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 ...

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 addres...

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 ho...

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 b...

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 previou...

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...

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 gr...

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...

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!

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 s...

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 la...

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 immu...

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 tha...

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...

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 Psy...

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 sh...

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 favori...

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 eas...

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 mi...

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. ...