is Jessica Shephard, who talks with us about her two homebirth experiences and how choosing homebirth was a big surprise to her Ecuadorian family! Jess was born in Ecuador and moved to the United States when she was almost ten years old and now lives in Central Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters, Gianna (2) and Lucia (7 months) who were both born at home! Her husband’s family is from the Dominican Republic. Her favorite hobby is singi...
Feb 13, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 50
Recorded Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Our guest today is a local nurse, homebirth mom and friend, Alicia Randall! Alicia grew up an Army Brat, then served as a combat medic for the US Army, providing medical treatment for wounded soldiers during 2 Iraq tours in 2006 and 2010. She met her husband, also a veteran, while serving in the army in Iraq and they married in 2009. She now has three girls and shares with us today all about her struggles with her first baby, a much easier breastfeeding jour...
Jan 30, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 49
Recorded Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Our guest today is Dr. Prakash-Zawisza, an obstetrician-gynecologist who is now the Medical Director of the MassHealth Payment and Care Delivery Innovation Division and the president-elect of the National Perinatal Association. She talks with us today about being pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic (she is pregnant with her second baby) and her recommendations for preparing for baby's arrival and the types of support one might set up for oneself. She also ...
Jan 29, 2021•55 min•Season 2Ep. 48
Today is Wednesday, January 13th, 2021 and our guest today is Kara Coffin. Kara is a mother of three children plus 2 dogs, 10 chickens and one fish! :) She specializes in guiding pregnant people to co-create a toolkit of physical, emotional, chemical and spiritual supports to call upon throughout pregnancy, labor and postpartum that honors their autonomy. Kara holds a masters degree in Speech Language Pathology and used to work with individuals living with brain injury. After having her first ch...
Jan 23, 2021•55 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Recorded Wednesday, January 6th, 2021. Our guest today is Yasmin is an IBCLC-lactation consultant in private practice in Mumbai, India. Yasmin is also a biodynamic craniosacral practitioner, international speaker and filmmaker. During this episode we learn more about what inspired her to make her film, Untying Breastfeeding, and we talk about tongue ties, breastfeeding support, care providers' role in supporting breastfeeding and tongue tie release and much more. Untying Breastfeeding is a a 59-...
Jan 12, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 46
Recorded 12/30/20 Join us as we interview Aline Bourdeau, Melissa's Memere! Aline gave birth to four children and shares the details of what it was like to learn about menstruation, getting pregnant and giving birth before describing what birth was like in the 1950s (and 1960s). You don't want to miss out on this episode--she's quite the storyteller and such a hoot! Yes, it's a bit of a long episode but enjoy it over several listening sessions...you'll be glad you did!...
Jan 05, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In this episode, Melissa Anne DuBois, one of the childbirth educators here at Babies in Common and co-host of this Show, shares her birth story...she gave birth to her first child on Christmas Day 2012. Join us for the holiday edition! Some surprises included! Happy Holidays to all!
Dec 25, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Recorded on Wednesday, December 16th, 2020. Our guest today is Sheryl White, a well-known baby sign language teacher in our area. She’s also a certified infant massage instructor, Reiki Master and also received training in her father-in-law’s program, Dr. Burton White’s ‘New Parents as Teachers’ based on his book the First Three Years of Life. Sheryl has been teaching classes to parents, teachers, professionals and caregivers since 1999. Her role in the classes is to facilitate and help strength...
Dec 23, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Recorded December 9, 2020 As we anticipate the upcoming online Birth Circle event, we thought it could be interesting for our audience to hear OUR birth stories. In this episode Melissa interviews Jeanette about her births (you'll hear one of Melissa's birth stories later this month). To join a Birth Circle online event, see: https://www.babiesincommon.com/other-offerings/birth-circle...
Dec 11, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Recorded December 2, 2020 Today is Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020 and today we’ll be talking about fertility and why paying attention to your overall health, nutrition, mindset and sleep can influence your ability to get pregnant. Our guest today is Sarah Clark, author of Fabulously Fertile--Supercharge Your Fertility Naturally. You can learn more about Sarah and what she and her team do at http://www.fabfertile.com Topics Discussed: Sarah's infertility diagnosis at 28 years old and diagnosed wit...
Dec 09, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Recorded Friday, November 13, 2020 Today we’ll be talking about the words we choose and why they matter, in the context of infant feeding and parenting. Our guest today is my dear friend Renee Beebe, who is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in private practice in Seattle, Washington. She’s been a lactation consultant for more than 20 years, doing home visits and working in a naturopathic physician’s office, where she sees families and assists with frenotomies. She’s the proud...
Nov 29, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Join us as we talk with Kirsten Kowalski-Lane, CNM, CPM about her journey from birth doula to homebirth midwife to hospital midwife to birth center midwife...and how she managed to co-found and co-own the first midwife-owned birth center in Massachusetts. The American Association of Birth Centers defines a birth center as a home-like setting where care providers, usually midwives, provide family-centered care to healthy pregnant women. Most birth centers are located separately from hospitals, wh...
Nov 23, 2020•1 hr 35 min
The words we use matter! Join us today as we explore the words we use when talking about feeding and parenting. Our guest today is my dear friend Renee Beebe, who is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in private practice in Seattle, Washington. She’s been a lactation consultant for more than 20 years, doing home visits and working in a naturopathic physician’s office, where she sees families and assists with frenotomies. She’s the proud mother of two grown women and in her spa...
Nov 18, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Listen in as Emily, a nursing mom of 5+ years, talks with us about planning to breastfeed while on a significant medication, navigating postpartum depression, what it’s like to nurse the same child for 5 years, and about the concept of respectful parenting. Emily has been a middle school English teacher for 14 years and recently finished her second masters degree in Counseling Psychology with a special interest in parent coaching. She lives in Central Massachusetts with her husband and daughter....
Nov 12, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 37
