var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-19489843-1’]); _gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true; ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); A Mother Is Born Pregnancy and Parenting Services provides support and education to expectant and new parents in New York City. Whether you are looking for birth classes, struggling with your baby’s sleep issues, looking to connect with other moms, or trying to achieve the right blend of employment and motherhood, you will find gentle support, information and encouragement. Email: meredith (at) amotherisborn.comTumblr (3.0; @amotherisborn)http://amotherisborn.com/Someone sent me this link to a talk by John Cleese about creativity, which I watched, at first,...http://amotherisborn.com/post/24081512242http://amotherisborn.com/post/24081512242Wed, 30 May 2012 16:52:00 -0400parenting adviceparenting skillsnew momsupport for new momsback-to-worksleep counsellingbreastfeedingIn the past few years, I&#8217;ve become fascinated with &#8220;good guy&#8221; bacteria &#8212; the...http://amotherisborn.com/post/23833761417http://amotherisborn.com/post/23833761417Sat, 26 May 2012 21:44:00 -0400Hey folks.  Of course I&#8217;m biased, but I totally agree with this article titled Best Childbirth...http://amotherisborn.com/post/23818543518http://amotherisborn.com/post/23818543518Sat, 26 May 2012 17:12:03 -0400Don&#8217;t miss the upcoming Chelsea New Moms&#8217; Series!   Register here 6 week Series &#8212;...http://amotherisborn.com/post/23500005176http://amotherisborn.com/post/23500005176Mon, 21 May 2012 17:40:00 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3yq2qRvJ91qc6tpuo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>It’s my eleventh Mother’s Day, but I still think of it as my own mom’s holiday. This morning, looking into her fridge, I’m laughing that my mother has purchased seven different kinds of milk for the ten people currently in her house.  </p> <p>There’s something so perfectly, metaphorically, motherly about my mom’s urge to provide milk — even the grocery store kind, even milk from a coconut, it’s still Mom Giving Milk.  Even more, she gets us each the kind we like and need, just ‘cause.  It’s not how everyone demonstrates what mothering is to them, but it’s beautiful, and beautifully hers.</p> <p>Happy Mother’s Day to my own mom, and to all of you.  </p>http://amotherisborn.com/post/22967240196http://amotherisborn.com/post/22967240196Sun, 13 May 2012 09:13:00 -0400mothers day<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3xhbj4YP41qc6tpuo1_400.png"/><br/><br/><p>Just so we’re clear — it’s the exploity thing, and the “lets foment anxiety and insecurity and snark among moms so we can make money” mentality that’s wrong with the TIME piece.  But if the question is, what do we think of seeing a woman nursing a kid who’s old enough to stand and grab it? Well, some pretty famous mothers have done it.</p>http://amotherisborn.com/post/22924980568http://amotherisborn.com/post/22924980568Sat, 12 May 2012 17:06:55 -0400Sometimes I picture online publishers sitting around a room looking worriedly at a bunch of charts...http://amotherisborn.com/post/22806586672http://amotherisborn.com/post/22806586672Thu, 10 May 2012 19:25:00 -0400Time Magazinenew mombreastfeedingattachment parentingsupport for new momsThis article from Consumer Reports is a great piece on the ten most &#8220;overused&#8221;...http://amotherisborn.com/post/22785458884http://amotherisborn.com/post/22785458884Thu, 10 May 2012 13:14:00 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3r7hvwoCS1qc6tpuo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>Another great one from Maurice Sendak.  How many of us have felt like this might happen?</p>http://amotherisborn.com/post/22711709435http://amotherisborn.com/post/22711709435Wed, 09 May 2012 07:49:07 -0400<object width="400" height="224"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/244048994009" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/244048994009" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="224"></embed></object><br/><br/><p>Maurice Sendak has died, at age 83.  Above* is a clip of my daughter, then age 2, singing <em>Alligators All Around</em>.  </p> <p>He was one of my favorite parenting writers.</p> <p>Wait, you thought his books were for kids?  </p> <p><em>Chicken Soup With Rice</em> is a brilliant “<a href="http://www.playfulparenting.com/" title="playful parenting" target="_blank">Playful Parenting</a>” approach to living with a picky eater.  </p> <p><em>Pierre</em> is one of the best descriptions I’ve read on how (not) to deal with defiant behavior.  (I have read it aloud, front to back, to a roomful of adults taking my parenting workshops).  </p> <p><em>Where The Wild Things Are</em> shows us how children’s destructive impulses can find a home in fantasy, and lets us see an example of how you can both send your child to bed without supper and also make sure he gets fed.  </p> <p><em>Bears</em> — oh how many of us have been in that frantic search for the all-important stuffed animal who’s gone missing again!  That book is like a tiny treatise on how to <em>play</em> with separation anxiety and loss.</p> <p>Each book is like a nugget of wisdom, showing us playful ways to cope with all that’s weird and challenging and complex when you live with little ones.  You close each one with a new idea of how to proceed.  Even poet Rita Dove famously used <a href="http://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/dove/AfterReading.html" title="Rita Dove poem inspired by Maurice Sendak" target="_blank">Sendak as an inspiration</a> in a beautiful poem about mothers and daughters and body talk.</p> <p>I love when children’s books are also for the parents.  Because reading is like nursing:  you hold your child close, you use your body and your mind to offer to your child a multi-sensory experience essential to his growth and development.  You use intimacy, touch, rhythm and warmth, to expose him of the best that the world has to offer.  It is so, so important to your child that you hold him and read to him.  </p> <p>And all too often, just like nursing, we look at reading as though it’s *only* beneficial for your child, as though it’s not equally profound for mom.  But that’s wrong.  When it works, it’s for both of you — the content of the books, the experience of holding each other and sharing the art of the written word. You’re in the milk and the milk’s in you.  He’s in the milk and the milk’s in him.  There you are, learning the world together.</p> <p>Read good books with your child.</p> <div>*Note:  Somehow you can only see the video if you view this site through tumblr!  Well, what better reason to join tumblr and follow me (amotherisborn) there … </div>http://amotherisborn.com/post/22651964627http://amotherisborn.com/post/22651964627Tue, 08 May 2012 10:15:00 -0400I like this blog post. It reminds me of a really wonderful, honest woman I worked with many years...http://amotherisborn.com/post/21946742260http://amotherisborn.com/post/21946742260Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:07:13 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m35y00Ki7j1qc6tpuo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Collect them all!</p>http://amotherisborn.com/post/21943275888http://amotherisborn.com/post/21943275888Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:14:22 -0400The other day, I was finishing a childbirth education series, and one of the students voiced...http://amotherisborn.com/post/20994877958http://amotherisborn.com/post/20994877958Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:32:00 -0400Having kids gets a little crazy, but that doesn&#8217;t mean you can&#8217;t be happy, productive,...http://amotherisborn.com/post/19782438193http://amotherisborn.com/post/19782438193Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:23:17 -0400Last night I went to a great event hosted by CEA/MNY &#8212; a discussion of modern maternity care...http://amotherisborn.com/post/19624913440http://amotherisborn.com/post/19624913440Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:06:00 -0400I used to love Atlantic Monthly, but in the past several years I noticed that their articles about...http://amotherisborn.com/post/19415414933http://amotherisborn.com/post/19415414933Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:05:00 -0400home birthIn the New MOMs group, we often spend a session talking about mothers-in-law.    It&#8217;s a famous...http://amotherisborn.com/post/19345636319http://amotherisborn.com/post/19345636319Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:32:15 -0400motherhoodmother in lawHere&#8217;s a conversation I have not infrequently with former clients who contact me when their...http://amotherisborn.com/post/18904860625http://amotherisborn.com/post/18904860625Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:48:00 -0500breastfeedingdepressionmoodweaningibclcisolationPerhaps you&#8217;ve heard, lately, that French children behave better than Americans, because their...http://amotherisborn.com/post/17711427222http://amotherisborn.com/post/17711427222Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:41:24 -0500Dear Pregnant folks and People With Babies, One day your child will begin to talk.  And it will seem...http://amotherisborn.com/post/17605372432http://amotherisborn.com/post/17605372432Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:16:12 -0500