BABY MOON, Resources for Birth and Life

 

b a b y  m o o n
~ resources for birth and life ~
ABOUT US

 

Baby moon (ba'be moon): The period of time in a woman's life when mothering begins--after the birth of a baby when the new pair rest, relax, bond, and prepare for life together. Ancient customs from cultures around the world dictate that new mothers are to be cared for and nurtured during this important time of adjustment, in order to build a strong foundation of support for the vital work of mothering.


Our Mission

The Baby Moon Birth Resource Center was born in February, 2004 out of the belief that pregnancy and birth is a normal, healthy, and life-changing process, and that women need and deserve to be celebrated and supported through this process in a way that respects our intelligence, builds our confidence, and empowers our spirit.

We believe that women who are nurtured through their baby moon will have an increased capacity to nurture their babies, their families, their communities, and themselves. It is our hope that the Baby Moon Birth Resource Center will not only help women to find the support they need for mothering, but will also support those women in sharing their knowledge and experience with others.

Our specific goals are to:
  • Provide resources and a community of support for women moving through fertility, pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.
  • Encourage healthy lifestyle choices.
  • Offer education as a means of promoting informed birth and parenting choices.
  • Recognize birth as a normal and healthy process, and support every woman's right to make informed decisions regarding her care.
Please contact us with your questions, issues, needs, and ideas, or for more information about how you can contribute your unique knowledge and experience to the Baby Moon community.
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The Baby Moon Staff
Anne Rust. I am a prenatal and postpartum yoga instructor and certified birth doula (DONA), and owner of baby moon. After graduate school and a few years living in the Southwestern U.S., I returned to Kentucky, chucked my corporate job, and began working with pregnant women in 2001. I studied prenatal yoga with Robin Sale, founder of Whole Birth Resources in Santa Cruz, California, and I am an ongoing student of TriYoga, a form of flowing yoga developed by Kali Ray. I have worked with over 500 Lexington moms since I began teaching prenatal yoga in January, 2002, and have attended around 50 births in hospital and home as a doula. I love supporting women and families through this intense, empowering time. I think of my work as an opportunity to facilitate community and friendship among women and mothers--I love to hook people up! I hope baby moon will serve as a vital resource for women moving through fertility, pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. Please contact me with your feedback! I am also mom to Elena, who we adopted at birth in June, 2006.
Amy Weinfurtner is a childbirth educator, birth doula, and mother of three. She has been teaching childbirth education for nearly ten years, and has attended around 100 births as a doula (DONA) and birth assistant. Amy believes in family-centered maternity care and freedom of choice based on knowledge of alternatives in childbirth. Though she is certified to teach prepared childbirth classes, her first love is teaching natural childbirth. Her classes are based on Birthing From Within-style principles, and are appropriate for couples planning their births in a variety of settings. Amy welcomed her third baby at home in October, 2005.
Cerise Bouchard was so inspired by her own pregnancy and birth experience that she quit her job as an early childhood educator to open a shop dedicated to natural parenting. Mother Nurture opened in July, 2006 next door to Baby Moon, to rave reviews! Cerise brings much-needed breastfeeding supplies, nursing bras, slings & wraps, cloth diapering supplies, and organic baby clothes and essentials to Lexington moms. Cerise gave birth to her son Garrett in November, 2005 at home in the water, with the support of her husband, midwife, and doula.
Colby Cohen-Archer, Ph.D. enjoys helping women find their internal strength and sense of self-worth, and assisting them in using this power to cope more effectively with life stresses or to make changes in their lives. "Major life transitions like giving birth (or discovering infertility problems when you always pictured yourself as a mom)," she says, "challenge us to incorporate new experiences into our old sense of who we are. Support from others who are going through similar transitions can greatly assist women in rising to this challenge." Colby is an experienced facilitator and mom to daughters Jesselyn and Cerise, both born in the hospital with the support of her doulas.
Donna Galati is a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) who recently moved to Lexington from New Jersey, where she worked as a Labor and Delivery Nurse for over 8 years. She started out in a small community hospital staffed by Midwives, and fell in love with the birth process. She then moved to a much larger teaching facility, where she learned to care for critically ill women and respond to emergency situations. During this time she missed the natural process and decided to go back to school to become a Midwife. She has labored with thousands of women and caught over one hundred babies, and still loves everything about the birthing process. She feels honored to work with women and their families, providing support as they embark upon this life-changing journey. Donna's son and daughter are now teenagers!
Elizabeth Stapleton is a Registered Nurse currently working at a local hospital in woman's services. She and her family moved here from Texas almost two years ago; where her dream job was teaching breastfeeding and childbirth classes at night and teaching breastfeeding to new moms and babies in the hospital during the day. She has two boys, ages 6 and 3½, and she breastfed both of them--one for 22 months and the other for 14 months. Elizabeth is now homeschooling her boys and having a great time!
Eva Ensmann has been belly dancing for more than ten years. She trained for seven years in the San Francisco Bay Area as a cabaret belly dancer with the troupe Tabu. She now performs with Rakadu, a tribal belly dance troupe, here in Lexington. Eva's older daughter was born via water birthing in a birth center in California, and her son and younger daughter were born at home here in Lexington in 2005 and 2007. She danced throughout her pregnancies (performing just five days before giving birth). She believes in the power of the feminine form and its expression through belly dance. "It strengthens and tones all the birthing muscles, and besides that it's just plain fun!"
Kara Best-McBride began practicing Vinyasa yoga during graduate school. After leaving New York she gave birth to her son, Dashiel, and her practice shifted to include him. Teaching yoga to kids was an "organic progression" of the energy they created together. She has spent the last year teaching before and after school yoga programs in the Lexington area. She also spreads the benefits of yoga to adults through a YMCA of Central Kentucky Community Outreach program.
Kendra Adkisson is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Birth Doula (CAPPA), and student midwife. She fell in love with pregnancy massage during her 600-hour massage therapy training, and she went on to specialize in Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Infant Massage through her former practice Mother Earth Massage. Kendra is nationally certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, and is certified in prenatal and perinatal massage through Nurturing the Mother, with infant massage certification through Baby's First Massage. Kendra has attended over 70 births as a doula and student midwife in hospital, birth center, and home. She is now a CAPPA Doula trainer, offering trainings in Lexington three times per year. She and her husband John welcomed their daughter Violet through waterbirth in May, 2005. They plan to adopt their next child locally this year!
Lauren Howard is a licensed massage therapist, doula, and mother of two boys. She studied Psychology in college prior to completing her 600-hour training and graduate program in massage therapy. During her pregnancy, Lauren completed the Bradley® childbirth classes, and her interest in children's wellness became more focused following her son's birth. Through her private practice Family Bodyworks, Lauren now specializes in pediatric/adolecent and baby massage. She has also been practicing massage at Saint Joseph Hospital for three years. She is a certified baby massage instructor through Baby's First Massage, and is on the faculty at Lexington Healing Arts. She has taken Level 1 of CranioSacral Therapy through the Upledger Institute. Lauren stresses that injuries and/or traumas throughout chilhood, if not dealt with properly, may set us up for increased susceptibility to injury and pain later in life. She hopes her practice will bring new alternatives and awareness to childrens overall wellness. Lauren has been teaching toddler yoga in Lexington for 3 years, and now brings her playful style to Baby Moon. She gave birth to son Joshua Tag in the hospital with a midwife, and her second son Noah at home.
Lesley Iwinski is a "retired" Family Practice Physician and a Certified Parenting Instructor through the International Network for Children and Families, based in Gainesville, Florida. She teaches the life-changing parenting course "Redirecting Children's Behavior," a five-week program which helps parents understand more about themselves, and about the reasons children "misbehave." With this information, parents learn how to discipline in a way that teaches respect, empowers them and their children, encourages responsibility, and maintains healthy self-esteem. Lesley is also a mother of three.
Schuy Roop is a teacher at Providence Montessori School in Lexington and a Certified Parenting Instructor through the International Network for Children and Families, based in Gainesville, Florida. She teaches the life-changing parenting course "Redirecting Children's Behavior," a five-week program which helps parents understand more about themselves, and about the reasons children "misbehave." With this information, parents learn how to discipline in a way that teaches respect, empowers them and their children, encourages responsibility, and maintains healthy self-esteem. Schuy was so inspired by the results of using these principles in the classroom that she pursued certification so she can share what she's learned with parents and other teachers. She is also certified to teach "Redirecting for a Cooperative Classroom."
Tatsiana McGee is a Licensed Massage Therapist specializing in pregnancy, postpartum, and infant massage. Born and raised in Belarus, Tatsiana received her Masters Degree in Education from Polotsk State University. She moved to the United States in 2000 and discovered her true passion and calling in massage. After graduating from the Institute of Therapeutic Massage and Movement in Nashville, she practiced massage in the San Francisco bay area for over 4 years, where she had the opportunity to study Pregnancy Massage, Bodywork for the Childbearing Year, and Deep Tissue Massage with some of the best teachers in the field. Tatsiana naturally birthed her daughter Kyra in November, 2005, in a Birth Center with her husband, midwife, and two doulas by her side! During her pregnancy, Tatsiana fell in love with prenatal yoga and the birth process. She is now completing her training as a birth doula and prenatal yoga instructor. Her massage practice, Family Works Massage, is located above Baby Moon.
Tim Self is the Director of Tots on Turf in Lexington, offering child development classes that teach gross motor skills, coordination, socialization, and balance through an early introduction to soccer. Tim believes that kids who are physically active develop greater self-esteem, confidence, and discipline, which carries over into increased achievement in school and positive family relationships. Coach Tim is a NWAACC collegiate champion soccer player and a US Soccer Federation Coach, as well as a former Camp Instructor at Centre College and the University of Washington. He is currently a Soccer instructor for the YMCA of Central Kentucky. Tim moved to Lexington in March of 2005 from Seattle after marrying wife Elle. They are now expecting their first baby in the Spring of 2007!
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