What does it mean to be truly informed regarding your pregnancy and birth?
 
This week, we're speaking with Dr. Elliot Berlin, who is an award-winning prenatal chiropractor, childbirth educator, labor support bodyworker, and co-founder of Berlin Wellness Group in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Berlin graduated Summa Cum Laude from Life University of Chiropractic in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Atlanta School of Massage.  
 
His separate schooling in massage therapy, bodywork, and chiropractic form the backbone of his innovative pre- and post-natal wellness care techniques. Unique ‘Chirossage’ sessions soothe and relax tight, painful muscles and restore motion to restricted joints.  These 30 to 45-minute treatments effectively address most pregnancy aches and pains in just a few visits and promote healthy, comfortable, and functional pregnancy and an ideal environment for labor and delivery.  
 
Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy® Project aims to utilize multiple forms of media (podcasts, YouTube series, documentaries, and online workshops) to compile and deliver unbiased information about pregnancy and childbirth to empower new and expectant parents to make informed choices regarding their pregnancy and parenting journey.  
 
Dr. Berlin lives in Los Angeles with his wife, perinatal psychologist Dr. Alyssa Berlin, and their four fantastic kids.
 
 
Episode Roundup
 
Our bodies are so innately intelligent. Dr. Elliot shared how he and his wife Dr. Alyssa were trying so desperately to become pregnant, and yet there was something going on in their bodyminds that just wasn't ready for the grand task of creating a child. When they began focusing on their minds, their hearts, their physical bodies and even their location, they were then able to conceive-- safety had been met. Healing the nervous system allowed their bodies to feel comfortable with the idea of conception.
I love Dr. Berlin's discussion of the conscious and unconscious mind. How our ability move our worries out of our conscious mind can be so powerful in terms of pregnancy, birth and postpartum. I'm always reminded of Matthew 6:27 when I consider anxiety and my own struggle and recovery in that area-- where Jesus says, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And finally, let's talk about the Bread and Butter of Dr. Berlin's message- Information. It is just so critical to recognize that no one, not even your precious midwife, is going to care about your outcomes and experience as much as you are. Nobody will be as affected by how your birth experience transpires as you and your family. SO. That being the weighty truth, what do we do? We take seriously both our gaining of knowledge AND our ability to listen to our intuition. When we know what's possible for us in both of these realms and use them together wisely, we can walk into our pregnancy, our birth experience, parenthood.... feeling like the confident, primal parent we were designed to be.
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