Understanding The Pelvis With Gina Conley of Mamastefit

  • Transcript

    Welcome to doula tips and tips. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaylee Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born, 12, nearly 13 years ago. 

    I am a birth and postpartum doula childbirth educator, La Leche League leader, and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way. 

    Thank you for joining us on this journey. 

    Welcome back to Doula Tips and Tits. I am starting off our series of having guests on the podcast again this fall with Gina Conley. Gina is from North Carolina, or lives in North Carolina, not from North Carolina, maybe, and is founder and CEO of Mama Stay Fit. 

    Gina, I'm so excited to have you, and I would love for you to tell us a little about Mama Stay Fit and your kind of journey to where you are. 

    Hello, everybody. I am Gina. I am the founder of Mama's Day Fit. So I am a period anal fitness trainer and a birth doula. I have my master's in exercise science and kind of my specialty is like pelvic mechanics and how we can create space within the pelvis, creating fitness programs to help support folks throughout their pregnancy to stay strong, to stay pain free, because commonly we're told that discomforts that we have during pregnancy are just a part of pregnancy. 

    And when you give birth is when they'll go away and then folks are very confused when they give birth and they still have pelvic pain and they still have low back pain and they're still like still having a lot of these similar discomforts. 

    And so it's kind of my mission to help folks understand like you don't have to be in pain during your pregnancy like yes, there are certain discomforts that you will probably experience just because pregnancy, but you don't have to have pelvic pain or low back pain or rib pain or things like that. 

    And so we pride ourselves in providing a lot of that information to folks so that they can move comfortably throughout their pregnancy. And I think that really supports everyone's mental health as well, like throughout pregnancy to the postpartum. 

    And we also really specialize in like birth preparation type exercises. So helping you create space within your pelvis to make it easier for a baby to navigate through to help support baby's position and kind of debunking a lot of the, let me open this pop chart real quick. 

    So the prepper is very loud. You can edit that out. So our goal is to help folks understand how to create space within their pelvis. Cause there's so many different types of movement patterns that we need to do. 

    And there's certain movement patterns that are a little bit more difficult to achieve during pregnancy, just because of our common postural tendencies, our lifestyle habits. And so what I was noticing as a doula was there were certain points during birth that babies seem to get a little bit more stuck, like more often. 

    And it's usually entering into the pelvis. Sometimes they have a little bit harder time and then exiting the pelvis. And so it's kind of like the entry point into the mid pelvis that babies seem to be a little bit more sticky. 

    And a lot of that's due to common movement patterns are a little bit harder to achieve during pregnancy because of kind of what I talked about. And I think we'll talk in more depth about those things. 

    So we offer tons of prenatal fitness programs, like various options, depending on how you like to work out. We have our app -based program, which is more for like the prenatal athlete that wants to like lift weights throughout their pregnancy, go to the gym, use a barbell. 

    And then we also have our on -demand program, which are like the full -length workout videos that you can follow and work out with at the same time, because we were discovering that not everybody likes to work out like Gina does, and that's okay. 

    And so I offer in -person fitness training here at our gym in North Carolina that specializes in pre and postnatal fitness, which is something that's really unique about us is we also have an in -person training facility. 

    So it's not just an online program that we created because we got pregnant. One time, like we developed our programs based on working with in -person clients, and we're one of the only gyms in the country that specializes in pregnancy and postpartum. 

    There might be like a small handful of other ones, but typically you'll find a trainer that has taken some courses that works in like a bigger gym that offers some classes potentially or like personal training, but we have a whole fitness facility that is just dedicated to supporting folks during their pregnancy and their postpartum, which is pretty cool. 

    In addition to being a fitness trainer, I always like polarize everything, because I also refer to my sister within this who also helps supports Mama Stay Fit. We are also birth workers. And so I'm a birth doula, Roxanne, who is my sister and co -founder of Mama Stay Fit as a labor nurse, and she's also a student midwife. 

    So we have this in -person experience of supporting hundreds of births, probably close to over a thousand combined between the two of us. And so we're able to use kind of our experience as movement professionals while also being birth professionals and kind of combining it to create this full spectrum support from conception all the way through the postpartum, which is something else that's pretty unique about us at Mama Stay Fit. 

    So we have online prenatal and postnatal fitness programs, online childbirth education course. We also have professional courses for doulas. So we have our birth worker course that we're getting ready to refilm and update, like rehaul it completely. 

    This summer, we have a pilot for a physical therapist that's gonna join us in kind of up being the quality of the program. It's already pretty good, but we're gonna make it even better. I mean, then we also have a fitness trainer course as well. 

    So if there's doulas out there that are kind of wanting to explore the fitness side of things, because I feel like that's something that goes really well with doulas is the fitness aspect of providing support during someone's pregnancy. 

    And as a doula, we tend to have a lot of interaction with our clients throughout their pregnancies. And so knowing what movements can help somebody feel comfortable and move confidently, and then also prepare for birth is really important. 

    So that was a really long answer to what mama's day fit is, but that's kind of what we offer. What do you have? 

    add to that, little. We have a one and a half guest today. She's a whole guest. I shouldn't say she's a half guest. She's an extra. 

    Sophie, my youngest, is here as well, sharing her bits of advice. 

    her, her information and advice. Yes. I feel like my kiddos know way more than most kids about birth and the body because of just like being adjacent to my work, right? But they also have like, sworn off pregnancy and things, right? 

    So they may know maybe more than they should at this point, to the point that they're like, absolutely never will I do any of these things. No, I think that introduction was perfect because there is like, I think you your business is unique in that it has so many different facets, which makes a lot of sense. 

    And I love that I've kind of seen you like add things as I've been following you over the years, right? Where it was like, at one point, I was seeing a lot of in person stuff, and then a lot of virtual stuff, and then like birth worker stuff, which makes complete sense, given the knowledge base that the two of you have. 

    I think the way that you can educate is completely unique in, in the sense that like, typically, we're hearing from one professional in one field, and not a professional that spans a few fields, and can merge those things together. 

    And I think in doula work, part of our part of our kind of lack of knowledge or like, I don't know, lack of depth, maybe of knowledge is that we we do compartmentalize some of that. And we're like, okay, well, I'll send you to a pelvic floor therapist, I'll send you to a workout place, I'll send you, you know, rather than being like, I have a good understanding of how the pelvis works. 

    And I can also know, like I know, then when to spot things that are not right. But I also know how to support a baby getting stuck in some part of the pelvis in the midst of labor, right. And so that knowledge base is, I think, one of the ways that I see us lowering c -section rates as doulas. 

    And I think when we don't have that understanding and knowledge, we're doing ourselves and our clients a dis a disservice, you know, so this is part of why I'm excited to talk to you, because I know you agree that we should have that knowledge. 

    So I, I want to dive into the question, like, why do doulas need to know about this? And I mean, we've kind of already danced around it a bit, like, because babies otherwise get stuck, right? Or like, we can't support the process of the baby's journey if we don't know how and when to open the different parts of the pelvis. 

    So what is like, your most important things about that that you wish all doulas knew, and it kind of like fires you up when you're thinking about birth and pelvic mechanics. 

    So there are these like magic moves of labor that like have been highly promoted as like fixing all of the problems and sometimes it's a little frustrating when like I'm supporting a birth and a really well -meaning nurse is like trying to help solve the problem that we're navigating and they're making all these movement recommendations that don't make sense and I'm like I love that you're looking at movement as a solution but we need to understand where the baby is and then create the space there not just let's do the sideline release let's do walters let's do the mile circuit like without any consideration to where the baby is and so that would be like the one thing that I would say is like if we're trying to solve a problem and there's not always a problem and I think that's something else that folks get a little caught up in especially when they start learning movements that are like magic moves they want to apply it to every single birth okay when do I do the three sisters of balance or when do I do the mile circuit like I'm going to have every client do all of these things um so there's one not always a problem to solve sometimes things just are moving just on their own and we're just there to provide additional support we're not there to solve a problem but if there is like an issue where baby's just having a hard time entering into the pelvis well then we want to think about what movements are going to create more space in the top of the pelvis what movement restrictions maybe does somebody have that's making it harder for baby to enter into the pelvis and then using the medical team to help help us find more information so that we can resolve whatever's going on it's not just in us versus them it's okay the labor nurse or the midwife or the provider can do a cervical exam to assess baby's position or they can externally palpate the belly to feel for baby's position which are two things that are typically outside of a dual scope unless you have a specialized training like I don't want to say every doula can't do those things but I would say in general like palpating a belly and doing internal exams that's not within our scope as doulas um so we can use other people on the medical team to help us gather information to then make movement recommendations so okay baby is still in this position let's say they're they're still trying to rotate they their head is a little asynclic like what movements can we do to help them get into that lot so they can then engage and then also correct their head position well this is where movements like the mild circuit can be really beneficial and understanding how the mild circuit works can be really helpful as well so knowing more than just the moves but okay open the chest position is not wide knees it's creating more than a 90 degree angle between the torso and the thighs and so that angle is what's going to be bigger and that is helping to kind of bring the pelvis a little bit more into this anterior pelvic tilt and then we do have a little bit wider these or more of that external hip rotation so we're creating more space in the front half of the inlet and so when we're opening pelvic levels it's not the entire inlet is open the entire mid pelvis is open the entire outlet is open it's more of kind of like the inlet is open but more of the front half of it and then more of the back half of it and then the mid pelvis well more of the upper mid pelvis on the left side is more open but the lower mid pelvis on the right is more open and then the outlet is the same thing the outlet is open side to side but more of the front versus more of the back of it and so when we can start diving deeper into pelvic mechanics and we can start visualizing how this baby is rotating we can then apply movements much more effectively and so the first area that babies get stuck is going to be the inlet so trying to engage or enter into the pelvis and then they get stuck when they're trying to exit the pelvis and this is the lower mid pelvis area and this primarily opens with more internal hip positions on one side so typically the left side because most babies are rotating from the left side of the pelvis and so this is where like hip shifted movements are going to be really beneficial like being able to release the posterior pelvic floor which are all things that we incorporate in depth in our like birth prep circuit that we have created because there's common areas of tension that most people have most of us have a harder time rounding our back finding more of that posterior pelvic tilt so like tucking the butt underneath because during pregnancy we really like to arch our back it's more comfortable like it's we have more like curvature in the lower spine just anatomically as like females and so we tend to kind of go into that like when we're pregnant we have more weight on the front but because of that The back half of the pelvic floor tends to get a little bit tighter. 

    We tend to have a harder time rounding in our back. The hamstrings are getting lengthened, the adductors are getting lengthened. And so all of this is going to make it harder for us to find a posterior pelvic tilt, which one is important to creating space front to back and the top of the pelvis, and then two, a posterior pelvic tilt makes it easier for us to find internal hip rotation, which is really important to opening the bottom half of the pelvis. 

    And I know like all of these like biomechanical terms are sometimes going to be really confusing if you're not familiar with them. And I know not every doula has like an anatomy background, but like we have so many blogs and YouTube videos and our online courses like really dive into, you could just follow our Instagram page and you'll start to understand what these terms mean. 

    Um, but it's important to know what they are as a doula, because that's our, that's what we, that's the tool that we have. Movement is our tool. Like we don't have Pitocin, we don't have cervical exams. 

    We don't have C -sections like, like we as doulas don't have those tools. And so to make ourselves valuable, like movement is really important and understanding how movement creates that space is really important. 

    So the second movement that is a little bit harder for us to find during pregnancy is internal hip rotation, because we really like to be excellent rotated as well, because again, it's more comfortable during pregnancy. 

    And so emphasizing the closed hip positions, hip shifting is one going to release tension in the posterior pelvic floor, and then also going to create more space in that lower mid pelvis where a lot of babies sometimes get stuck. 

    And so that these are going to be like our late labor stall. So that's stuck at eight centimeters for hours and hours and hours. You've been pushing for like three hours and babies just rocking and rocking underneath that pubic bone. 

    That's all lower mid pelvis and we need to create space there. Um, so when resolving issues during labor, and not every labor has an issue, I think most of them probably go pretty smooth. Um, we need to think about where the baby is within the pelvis and then apply movements based on that. 

    So we're not just throwing movements, hoping that it works. Like we're going to apply movements based on what is actually going on. So if baby's having trouble engaging, sideline release is not the movement. 

    It's not the movement that we're trying to do. If baby's having a hard time finishing their rotation in the pelvis, mouse circuit is not going to be helpful for you at that point. Um, and, and it doesn't have to be these like fancy circuits and stuff that you're doing, like maybe it's just like a little bit of a hip shift or half lunge position helps baby finish rotating. 

    If it's trying to engage, maybe it's just like a fire hydrant position to open the upper mid pelvis to create a little bit more space for baby to rotate. Inversions usually do the trick for life. If there is a match move that I would say you should do at any time and versions would be, um, so that, that I, that's a long answer, but the thing that usually irks me the most when I'm supporting a birth is when somebody just starts throwing moves to fix a problem without taking into consideration what this is actually doing because it, 

    one, it wastes people's time and two, it might make the problem worse if we're not doing a movement that is actually helping somebody. 

    I mean, I see the exact same thing. And I also see that, like, kind of as knowledge grows in birth professionals, especially in nurses, I think that see, like, lots of labors, but sometimes like chunks of them, right, like they see like a small portion of labor, they see the just the beginning part, or they see just the end, because they came on at seven, the baby was born at nine, you know, they know some of the positions, 

    and they like, just toss them out. People, right. So I had a client at one point that was a repeat client of mine. And we got a brand spanking new nurse, and that's not always bad. Right. But she was like, we should try this position. 

    And I was like, first of all, why? Second of all, like, she's unmedicated, she's gonna hate that position, right? Like you. And then third of all, she didn't even know how to do it. So she was also like, because I was like, okay, well, I've done that. 

    But that's not really for now. And my client was like, well, let's try it. Right. And I'm like, this is going to feel terrible for you. That's another thing. 

    sometimes the movements are not comfortable. And so like Wolters, not my first first line of effort, like it's a very painful to be in sideline release, also not my first line of effort, because again, very painful if you're on Medicaid. 

    Now, if you're if you have an epidural, whatever, like, and you want to do it, let's do it. Yeah. But like, you have to consider how someone is feeling. And I think it's the one thing that's like, really cool about being a doula is like, we're in the room the entire time we're able to observe these really subtle cues and shifts in somebody's labor, their movement pattern shifts and adjustments. 

    And we can really help them help guide them through their birth as they need. And I'm very thankful for medical teams to be there to support birth. And I'm very thankful for the nurses that are trying to educate themselves on more tools to help support births. 

    Yeah, but yeah, you just can't throw movements at it. And they're also not sitting in the room the entire time. And so this is where like, not only can we use them as an additional tool to help us gather information for movement, they can also use us as a tool as well, to help understand what the subtle shifts are that have been happening too. 

    And so it's it's a dual effort by everybody on the entire birth team to help support the person that's the most important, the person giving birth. But I do have when they when they are educating themselves on the movements. 

    And I'm like, that's amazing. You understand the importance of the baby's position and creating space within the pelvis. But let's like actually apply movements to when they make sense and not force somebody into positions that are very painful for funsies. 

    Yeah, just to try it out. 

    Yeah. Well, and I do think I mean, to your point, like I don't mean to be a really negative towards this particular nurse. But also, as as birth professionals, this is a unique field that we are constantly learning more stuff in, right? 

    Like labor is always a learning experience, every single time. And sometimes, like you're saying, my favorite thing to say is like, sometimes we just observe and see if the labor needs us to do something. 

    And if it doesn't, we're just supporting it, right? And if it does need us to do something, we do that. But otherwise, we're not messing with it unnecessarily, you know? When we think about the, like, the learning that we do as we apply things, as we use things that we're learning, there is a curve there, right? 

    So the first time you ever do an inversion, you might be like, I'm not sure if I'm doing this, right? But then after you've done it 15 times, you're going to be like, I know for certain you're in the right position, right? 

    That is going to come with use. And so I don't want to discourage doulas who know, like, two things to not use those things, right? Like, absolutely use them. And also know that you're going to be able to support labor better, the more tools you have in your toolbox. 

    I like to think about, like, providing space in the pelvis, especially in a labor where something is off, and there's some kind of stall, the baby's not getting deeper, right? Like, how can we make space in the pelvis anywhere, even if we don't know exactly where the baby is hung up, right? 

    Like, sometimes we know that. And sometimes we know, like, they're asynchotic, they're tilted to the left, right? Like, we could open this side, and we have all that information. Other times we're like, why are they just stuck at minus one, and they won't get any deeper, you know? 

    And so when that's the information we're working with, sometimes we just do the best we can, because we don't have enough information to know exactly what to change and move. And so we're just changing and moving things to help make space, right? 

    But at the same time, like, having an understanding and kind of exploring in your own way of learning how a baby would navigate through in different scenarios is really helpful. I'm a person that, like, I'll have a provider say, you know, the baby's kind of asynchotic to this side, and I'm like, okay, if I was the baby, like, if I'm coming into the pelvis like this, and stuck, where do I need more space? 

    Because that's how my brain works, you know? And so then I'm like, okay, which part of your body do we need to open to rectify this situation? And so part of that can be done so much easier prior to being in the labor room, when you're just exploring what it would look like to unstick a baby that's stuck in the mid pelvis, right? 

    And I will add resources in the show notes of like, what even are we talking about when we say asynchotic and all of those words? Because those are things you should know, you need to know as a doula. 

    But again, not typically taught within like a typical doula curriculum. And so I'll have resources in there. So you can check those out. Dina, what I'd love for you to kind of wrap us up by telling us a bit more about the birth worker course and why you find that to be a really helpful resource. 

    So we obviously like to share all of our knowledge for free on multiple platforms. We have Instagram, YouTube, like TikTok, which is just YouTube, which is just Instagram videos reposted because we don't have time for that. 

    So we share tons of free information. So in addition to all of our free content, we do have paid courses that allow us to dive so much deeper into a lot of these concepts because a 60 second reel on Instagram is just like skimming the surface of the understanding of it, of like what movements can do, how to do the movements, like what exactly is this movement doing? 

    Like where would baby be in relation to it? So we dive much deeper into that in the birth worker course. The birth worker course is designed for all birth professionals. So this includes the medical side, the non -medical side, and we're gonna be expanding to also offer something for the fitness professionals that are wanting to learn more about birth as well. 

    All three of these tracks are included in the course or will be included in the course, like in starting this fall timeframe. So we're in the process of revamping the whole course. But in the course, we're gonna be talking about pelvic mechanics, which is kind of like the big thing that people come to us for. 

    What labor positions are gonna do that with birth preparation exercises? Can our clients be doing throughout their pregnancy to help support this as well? Because again, we're not just waiting to labor to figure out how to open the pelvis. 

    Like, excuse me, I just like burp through up. It's kind of gross. There's a lot that we can do during pregnancy to ensure that these movement patterns are accessible to us during birth. And like you're saying, like we have this opportunity as doulas to really provide this really invaluable information to our clients. 

    And of course, everybody's deciding to come to my house right now, my doorbell just run. So Barry, can you close the office door? 

    I love that you're going to have back of your neck tattoos at the end of this as well. I know. 

    Usually it's my whole back, but she's only has my neck to do right now. Um, all right. I know. Um, so as we have this opportunity to provide this really invaluable information on one, how to tell when something's normal versus not normal. 

    And if it's within like the norm, we have these tools that we can provide to our clients to help them provide additional comfort and movement throughout their advocacy without being like every question they have, ask your provider, ask your provider, ask your provider. 

    Yes, there are certain things that are like, this is a provider question. Like this is not a doula question. These are how these are questions you can ask your provider to get the specific information that you need. 

    Like this is not something that is within my scope or, Hey, this is a professional that you can work with because what you need support with is outside of my like expertise, but there's still a lot of stuff that we can provide information on. 

    Like you're having pelvic pain. Okay. Try these different movements. See if that helps. Oh, you're having some rib pain. Like it, do you have any other symptoms as well? Or is it just like the rib pain? 

    Like, okay, well here's some movements that you can try. Oh, you're having this discomfort in her body. Like a lot of the movement stuff as well within a doula range. Like we're not trying to be public for PTs or other professionals, but like we can still provide a lot of the information to our client at like no additional costs to them, which I think is really cool. 

    Um, and so in the birth worker course, we kind of discuss like, what's normal? What's not normal? Like, what can you do to help support your clients throughout their pregnancies? So they have a comfortable pregnancies. 

    And then most importantly, how can we support them during birth and what information do you need to know about medical tools that are available? Like that makes sense to you as a doula. Like you don't need to know how to administer Pitocin, but you need to know what Pitocin is, how to explain it to your client. 

    Like what other options they maybe have besides chest Pitocin. And so on. And so like you need to have a basic understanding of different medical interventions, because your clients are going to look to you to help guide them through their labors, because it's, it's hard to expect somebody who's, this is the first time they've been through a birth to know all of these things. 

    Like they can absolutely take courses and be familiar, but like the level of depth of understanding that like a doula would have compared to somebody's very first birth is going to be a little bit different. 

    And that's why they're hiring us to guide them through that. So we're going to talk a lot about that in the course as well. Like, what do you need to know as a doula about Pitocin or CytoTech or these different interventions? 

    How can you talk to your clients about it? Like not in a way to like force them in any direction. Cause that's also not our, our, our role. Like we're not here to force people either. Um, we want to help provide them the information so they can figure out what works best for them and for their family. 

    And we want to give them that unbiased support without being like, well, did you know about this cause it's, you know, it's really bad, like, okay, maybe not the client for you. Um, so the course is going to, it's, it's a really in -depth course. 

    We talk all about like kind of all the things that like we wanted to know as like birth professionals to give you the information and then ultimately understand that the smartest person in the room about the labors, the person giving birth and respecting that, like you may have a lot of education and knowledge about birth as a whole as a doula or as a medical professional, but ultimately the person that gets to make the decisions and is going to be the most intuitive to the labor is the person that's giving birth. 

    And we need to respect them and their autonomy while they do that. Cause I also will see that sometimes where someone is starting to learn a bunch of stuff and they kind of jump over somebody's autonomy and they want to do all these moves with them or all these things with them that they think is best without acknowledging that does this person want to do that? 

    Like, are they interested in those things as well? Um, and so that's like a big emphasis within the course also is like, yes, you have a lot of information, but the person that is in charge is the person that is having the baby, um, and respecting that and understanding that that doesn't diminish your value as a member of the team. 

    Um, so yeah, so there's a lot of stuff in the course. I think it's really good. Uh, we're again, adding a whole bunch more content to the course and kind of reorganizing a little bit over the next few months, so depending on if anyone's listening to this and they grab it in December, it'll be slightly different than if they grab it right now, but all of the updates and new content you'll have access to, 

    if you buy it right now versus like, if you buy it in a few months, um, that's something that we do. It's lifetime access. Take your time through the course. You can get some CEUs as well, both nursing credits and some ICEA credits as well, or see our continuing education. 

    And then you have access to us. You can ask us all the questions that you want as well, but yeah, so that's kind of what we offer. We have all our free content. We have paid courses. If your clients are looking for fitness training or childbirth education, we offer that as well. 

    If your client is looking for a book, my book, Training for Two, comes out in September of this year as well, which is all about how you can use prenatal fitness to move through your pregnancy, which could also be a helpful tool for doulas as well, because again, movement is our bread and butter. 

    There's labor positions, and they're also like how different movements create space within the pelvis. But yeah, so we offer a lot of information. We don't like to gatekeep, but there's like a certain point where like, we have to charge for courses because we go really in depth with them. 

    And it's hard to do that on free platforms. So yeah. 

    Yeah, totally. I love that you're having a book. This podcast, we're, we're scheduling for the early fall. So hopefully, that's right before your book is coming out. Yeah, so people will have access to that and the revamped birth worker course. 

    One of the doulas on my team is in that birth worker course and loves it. And so comes highly recommended from my folks as well. Gina, thank you so much for spending time with us this morning and for sharing this awesome information for my listeners and for your toddler being here with us and contributing to this interview. 

    I appreciate both of you. 

    Thank you. She's the expert in a lot of stuff. 

    Yeah. All the information that Gina mentioned will be in the show notes. And Instagram is a good place to connect with Gina and Roxanne. If you have more questions about their stuff and want to kind of look at, honestly, their Instagram is a wealth of knowledge. 

    So even just starting there is a great place to begin to get to know their work. Gina, I am excited to talk to you again in the future. And I hope that you have a really lovely summer. 

    Thank you. 

    Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula tips and tits podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at Harad doula so we can celebrate alongside you. 

    If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and a review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment. 

    It is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around your health and your business. We'll see you again soon. 

Don’t miss the FREE Doula Consultation Workshop: 3 Proven techniques to increase client conversions. This 1 hour workshop will teach you how to show up with confidence and ultimately get more “HELL YES” responses! Sign up today!

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Mamastefit is a resource I love sharing clients, but they also have amazing resources for doulas. If you’re wanting to learn about the mechanics of the pelvis and how/when to intervene when birth is weird in some way this is the perfect resource. Today we are talking to Gina Conley founder of Mamastefit. Tune in!

Quote from Gina:

“I have my master's in exercise science and kind of my specialty is like pelvic mechanics and how we can create space within the pelvis, creating fitness programs to help support folks throughout their pregnancy to stay strong, to stay pain free, because commonly we're told that discomforts that we have during pregnancy are just a part of pregnancy. And when you give birth is when they'll go away and then folks are very confused when they give birth and they still have pelvic pain and they still have low back pain and they're still like still having a lot of these similar discomforts. And so it's kind of my mission to help folks understand like you don't have to be in pain during your pregnancy like yes, there are certain discomforts that you will probably experience just because of pregnancy, but you don't have to have pelvic pain or low back pain or rib pain or things like that.”

Meet Gina Conley:

Gina Conley holds an MS in Exercise Science and is the Founder/CEO of MamasteFit, an industry-leading perinatal fitness provider with a training facility located in Aberdeen, North Carolina. Aside from her work as a personal trainer specializing in perinatal fitness, Gina is a seasoned birth doula who has supported nearly 200 births in North Carolina. She is also a 7-year Army Veteran who served a combat tour to Afghanistan in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Freedom Sentinel. 

CONNECT with Gina:

Training for Two: https://amzn.to/3wgAAYi 

Website: https://www.MamasteFit.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mamastefit

CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or  Instagram

https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach

https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula

Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services

It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class

Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay

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