debra flashenberg

Why Eating During Labor Should Not Be Forbidden

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger In the movies and on TV, laboring women are often depicted as panting, sweaty and sucking on ice chips. Luckily, that image can finally change! After years of food and fluid intake being restricted for women in labor, there has been a closer scientific look […]

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How Fear Affects Labor and What You Can Do About It

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger During a recent yoga class I was taking, my teacher discussed our natural reaction to fear. She explained that students tend to make their poses smaller and constrict themselves when they are fearful of doing the pose. For example, they are afraid to shift their […]

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Understanding the Different Methods of Childbirth Education

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger A student asked me the other day how she should pick a birthing class. Her doctor had suggested she take one in preparation for her upcoming birth. She explained how overwhelmed she started to feel while she researched the different styles and methods of classes […]

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TENS Machine- Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger Among the many pain management techniques and methods, there is one that gets little attention here in the US. It is called the TENS Machine- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, and it is used throughout much of Europe. What is the TENS machine? How Does It […]

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Celebrity Births. The Good. The Bad. The Influence.

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger I have never been one to closely follow celebrity gossip. In fact, I am embarrassingly behind the times – stuck somewhere in the late 90’s when Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and Friends were big. But I can’t deny the influence celebrities have on society. They […]

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Internal Exams: When To Get Them

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger A new mother came back for postnatal yoga last week. She was absolutely glowing and excited to share her birth story with me. The new mama said she really felt good about her birth experience, but with the one exception that she wishes she would […]

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Educate Yourself, Know Your Birth Options

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger I was really struck by a quote from Diana Korte and Roberta Scaer, authors of A Good Birth, A Safe Birth, who said: “If you don’t know your options, you don’t have any.” From what I have encountered in my years of teaching, many women […]

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Due Day? Due Week? Due Month?

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger Ah..the due date. The question everyone always asks. “When are you due?” Of course this day is then circled, highlighted and little stars are drawn around it on your calendar. It is so easy for the awaiting mother (and not to mention her family) to […]

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