#327 | July Q&A: Folic Acid & Tongue Tie, Nuchal Cords, VBAC & Pregnancy Intervals, IUGR & Induction, Fundal Massage, Fetal Heart Rate Variations

July 30, 2025

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Welcome to the July Q&A! Today, we kick off the show with a conversation about your experiences of unnecessary, frequent stressors that we have the power to change or eliminate: For Trisha, it's taking phone calls while grocery shopping. 

Next, we get into your questions, beginning with:

Did taking folic acid in pregnancy cause my baby's tongue tie?

Is having the cord wrapped three times around a baby's neck a legitimate reason for c-section?

Is it true that I can't have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) if it has been just 18 months since my last birth?

And in the extended version of today's episode, available on Patreon or Apple Subscriptions, we discuss:

Intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR) babies and whether induction of labor is the right choice. Also, whether or not a baby needs to be born by cesarean for too low or too high heart rates in labor. And finally, whether fundal massage is still needed even if you a woman is administered  Pitocin in the third stage of labor. 

As for Quickies, we covered many topics including: Post-breastfeeding bras, OP (posterior) babies, magnesium and pre-eclampsia, fetal ejection reflex with an epidural, supporting the perineum to prevent tearing, our top tip for a successful VBAC. As for the personal questions of the month, we share our favorite ice cream flavors as well as our favorite flowers. In Cynthia's case, she didn't know the name of her all-time favorite flower and had to text a friend urgently in order to answer the question. Just goes to show, some friends can know us just a little better than we know ourselves!

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View Episode Transcript

Nicole. Hi, lovely ladies. My name is Nicole, and I'm a doula, so I wanted to know the evidence behind cords being wrapped around baby's neck multiple times in connection with not being able to progress in labor.

Hi, I'm calling with a question about the use of medical induction for IUGR, I have found very little information on what the proper protocol should be for true IUGR, yeah, maybe because women became really informed and started declining inductions for big babies, you know, believing that it was, that it was a bullshit and so they had to find something new. Now it's little babies. Now we have to mark the episode explicit. Thank you very much. We need more explicit episodes.

I'm Cynthia Overgard, owner of HypnoBirthing of Connecticut, childbirth advocate and postpartum support specialist. And I'm Trisha Ludwig, certified nurse midwife and international board certified lactation consultant. And this is the Down To Birth Podcast. Childbirth is something we're made to do. But how do we have our safest and most satisfying experience in today's medical culture? Let's dispel the myths and get down to birth.

Welcome to the July, hot, steamy July. Q and A

Summer is here. Are you stopping yourself from talking about the weather? I can Yes, you feel it. You want me so badly. It's okay. It's gonna be okay. I'm just gonna proceed through this awkward moment of not discussing the weather, since you hate that, let's mind let's instead talk about unnecessary, little stressful things that occur in our life. I had a moment yesterday where I just had a have had a very, very busy week, and I had a moment yesterday where I was running into the grocery store after a very busy day and had very little time, and I my phone rang as I was going into the grocery store, and it was my sister calling. So I always pick up the phone, you know, when my sister calls when I can, and as I'm chatting with her while going through the grocery store, I'm thinking to myself, Why am I doing this, like, why am I taking this phone call right now? I have to focus on what I need to get in the grocery store in the five minutes that I have to be here, and so I just randomly threw out on Instagram. Like, what is the what are the ways in which you might unnecessarily create extra stress in your life? Like, picking up that phone call was just extra stress for me. I could have waited 10 minutes, called her back in the car and had a peaceful conversation, and gotten a lot more out of the conversation than the rushed conversation we had while I was trying to get groceries. And I also probably wouldn't have forgotten something at the grocery store, which I did, and I always do every time I pick up the phone in the grocery store, plus then you're trying to check out, and I always feel so rude because I'm on the phone and you need you know you're trying to check out while you're on the phone, and it's just not nice. And I'm like, I am just not going to take phone calls in the grocery store anymore. Do you do that never? Yeah, wow, I do. And it's, well, first of all, my phone is always 100% of the time on silent. Mine too, so I don't know when people are trying to call me, like my brother texted me the other day and said I tried calling you earlier, and I was like, sorry, you know, my like, if you don't text me a follow up, I'm not even going to know you tried me or call the house line, you know, but I don't do that because with the line of work I'm in and the quantity of women and clients who've always reached out to me, I realized my kids are going to grow up to the sound of like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And I just made a promise, I'm going to live with the phone on silent, and I do. I can't imagine any other way. The downside is I now consciously check it, and that's not a great thing that I have on my head. Like to go check the phone, but it, yeah, you know, it just never rings. So no, I don't, and I'm not big on talking on my phone either. I don't like talking on a cell phone. I hate the radiation.

I agree, and yes, my phone is 100% on silent for the same reason, it's there's way too many notifications that come in for anybody today, between apps and text messages and whatever you have to keep your phone on silent. But you know, like if some if my sister called while I was driving in the car, so it rings through, pick it up, and then I'm carrying the conversation on in the grocery store, instead of just saying, Hey, I'm running into the grocery store. Grocery Store, let me call you back when I get back in the car. Oh yeah, I would definitely say I'm running into the store. I can't talk. I don't that you're pointing out the top source of stress. I believe it's it's not focusing on one thing at a time, right? So I asked our community, what ways, what are some unnecessary little stressors in your life you know that you could reduce. And I explained what mine was, so I thought we would just share these. Okay? And the first woman said, taking phone calls at all, any phone calls ever. Yeah, okay. I feel like phone calling is kind of dead. People just text, well, that's. Bad, right? I mean, the best thing is to be in person. The next best is on the phone, and the worst is texting and and all that. But, yeah, it's when the phone rings. It's stressful because it means you're in the middle of something else and you have to stop what you're doing. Another one said, texting and emailing people back, it's a lot of work. It can be a lot of work. Another one said, When my husband phone pings when we're watching TV, my my phone is mostly on silent. I believe everybody's phones should always be on silent. Wow, yeah, no, pinging. That's not fair. Mountain lions. What? What I mean? There's always the person who goes rogue. When we ask one of these questions, I just go totally rogue. So the biggest stress in her life is mountain lions on the biggest unnecessary stress. This is supposed to be like a stress you can reduce. So I guess you can't go hiking what we had on. She must live in, she must live in Wyoming or Monday. I need to know more. Yeah, okay, crumbs on my feet. Oh, yeah, totally you need a Roomba, yeah, crumbs can totally reduce that stress. You can get rid of it 100% with a robotic vacuum that just cleans your floors all the time, moms, groups on Facebook, lol, get that. Get off those things. They are very stressful. Okay, I mean, sometimes they're helpful, but a lot of stress. You know, people treat each other. People treat each other differently when they see each other's eyes, when they connect, when they talk. I think that whenever anyone can post something anonymously, they're just not going to be as nice, as compassionate, as understanding. I never see women in my groups or our work actually judge each other. But if you go to that kind of anonymous space where people are posting things that it's not so nice. I think women are signing themselves up for a lot of risk if they join those groups. It's a false sense of community. It's helpful if you want resources for things. But you know, that's also that's all social media. You just have to know your you have to have your boundaries with it, because social media is a great resource. There's you can get tons of excellent free education, but you're also going to be faced with opinions that trigger you. So you have to know, you have to know what you can tolerate, and if it's bothering you and it's a source of unnecessary stress, remove it. Ants. Ants, okay, they're annoying. They're definitely annoying, I guess so. My dog's standing and staring at me everywhere I go. Yeah, that's Welcome to my life, especially with a baby. Yes, 100% returns. Oh, yeah. You can reduce that by not buying things unless you're absolutely sure you want them. You can reduce that by not giving birth to a daughter. Oh my gosh. My daughter is 75% of the reason of all my returns completely. Yes. The son is like, sure, that works. Sure, I'll wear that. Yeah, I love it. Thank you. The daughter's like, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. I don't even buy for my daughters anymore.

My daughter buys for herself, and then I have to return things and make her return them. Well, she doesn't drive yet. I can't make her do that. When they're online, you know, she'll package it up. She does send it back.

She does. She'll send me the label. But if I have to go to UPS, I have to go to UPS, she does all that. It's still, it's just still a thing on the head, like, what returns have to be done? Yes, okay, go on. What's next? Okay, the microwave fan. Okay, get rid of the microwave. Get rid of the microwave. Definitely. Get rid of the microwave. Um, making up stories in my head about what others think and throwing myself a pity party. Okay, there's, you know, there's, there are some tactics for working on that.

I feel for people who go through life assuming that people don't like them, yeah, that is not a mental space you want to be in, but that's a mental space most people are in. At some point. They have a social anything. They have a they they interact with someone socially. They second guess the things they say. They assume they're not liked. It's it's a shame. It's very strong. You know what? My solution to that is, your opinion of me is none of my business.

Your opinion is none of my business. It's a hard practice, but if you continue to fortify that thought in your mind, it becomes real. Yeah, becomes real. Another woman just wrote my husband. Yeah, I was waiting for that one. So again, solutions, clutter on the counters. Yeah, that's big one. My toddler taking a super long time to go down for a nap. That's so stressful. You're just like, watching the minutes of the day slip away and thinking of all the things you need to get done that you can't get done, and just wishing they would fall asleep. And why is it so hard? And then you're afraid they'll fall asleep too late in the day and have that like the whole thing will be off, and you're just projecting all the stress it's going to bring you later. It's tough. My purse being disorganized. Time for a small. Purse.

I don't understand. I have a friend who goes everywhere with a big, heavy purse, even like when she picks me up to go to the gym and we just go to the gym, I just have, like, my phone and my key.

I'm not friends. You have that big I'm not friends. I just always say, what? And she'll say, Well, I can't drive without my license. I'm like, why the two pound handbag? Like, what's in it? I've never been one. I used to work in the handbag industry right out of college at Liz Claiborne. I was the leather handbag merchandiser, and I was like, I had all these beautiful, gorgeous leather tote bag, all the styles, all these beautiful bags that I got basically for free, and I still didn't enjoy use of them, because I don't understand when I was in school, business school, I did I would carry books around, but otherwise I like to go like I love the look of a big bag, but when I carry one, it's empty.

Well, I usually leave it in my car, and then I just take my phone in wherever I'm going, because that's all you really need to make a purchase anywhere. But I like to have my bag with me, because it carries my water bottle and I like to have my computer on me at all times. You never know when you might just want to pop into a cafe and check your email for an hour. That's your lifestyle. That's true. That's my lifestyle, virtual life. Yeah, so I carry a big bag, okay? And like three lip classes and sunglasses and my wallet is the least important. Thing in my bag. Okay, what else being somewhere for too long? I have a 30 to 45 minute max time limit. Okay, I like she knows herself. That's good. How busy Trader Joe's is.

She doesn't like that. No, this is like a stressor for her. How busy Trader Joe's is? Yes, oh, it's an unnecessary stress. So you just have to find a different time of day to go to Trader Joe's. There are some very quiet hours in Trader Joe's, definitely and different locations. Well, I mean, a lot of people don't have we, we are very lucky. We have like, six Trader Joe's within we have a lot driving distance. I always, I never will go to and the others are always peaceful.

I never mind how busy Trader Joe's is. Alex comes home from Trader Joe's every time like I love those people. I love Trader Joe's. Lee, it's just a feel good place for us. It is a happy place. Lots of friends. People are very friendly there? Yeah, the public school system, I don't feel right sending my kids every day.

Yeah, I have a client, a lovely woman, in my postpartum group, and I didn't know this until yesterday. She's one of four. She has three brothers, and they were homeschooled starting in the 90s. They were homeschooled all the way through, all the way through 12th grade, and her mom sounded like she did an unbelievable job with it. And she went to an Ivy League school. She got into UPenn and went had a great education at UPenn. I was fascinated. I definitely would love to talk to them. And I think have them on Patreon. She said her mom would love to so I would love to have them on and let people come like, ask questions about how you know if they're interested in homeschooling, because I want to have the conversation. I think that's a fabulous topic, definitely a Patreon. Yeah, topic we should do a Q&A just a random chat, not a Monday night chat on Patreon, right? Thank you for that reminder. You're welcome.

Hi, Cynthia and Trisha, I would love to know from your knowledge and expertise about the amount of folic acid that we should be taking during pregnancy. I have been taking a prenatal which marketed on the front, quote, unquote, with folic acid, which struck my attention because, as from my research and understanding this helps to prevent spina bifida, however, I had not known that it also may be, may have been a culprit for my baby's severe tongue tie. We felt pretty pressured into getting them all released as soon as possible, but we weren't given enough heads up about the aftercare of this type of procedure, so you do have to stretch out the incision site for we were told up to eight or through eight weeks, and possibly Furthermore, and that's into the hours of the night, and it was pretty brutal and painful for all of us. So I hope that by me asking you this, that you may have some insight on what to look for, or maybe some peace of mind for those currently taking folic acid. Thank you so much. Appreciate you guys and keep doing what you're doing, because we all love it and we're thankful. Thanks.

So the standard recommendation for folic acid supplementation in pregnancy is 400 to 800 micrograms per day. It goes up to 5000 really high doses for mothers who have a history of neural tube defects, are are at risk. The reasons folic acid is recommended. Ended in pregnancy is specifically to prevent neural tube defects, and it is has been shown in research to be very effective at reducing neural tube defects. But there's a lot of question now about the impact of folic acid on the development of the midline, which is the neural tube development, is the midline development in the embryo. And there's concern that the folic acid, excess amounts of folic acid, because we're taking higher doses in pregnancy, plus our food is heavily fortified with folic acid. So the question is, is this excess folic acid one of the reasons that babies are becoming more tongue tied, because tongue tie is part of the midline development, and the midline developing too tightly in too much tissue there. That is so interesting. I didn't ever think that there was actually a connection. I knew about the tongue tie link, but I didn't think it could be explained like that. That's so interesting. The debate is, should we be taking folic acid, or should we be taking a methylated folate, or just getting folate from our food? So so folic acid is meant to replace benign it's benign vitamin, and folate is in our food, but it has to be converted by the body, and the there are, there's a lot of discussion around the MTHFR deficiency, which is a gene variant that maybe prevents this methylation from happening. So now the recommendation, more in a little bit more in like the holistic world, is take methylated folate, so that it's more easily utilized by the body, and then is the folic acid that we're getting so much folic acid in our diet, is that folic acid potentially blocking folate that we are actually consuming in our diet and making the problem worse. But the evidence is so robust in the maternity world to support folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects that is still strongly recommended, but it might be creating this subsequent harm of excess tongue ties. And she's right. Having a tongue tie released is a, you know, it's a it's a big ordeal. The procedure itself is not so bad, but the aftercare is pretty intense, and then it can be very disruptive to feeding relationships. And obviously it's a major cause of breastfeeding difficulties. And sometimes the release isn't even, you know, getting the outcomes that we want. So we really do want to try to get to a root cause of tongue tie and tongue tie prevention. And I am, I would be in favor of methylated folate over folic acid, I wouldn't be taking we and we talked about this in our episode with Lily Nichols, and I do remember seeing in that episode, like, I feel like saying, stop taking your folic acid.

Yeah, I thought that's really what women should be doing now, just the folate. Well, it's still pretty it's still fairly controversial. Well, is there sufficient research, or any research on folate? Not really. That's the problem. Well, maybe that's the only problem. Maybe that would also show that it has all the benefits without it just makes sense, like it makes sense more real food in your diet, and if you if, because MTHFR seems to be quite common, you it seems that you would be better off just taking the methylated version of and, and the needed prenatal vitamin, which we are big fans of the needed products for prenatal vitamins and postpartum supplementation and and all of their their whole nutritional line, they provide a methylated folate prenatal I love needed, yeah, 20% off if you use our link and promo code down to birth. Okay, ready? Yes.

Hi, lovely ladies. My name is Nicole, and I'm a doula, and I just noticed a lot of times with my clients that were having to have an emergency cesarean after long labors and trying once the baby's born, they noticed that cord is wrapped around the neck multiple times, and they're being told that this is what led to baby not being able to descend, and the reason why they couldn't progress past, You know, like one centimeter or so after, you know, super long induction and eventually getting the epidural so they could arrest. So I wanted to know the evidence behind cords being wrapped around baby's neck multiple times in connection with not being able to progress in labor, and, you know, not being able to dilate baby to descend and all the other things. So that's my question, and I'm excited to hear your answers. Thank you so much for all the amazing work you do, and that's all love you guys.

So I wish we could give her some evidence on this, but this isn't important enough for anybody to study, so there is no evidence on this. And. And I would feel very comfortable saying that the reason that this woman could not get past one centimeter in labor was not because the cord was wrapped around her baby's neck three times, but rather because she was probably induced far You know, before her baby was ready to be born.

So are the doctors just using that excuse in this case? You think I do believe that the cord around the neck is used as a scapegoat for emergency C sections, or, you know, failure, failure to descend, or, yeah, fetal heart rate abnormalities. Babies are born with their cords around the neck all the time, all the time, in undisturbed, physiologic bursts, without any complications. Now it's not to say that it's never an issue if a baby has a really short cord and it's three times around the neck, possibly, possibly that could impede their descent. Possibly that could cause some, you know, abnormality in the fetal heart rate if it's compressed in just the right way. But that can happen if the cord is not around the neck at all, and, you know, the cord is just getting compressed temporarily, right? So it's just a really good excuse at the end of a birth to say, Oh, this explains why we had to do an emergency C section, or this explains why you didn't get past three centimeters.

So I know the cord around the neck is no big deal, generally speaking, and it's extremely common, and the cord was around Vanessa's at my home birth, and the next day, Amy mentioned it to me. I didn't even know. She was like, Oh yeah, the cord was around the neck. I know it's not a big deal, but is it a bigger deal when it's around the neck two or three times? Not because the cord is now without any slack, like is in and of itself. Is it basically the same technique for our midwife to, like, slip the fingers in there and just protect the neck on the way out? Is it anything different when it's more than once around the neck, well, first of all, once around the neck is really common. Three times around the neck is a lot less common. And sure, it takes some length off the cord. So if you already have a shorter cord, which some babies just have, then the cord has to have a has to have a lot of give, to not be over stretched and strained probably is a bigger deal, but it's a lot less common, but it is also not a guaranteed reason that your baby's not going to be born vaginally, or that your baby's going to have a heart rate issue. My belief now is to leave the cord alone. It used to be that we were, you know, going in there and slipping the cord over the baby's head or or even cutting the baby's cord at the perineum, which is a terrible idea. Do not do that. Leave the cord intact. If it's easy to slip it over the baby's head. Maybe that makes sense. This is going to be, you know, a decision that a provider is going to make in the moment, but for the most part, you can just leave it be. Hi, ladies. I was just calling in. I have a question. I'm getting a provider that is telling me that I cannot do a feedback because my birth was May, May of 2024, and I'm due now November, 2025, and they say that the 18 months is not enough of a time, but everything I'm finding says it is and it's birth to birth, not birth to conception, which is just really confusing. So I wanted to just ask, I guess, what are the risks if I am to VBAC or if I am to just go ahead and do a second C section, as I do want another baby eventually to possibly have three or four. So just hoping I can get that question answered and get some more clarity. Thank you. Typical sounds like a provider who just doesn't want to support a VBAC. Yeah, totally. It was interesting that she said she found it confusing that it's birth to birth. I don't know why she finds that confusing.

She's saying should the is the time recommendation of 18 to 24, months from birth to becoming pregnant again, or from birth to including nine months of pregnancy. I know birth to birth, right? But birth to birth makes sense. Birth to conception wouldn't make sense to me, right?

Yes. And that's also, you know, there's a, there is a wide range, and nobody, nobody actually knows how many months you need to have in between giving birth to reduce the likelihood of a uterine rupture. That's what this is all about, right? Trying to reduce the chance of uterine rupture in a subsequent birth. I wonder if there's even research on that, I'm always suspicious of really round numbers, like 18 months, exactly a year and a half. And then women take it they're, they're, they're taught to take it so seriously, like they're worried if it's 17 months, that's right. And there's so many times doctors use language like that, like they'll say there's a 99% chance of blah, blah, blah. They just say it. It's not true. That's why so many people say there's a 99% chance of everything, because they're just they're big. It's just not true that there's all this research that, lo and behold, it comes out to exactly 99% it's just basically a number of people like to use, and whenever there's exactly a round number, like one year or 18 months, I feel the same way. I really wonder if there's a shred of research around that there are things that make a woman a better candidate for a VBAC, for sure, but I don't really believe it comes down to whether it's 18 months. Exactly, to me, it really comes down to a longer interval between pregnancies is better for for a lot of reasons, like pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding are pretty demanding on the body, and the body needs recovery time. And it isn't just about your uterine scar. It's about restoring your nutritional depletion. Breastfeeding is very demanding. It's about restoring your sleep. It's about restoring your mental health. I just feel there's a lot of pressure on women from, I don't know where it's coming from to have babies to, like, really get their babies in close together. And natural child spacing, if you look around the world with, you know, without birth control, natural child spacing typically is 18 to 24 months. And that just kind of makes sense. So regardless of the scar, it is better to give yourself that time. But if she is pregnant, and it's been 17 months since her VBAC, but from when, when she's going to give birth, it'll have been 17 months, and her provider is saying that they will not do a VBAC. Find a new provider, because this is just a provider who doesn't believe in feedback. That's their policy. It's stupid and they don't believe in feedback. They don't trust it.

It's arbitrary. If it's not that, it's going to be something else. I can't believe there's still so much resistance with feedback.

Well, also, she should listen to our VBAC episode on Patreon, Cynthia, tell me the number no, this is a regular episode, Episode 63 didn't we just do a regular episode on VBAC? Oh, the recent one. You mean? Yeah, oh, the risk of uterine rupture. Number 317.

Yeah. Okay, so she should listen to our episode number 317 on acogs, guidelines around VBAC, and we kind of break down all the evidence that's available on VBAC and the risk of uterine rupture, all right? Well, that is a wrap on the regular version of today's Q and A episode. We are going to now move on to the extended questions. For those who are with us on Apple subscriptions or in Patreon, you can get three more questions in the extended episode in which we're going to discuss IUGR and induction C sections for low or high heart rate in a baby and fundal massage when with postpartum hemorrhage, and whether or not you need it with Pitocin or not. So those are all great questions. And if you are not with us in the extended version, then we will be moving on to quickies.

Quickie time, your favorite time.

Okay, quickie time. All right, here we go. Let's see what people want to know today. Can the fetal ejection reflex still happen with an epidural. Yes, yes, it can, but I think it's a lot less common, not impossible. I would never say something could make it not happen, but the physiology of birth, unmedicated, it's much more likely to happen. My midwife held her hand over the perineum while I pushed. Is this way I didn't tear.

We'll be talking about the Patreon. Yes, that's our Patreon topic of the day. Possibly, possibly, possibly is the answer to that. Possibly, the key is. The key is patience.

The key is patience, and they don't need to hold your perineum to prevent tearing, but it's possible that it was a little bit of support with help, helpful. We'll see. What are the risks of denying magnesium for preeclampsia? The risk is magnesium sulfate in the hospital. Oh, wow. I would say high.

Yes, the risk is a preeclamptic seizure, yeah, which is life threatening.

There are times to be grateful for intervention. This is the whole I was just talking to this group of clients this morning about this. We had a little ad hoc one hour like sessions to session together today. And I was saying, we must remember, the point here is to avoid unnecessary intervention. If we if there, if there hadn't been such abuse with intervention, we would all feel more relaxed. But there's been so much abuse that women start to fear any intervention. But we must remember, there are times to be very grateful for precisely that and magnesium sulfate. For preeclampsia, my gosh, it's like near the top of the list there, yes, Yep, yeah. It just doesn't go away. And the risk just potentially keeps getting higher. So it doesn't go away until you give birth and you do want to prevent a seizure. Top Things to increase my chances for a VBAC. Listen to our VBAC episode provider is probably the top thing. Definitely. He's thinking in terms of what she can do her body. Her body is planning a vaginal birth. That's what she needs to know. Every cell in her body is planning a vaginal birth. So now who's going to support what every cell in her body is planning to do starts with the provider for sure, and then listen to the episode. And we have one on a different one on Patreon as well.

Op deliveries your experience and explanation of how it affects. I had one three weeks ago. I love how people think these are quickies, like, that's a whole episode right there. So describe op first. So basically, op means when the baby is born with the back of the head on the sacrum instead of the face or front of the head. So this is when you hear about back labor. It's because the baby's back of the head is kind of pushing on the bone, on the back, on the sacrum, and it's a little bit more challenging. It's a normal variation of labor, sometimes more difficult. Sometimes the right it's sometimes it's the right position for the baby, sometimes it's just the right position. So that's my explanation. Is it is what it is, and in late pregnancy, our posture and our center of gravity can definitely impact a baby being anterior or posterior. All right, what is your favorite flower to grow in a garden? Oh, nice question. I don't remember the name.

There's a flower that takes my breath away. Let me text my friend. Do you remember the name of the flowers that I'm so obsessed with, question mark. They come in beautiful, spectacular variations. She's going to tell me right away, oh, they're incredible. They're the most beautiful flowers. She just saw it, she got it. I can ask her any question about my life, and she comes back, Zu, of course. Oh, Zu. I can ask her anything about my life, and she knows the answer. I can write to her and say, what's that flower that I love so much? And she said, more context, please. And I didn't have any. So then she responded with the right answer.

Okay, what's your favorite flower? Oh, dahlias. Right? Dahlias, they're the most they're so pretty. They're the most beautiful flower. I just think they're spectacular. And they come in so many varieties. And I knew a woman who said they were easy to grow, and I was crazy. That's why I grow them. They're in my back planters right now on my porch. They are so, so beautiful. So I love a ranunculus. If I could grow I am going to grow some wildflowers. I tried vegetables, and it didn't work out very well, because I'm gone for a lot of the important summer months when vegetables need to be watered. So they look like I'm not growing vegetables anymore. They look just like peonies to me, they're really not cool. Yeah, they're just like delicate and kind of like curve a little, and they're pretty. I just want one flower, very dense, round petals, like peonies, but they're, yeah, they look like a baby peony. Yeah, they do. And I love peonies too. Yeah, I'm sure you do. They look just like them, makes sense. And I mean, you can't be growing sunflowers. They're so gorgeous. Sunflowers are amazing. Restless Leg Syndrome. What can I do? I'm already taking magnesium and iron. So restless legs is pretty common in pregnancy. It's also related to iron deficiency, so which is also very common in late pregnancy. So focusing on getting healthy iron into the body. I think acupuncture can also be really helpful for this. Okay, what's a good post breastfeeding bra? I haven't bought a normal bra in years. Here's what I would recommend, because I don't know, I don't know if I have a particular bra brand that I recommend, but I do recommend going to a lingerie store. Make it an outing for yourself. Go to a nice lingerie store and get fitted and find the bra that makes you feel good, nice that's good at it. It's fun, you know, because your your breasts are different, so you can't really go back to the bra that you wore pre breastfeeding. Probably, I mean, you probably can, but it might not fit. Well, treat yourself to a nice, new bra. Make it an outing. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? So easy. Mint Chip.

Let's ask Zu, yes, yes, it's mint chip. Isn't that like half of the people's favorite? Is that how you guessed? Probably I'd rather answer my favorite brand. I think Haagen Dazs makes the best store ice cream by far. I actually, I'm starting to not like other other brands. I love their coffee chocolate chip, their chocolate chocolate chip, their mint chocolate chip, and their Belgian chocolate. Those are my four favorite ice cream flavors by Haagen Dazs. That's how well I know them. What about you like?

I like Haagen Dazs coffee a lot. I love butter pecan, mint chip. I think that actually Trader Joe's ice cream is fantastic. So it's either local Creamery, sweet cream or Trader Joe's. I don't like their coffee. I like their mint chip and their vanilla is awesome. And, yeah, eat it all the time. I don't like their ice cream anymore, hmm, I don't know why. I just had it recently at my friend's house, and I was like, I just have to finally accept it. I don't like it anymore. I used to like their mint chip a bit, but, yeah, I think I've had too much Haagen Dazs, too many times in a row that I've become really particular to it.

Have you had Jenny? Have you ever had Jenny's ice cream years ago? That stuff is nice?

Yeah, I don't like Ben and Jerry's. No, a lot of people like Ben and Jerry's. It's like, to me, it's borderline again, like it crosses out of ice cream into kind of, it's like, candy, yeah, like candy, like 5% 10% candy. But, yeah, there's, they're missing something. For me, that's why I like Trader Joe's is pretty pure. It's like four ingredients, vanilla. Their vanilla is very minimal.

It's so sweet. It's not my, not for me, unless it's Avogadro when you pour espresso over it. And I love that. My mother makes it for me every time I go to her house. Nice. All right, well, we have a Patreon event starting in 10 minutes, so we need, oh my gosh, cheers, right, I almost forgot. All right, don't talk about the perineum. Adios.

Thank you for joining us at the Down To Birth Show. You can reach us @downtobirthshow on Instagram or email us at Contact@DownToBirthShow.com. All of Cynthia’s classes and Trisha’s breastfeeding services are offered live online, serving women and couples everywhere. Please remember this information is made available to you for educational and informational purposes only. It is in no way a substitute for medical advice. For our full disclaimer visit downtobirthshow.com/disclaimer. Thanks for tuning in, and as always, hear everyone and listen to yourself.

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About Cynthia Overgard

Cynthia is a published writer, advocate, childbirth educator and postpartum support specialist in prenatal/postpartum healthcare and has served thousands of clients since 2007. 

About Trisha Ludwig

Trisha is a Yale-educated Certified Nurse Midwife and International Board Certified Lactation Counselor. She has worked in women's health for more than 15 years.

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