The Juna Women Podcast is a weekly discussion where Juna Founder, Sarah Kuhn, talks to Moms about their health, work, parenting, and all the different ways they’re keeping it together.
This is Episode 025, Baby Planning for New Moms with Nina Spears, aka The Baby Chick®.
In this episode Sarah talks with Nina Spears aka The Baby Chick®, who is a baby planner, birth doula, postpartum doula, childbirth educator, newborn care specialist, and a Mother.
Nina is a wealth of knowledge – she’s been a doula at more than 250 births!
Sarah and Nina talk about baby planning is — what it is and why you might need it, and they dive deep into what a doula is, as well as the difference between a birth doula and postpartum doula. Nina also shares some of her must have baby product recommendations and gives incredible tips for caring for newborns and new Moms.
Listen To This Episode
Show Notes:
03:05 – Nina introduces herself and talks about how she got into baby planning and shares what her work and life looks like.
11:05 – Products that Nina recommends, beyond the normal essentials. They include a baby wearing product like something from Ring Sling, Wildbird, or Lola Baby. She also recommends a snot sucker from Frida Baby and a Diaper Genie or Diaper Caddy.
14:57 – Deeper dive into the diaper pale / diaper genie question.
18:20 – The girls talk about the Haakaa breast pump, a handheld breast pump.
22:02 – Deeper dive into being a doula and life as a doula. Does everyone need a Doula? A doula can help you feel informed, educated, and empowered to have the labor and delivery you want.
36:22 – What’s a postpartum doula? A postpartum doula provides emotional, physical, and mental support for new Mamas. They help you discern what’s normal in postpartum and answer tough questions that will undoubtedly happen in the first 3-4 weeks.
46:02 – Sarah reveals she’s pregnant with her 3rd baby and is planning for a different labor experience this time around.
50:02 – Caring for newborns. Should you take a newborn care class?
53:10 – What’s an infant massage? How to do it and why to do it. The benefits of infant massage are vast: Blood circulation. Tummy Circulation. Gas. Bonding. Teaches baby loving touch. Stimulates the brain. Babies that are massaged in NICU get discharged sooner. Helps them relax and less stressed. Here is a video of Nina demonstrating how to do the infant massage.
57:30 – Nina’s top 3 tips for new Moms:
- Always ask for help and line up support. This could be helping with meals, watching older children, someone to talk to if you’re feeling down.
- Let go of what you think it’s going to be like. The reality will often not measure up.
- Take care of yourself, too. Go for a run. Drink more water. Schedule in you-time. Be intentional about it. Drinking a cup of hot coffee, not cold coffee.
65:30 – The most unexpected part of Motherhood for Nina was not being able to clock out. As a Mama you can never, ever clock out. You really can never check out.
Quotable Moments from Nina:
“Your milk’s coming in. Boobs are hard as rocks. You’re leaking. You’re bleeding.”
“Everyone wants to hold the baby, but who’s going to hold the Mother?
“There’s no epidural for Motherhood.”
“Doula’s don’t work for the hospital, they don’t work for the doctor — a doula works for you.”
About Nina Spears
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